More than a thousand stones scattered across the island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea differ from the rest of the cobblestones by their unusual man-made grooves and grooves cut into the smooth and hard surface of the rock. Patterns are always found in groups of several marks, engraved side by side, and vary in length, depth, and width.
At first glance, it seems that these grooves appeared as if due to the fact that someone sharpened a sharp sword or ax on a stone. This was the first version, expressed immediately after the discovery of amazing stones in the middle of the 19th century. Subsequently, these stones were called sharpening stones.
But soon researchers began to doubt the original theory, since the shape and size of the slots were not suitable for sharpening edged weapons of those times. Someone noted that the weapons not only from the Stone Age, but also from the Middle Ages or the Viking Age were too wide for such gutters.
Another piece of evidence against the version of whetstones is that not a single stone ax or sword was found in the vicinity that could be sharpened in such a rocky cobblestone. Archaeologists have not found any remains of ancient weapons, even in those places in which, according to legend, there were some similarities of ancient forges.
Granite and limestone stones with unusual cuts are found not only on the island of Gotland. Boulders with mysterious grooves have been found throughout Europe in countries such as Norway, Finland, France, Luxembourg and England. Mysterious boulders have been discovered even in India and Australia.
Found in France, similar objects were attributed to the Neolithic era and named polissoirs (polishing stones, floor polishers). Judging by the processing technology, these stones were marked by the peoples of the same culture that built dolmens (stone tombs) and erected menhirs (stone pillars).
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Nowhere more mysterious cuts in the rock were found more often than in Gotland. Here they are scattered literally all over the island. Troughs have been found both on individual boulders or monolithic rocks and on limestone slopes.
At one time, the American astronomer Gerald Hawkins (Gerald Hawkins) suggested that the legendary Stonehenge complex was used to study the sky. European explorers adopted this practice and also tried to find an astronomical connection for almost any Stone Age find. This is what all theories boiled down to when scientists came to a standstill.
Troughs from Gotland are no exception. Modern archaeologists are now baffled as to whether the arrangement of the grooves can shed light on the secret purpose of the finds. Many of the slots actually correspond to the positions of celestial bodies such as the Sun and Moon.
However, researchers explain the location of the grooves in different ways. Some believe that the troughs represent a kind of lunar calendar, while other scientists believe that there is a simpler explanation. In particular, they believe that the stones were turned in different directions, just so that the sun would not blind the eyes of the masters.
To date, over 3,600 polished markings have been found in Gotland, 700 of which are found in hard limestone rocks, and the remainder spread across 800 stone blocks scattered across the slopes of the island.