Tomintoul

A nineteenth-century account suggests that a perforated axe-hammer and a carved stone ball were found in a moss near Tomintoul. The objects were allegedly found together, but it is unclear whether they were actually discarded at the same point in time.

Both show evidence of skillful workmanship. The axe-hammer was made of greenstone, and would have been created in the Early Bronze Age. The carved stone ball is of Neolithic date: measuring roughly the size of an orange, its surface has been worked so it is now entirely covered with a hundred evenly spaced knobs.

These objects were last recorded as held amongst the collections of Banff Museum.

Text prepared by RCAHMS as part of the Accessing Scotland's Past project

NJ11NE 7 c. 16 18.

A perforated axe-hammer of greenstone and a carved stone ball, in Banff Museum, were found together in a moss near Tomintoul.

J Anderson and G F Black 1887.

No further information.

Visited by OS (R B) 2 August 1966.