Dear Mike, You report...
> I have just seen the pictures ... of two 'Portable > Sundials'... I think that these are just two oddly > shaped flints... I agree. Cue for related anecdote... At the very first practical class we give to new Geology students, they are shown a dozen samples of different kinds of rock and are asked simply to write short notes on each. One of the specimens looks exactly like the femur of a dog. Almost every student writes "Fossilised Bone". In fact it is flint. Flint can take on the most extraordinary shapes quite naturally and even the most amateur of archaeologists are warned not to make rash assumptions. The caption says, inter alia, that: The length and position of the shadow created by the upright flint Gnomon on the shaped base enabled them to gauge the passing of time for ritual needs. Why go to the trouble of making a flint sundial when you can stand up straight and look at your own shadow? Frank King Cambridge. --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
