A so-called Keraunia (Thunderstone) – a Neolithic stone axe that was inscribed in Roman times (2nd/3rd century CE) with a magic inscription in Greek letters, a charm for love or protection. From Herculaneum in Italy, now housed at the Landesmuseum Württemberg in Germany [1080x2061]
“Ancient tools and weapons like these once were believed to have been formed by lightning and were called Thunderstones.”
Thunderstones are explained in Ralph Merrifield’s The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic (Batsford 1987). The story goes something like this: in Greek and Roman times people did not know when they found a prehistoric stone axe that it was a piece of archaeology. They understood it to be a fossilised thunderbolt and called it a keraunos. Working on the principle that lightning never strikes the same place twice, it made sense to them to place it in the roofs of buildings to act as a charm to ward off lightning.
Thunderstones are go! | Ancient Worlds
Inscribed Greek Thunderstones as House- and Body-Amulets in Roman Imperial Times
Inscribed Greek Thunderstones as House- and Body-Amulets in Roman Imperial Times
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