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From Jessica Marks

The appeal down the ages of throwing stuff in water as “votive offerings” may well be hard-wired, but I am uncertain that it is due to a magpie-like attraction to brilliance and shine (5 April, p 47).

My one-and-a-half-year-old twin sons have already discovered the thrill of throwing stones and other objects into water. They will collect a good throwing stone where there is no water in sight and clutch it in their fists until an opportunity arises to cast it into the water – whether the sea, a lake, a puddle, the bathtub or the toilet.

This behaviour elicits peals of laughter and satisfied looks upon hearing the sploosh and watching the splash. Throwing stones or coins over the edge of a cliff or into a deep well elicits a similar response.

It’s impossible to know if their delight at throwing things into water is immersed in toddlerish visions of luck, love or wish-granting. But perhaps adult votive offerings are merely an excuse for the urge to hear the ploink and watch the rings expand.

Bergen, Norway