"Browsing about on the Pythagorean shelf of a 'New Age' book
store, I flipped through an outsized book I believe was titled
'Sacred Geometry'... Therein it had photographs of a complete
set of the Platonic Solids, carved from stone and were said to
have been discovered in a paleolithic site in Scotland. They
were not polyhedra, but rather stone figures that clearly had
the symmetries of the Platonic Solids, but they were composed
of demi-spheres. As usual with such books, it didn't (seem to)
have a reference. Anyone?"
Below I attach Alison Roberts' kind response [dated August 18th, 1999]
to my enquiry. Hope this helps.
Cheers, JGC.
============================
Dear Mr Cabillon
Thank you for your enquiry concerning the prehistoric carved stone
balls from Scotland which we have in our collections, and which are
on display in our John Evans Gallery.
1927.2727 Kincardine (14 knobs)
1927.2728 Marnock, Banff ( 6 knobs with decorated interspaces)
1927.2729 Auchterless, Aberdeenshire (4 knobs)
1927.2730 near Aberdeen (6 knobs with worked interspaces)
1927.2731 Fyvie, Aberdeenshire (6 knobs with worked interspaces)
The examples in our collections are typical of the artefact class:
i.e. small carved balls of stone which have been decorated with a
series of clear-cut knobs in a symmetrical pattern which covers
the surface of the sphere The balls are found in Late Neolithic and
Early Bronze Age contexts (c. 4500-3500 years ago) throughout
Scotland with rare finds from Northern England and Ireland. They
have never been found in graves, and only once in a settlement
(Skara Brea) where they are assumed to be part of a hoard of
'prestige' items. They are usually isolated founds. There purpose
is unknown, although they are presumed to have some non-utilitarian
function, perhaps as a 'symbol of authority or status' - in much the
same manner as a ceremonial mace today. Very few of the balls are
damaged in any manner, which supports the idea that they did not
have a utilitarian function.
The following article provides an excellent review of the topic:
DOROTHY N MARSHALL Carved Stone Balls. in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotland,
108, 1976/77, p.40-72.
The objects depicted in the photograph which is reproduced in the
'Sacred Geometry' books are not present in the Ashmolean Museum.
Yours sincerely
Alison Roberts
Collections Manager
Department of Antiquities
Ashmolean Museum
University of Oxford
Oxford OX1 2PH
Telephone: 01865 288271
Fax: 01865 278032