1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910645995203321

Autore

Stewart-Moffitt Chris L.

Titolo

The circular archetype in microcosm : the carved stone balls of late neolithic Scotland / / Chris L. Stewart-Moffitt

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Oxford : , : Archaeopress Publishing Ltd., , 2022

©2022

ISBN

1803271272

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 366 pages) : illustrations (chiefly colour), maps (colour)

Collana

Archaeopress Archaeology

Disciplina

930.14

Soggetti

Stone carving - Scotland - History

Neolithic period - Scotland

History

Scotland Antiquities

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references.

Nota di contenuto

Foreword and Acknowledgements ; Chapter One: Introduction ; Chapter Two: Scotland: Early people and the environment ; Chapter Three: Antiquarian, Archaeological and New Age ideas regarding CSBs ; Chapter Four: The Geology of Scotland and Materiality of Carved Stone Balls ; Chapter Five: Landscape and CSB Distribution ; Chapter Six: CSB links to Monuments and other Artefacts ; Chapter Seven: The Classification of Carved Stone Balls and a Revised Typology ; Chapter Eight: CSB Decoration and their Revised Classification/Typology ; Chapter Nine: Origin, skill, lifecycle, use and demise ; Chapter Ten: Conclusions and Future Research ; Coda ; Bibliography ; Appendix One (Online) Master Carved Stone Ball Database 2021 ; Appendix Two (Online) Introduction to Gazetteer ; Appendix Three: CSB Skill Assessment ; Appendix Four: Cast/Replica Carved Stone Balls.

Sommario/riassunto

The Circular Archetype in Microcosm is the culmination of seven years research into the Carved Stone Balls of Late Neolithic Scotland. It is the first study of these enigmatic artefacts since that undertaken by Dorothy Marshall in 1977 and includes all currently known examples in both museums and private hands, described and analysed in



considerable detail. For the first time, visual geological characterisation has been undertaken on approximately a third of carved stone balls, which has enabled a more detailed analysis of their potential origin and the landscapes in which they were found. The book offers a revised classification/typology of these artefacts which, following careful analysis, suggests that it is possible to determine individual craftspeople with a wide range of skills. It suggests that carved stone balls were used as unique and distinctive gestalts that represented the ideology of the core area of Aberdeenshire and enabled disparate groups to recognise one another.