The Circular Archetype in Microcosm: the carved stone balls of late Neolithic Scotland

Review by Hugo Anderson-Whymark Carved stone balls are one of Scotland’s most intriguing Neolithic artefacts. Some 500 of these palm-sized stone spheres are known, with most found in Aberdeenshire. This monograph is the first solely devoted to the study of these artefacts. The early chapters provide a comprehensive overview of the last two centuries of research, and present valuable new research on geological identification of raw materials used and their sources. A revised typology lies at its core, with more than 100 pages describing some 46 ‘types’ of ball. This approach teases out some interesting details, but the author admits to being a ‘splitter’, with the significance