The collection of the Ashmolean Museum of Scotland contains five unusual carved stone balls. Archaeologists find it difficult to explain the purpose of these objects.
The balls are made of various materials - sandstone and granite. Scientists believe that these items were made approximately between 3000 and 2000 BC. In total, about 400 such artifacts were found in Scotland, but five of them stored in the museum are the most unusual. As you can see in the photo, strange symmetrical patterns are applied on the surface of the stones.
Most stones have the same diameter - 70 millimeters, with the exception of a few larger ones, whose dimensions reach 114 millimeters in diameter. The number of protuberances on the stones ranges from 4 to 33; some have spiral and disc-like patterns on their surfaces.
An equally interesting stone was found in Aberdeenshire, about three inches in diameter (about eight centimeters). It has three raised round “caps” carved on it, on which spiral patterns similar to symbols are applied. It was made between 2500 and 1900 BC.
Geometry of the ancients
The five stones of the Ashmolean Museum were previously in the private collection of the British archaeologist and discoverer of the ancient Minoan civilization Sir John Evans, who believed that they could be used as projectiles for ancient throwing weapons. However, this explanation does not seem to be correct, since there is no damage on the stones, which would necessarily have happened if they were used during military clashes. And the very shape of the stones, the complexity of their manufacture suggest that it is pointless to try so hard to make shells.
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Other versions suggest the use of these artifacts as cargo for fishing nets or ritual items that give their owner the right to vote during various rituals. But all these versions do not explain why it was necessary to make stones of such a complex shape.
There is another possible explanation. But what if these stones are a schematic representation of atoms? This image is widely used in the modern world. Is it possible that whoever made these artifacts had a deep knowledge of chemistry and depicted various atomic structures?
At least the way these artifacts are made leaves no doubt that the master was well versed in geometry, having a good understanding of complex polyhedra. However, during the Neolithic, people did not have such knowledge. Or did they possess?
Nikolay SUBBOTIN