ENIGMATIC STONE SPHEROIDS FROM SCYTHIAN BURIAL AT KRASNYI PODOL OF UKRAINE: PETROGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTIC, PLACE OF MINING AND PROCESSING METHODS

The results of a petrographic investigation of 80 stone spheroids from a Scythian burial near the village of Krasnyi Podol are presented. The results indicate that all the stone spheroids were made from the same type of metamorphic rocks, namely actinolitites. The petrographic characteristics of the actinolitites indicate that the initial raw material was obtained from a single deposit. The Middle-Dnieper Region of the Ukrainian Precambrian Shield is considered as the probable place for their mining. The authors do not exclude that the natural outcrops of actinolitites could initially have had spherical jointing due to the processes of physical weathering. This jointing provided an opportunity to obtain roughly spherical blanks directly at the mining site. But most of the studied stone spheroids have got their spherical shape by artificial firing. The latter manifests itself in the surface desquamation and oxidation of the outer parts of the stone blanks. At least some of the stone blanks were ground to varying degrees after the firing. Stone abrasive materials were used for this purpose. The listed facts allow us to postulate that stone spheroids found in the Krasnyi Podol burial illustrate the successive stages of their processing. The owner of the stone spheroids likely possessed special knowledge regarding their mining, production and use.