Pre-Columbian, Caribbean, Taino, ca. 1000 to 1500 CE. An enigmatic spherolith created by the Taino peoples, perhaps for use in a ceremonial ball game, pecked and polished into a near perfect sphere. One third of the surface is a mottled gray and brown hue, and the rest has a dusty light layer of mineral encrustation, as if this artifact spent the last few centuries partially buried. Ball-courts have been found in parts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, where the Mesoamerican ballgame was played with a rubber ball. It is possible that this stone ball was a votive object or trophy for the ball game. Given its orb-like appearance, scholars have also suggested that it may have been created to symbolize the sun or another celestial body. Size: 2.35" Diameter (6 cm); 3.25" H (8.3 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995 to 2010; ex-Bob Dowling collection, San Francisco, California, USA, acquired 1990 to 2010

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#171730

Age-commensurate surface wear and abrasions, with some mineral encrustations over most of the surface. Otherwise intact and excellent.