Have you ever heard about the Stone Spheres of Costa Rica? In the 1930s, while clearing the jungle for banana plantations, the United Fruit Company discovered the hundreds of huge ancient nearly perfectly round stone spheres in the southern portion of Costa Rica, the area is known as the Diquis Delta. The most amazing thing about these stone balls was that many of them appeared perfectly spherical but they were never given much importance at that time. In fact, bulldozers and heavy equipment were used to get them out of the way, causing some stones to be damaged, and even the workmen began to drill holes into the spheres and blow them open with sticks of dynamite. Ranging in size from a few centimeters to over two meters in diameter and weighing around 16 tons, these stone balls are sometimes referred to as the Diquis Spheres that are usually attributed to the extinct Diquis culture that existed in the area between 700 CE and 1530 CE. These rounded stones are mysterious artifacts that were created centuries ago and are one of the strangest mysteries in archaeology. This discovery surprised archaeologists very much because no one is sure exactly when or how these huge stone balls were made, or for what reason.
Image Credit - Flickr
To date, more than 300 stone spheres have been found at archeological sites across the region. Some experts believe that these mysterious stone balls could be 96% perfectly spherical because a perfectly spherical round ball is hard to make. And in fact, where these balls were found is a primitive area, so the stone balls we see at Costa Rica would have been very difficult to make. These huge round balls seem to have been made by hammering natural boulders with other rocks, then polishing with sand. Most of these stone balls are sculpted from gabbro, a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock which is usually black or dark green in color. There are many more that appear to be made from shell-rich limestone, and several others that are made from sandstone. But now most of the stones are no longer in their original locations because virtually they have been taken away from their original locations to serve as landscape decoration.
Image Credit - Flickr
The sites around Costa Rica have been evaluated by very few over the years but as of 2010, the site has been evaluated as a UNESCO protected World Heritage site of major importance. The archeological site is not only a major interest, but it is also a complete mystery, why these stones exist is the subject to much speculation, we don't know why they exist, how old they are and we don't even know which civilization these things belong to, they are simply a mystery. Some believe that these stones came from Atlantis and were polished smooth by the water or that they were made as such by nature. And others believe that there was involvement of aliens in it. Some local legends state that the native inhabitants had access to a potion able to soften the rock. Indigenous people of the Bribri culture believed that Tara, the god of thunder, used a giant blowpipe to shoot the balls at the Serkes, gods of winds and hurricanes, in order to drive them out of these lands. Could there really have been a secret civilization that existed in Costa Rica thousands of years ago? what are those huge stones really representing and what are they really made for? It still remains a mystery.
To date, more than 300 stone spheres have been found at archeological sites across the region. Some experts believe that these mysterious stone balls could be 96% perfectly spherical because a perfectly spherical round ball is hard to make. And in fact, where these balls were found is a primitive area, so the stone balls we see at Costa Rica would have been very difficult to make. These huge round balls seem to have been made by hammering natural boulders with other rocks, then polishing with sand. Most of these stone balls are sculpted from gabbro, a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock which is usually black or dark green in color. There are many more that appear to be made from shell-rich limestone, and several others that are made from sandstone. But now most of the stones are no longer in their original locations because virtually they have been taken away from their original locations to serve as landscape decoration.
The sites around Costa Rica have been evaluated by very few over the years but as of 2010, the site has been evaluated as a UNESCO protected World Heritage site of major importance. The archeological site is not only a major interest, but it is also a complete mystery, why these stones exist is the subject to much speculation, we don't know why they exist, how old they are and we don't even know which civilization these things belong to, they are simply a mystery. Some believe that these stones came from Atlantis and were polished smooth by the water or that they were made as such by nature. And others believe that there was involvement of aliens in it. Some local legends state that the native inhabitants had access to a potion able to soften the rock. Indigenous people of the Bribri culture believed that Tara, the god of thunder, used a giant blowpipe to shoot the balls at the Serkes, gods of winds and hurricanes, in order to drive them out of these lands. Could there really have been a secret civilization that existed in Costa Rica thousands of years ago? what are those huge stones really representing and what are they really made for? It still remains a mystery.
This blog is completely informative and productive in nature. All the things mentioned are true about Caribbean To Pacific Adventure .
ReplyDelete