There are many interesting historical mysteries to be found around the world. In part one of this series we looked at The Underwater Cities. Here in part two we are going to take a look at Giant Stone Spheres.
The giant spheres found in Costa Rica are more well known however it's not the only place they are found. They are found in a number of countries on different continents. I believe some are created through natural processes however others most certainly are not.
Why would people in the past produce these massive spheres?
The amount of effort it must have taken to produce the bigger stones would have been immense.
Could they all be a naturally occurring phenomenon?
Lets delve into this curious subject and see where they occur, what the 'experts' say and what theories have been put forward by alternative sources. Whatever the truth is, someone at some point in history spent a lot of time and effort creating these stones so they must have had a good reason.
THE GIANT STONE SPHERES.
Map Source
Discovered in the 1930's in the Diquis Delta of Costa Rica, the stone balls or Petrospheres number in excess of 300. Sizes range from a few centimetres in diameter up to two meters. The largest stones found thus far weigh an astonishing 16 tons!
The majority of the stones are fashioned from Granodiorite which is an igneous rock similar to granite. The date of their creation is difficult to assess and therefore the time frame is considered to be between 200BC and 1600AD. A pretty big window in my opinion.
As you would expect with something so difficult to date there are a few different theories regarding who and why they were created, let's take a look at some of the theories being thrown around and a closer look at the stones themselves.
Lets start with this article from Crystalinks.com which gives a mix of mainstream and mythical theories........
It states......
The story of the spheres' discovery began in the early 1930s as the United Fruit Company was searching new grounds for banana plantations. A disease threatened the health of their crop on the Caribbean side of the isthmus. Searching the Pacific side, they found promising land within the Diquis Valley, not far from the coast where exports could be undertaken. They moved their headquarters from Limon to Golfito.
When the United Fruit Company arrived, the town of Golfito was a simple fishing village on the eastern periphery of the Golfo Dulce. However, it was soon connected by rail line to the larger town of Palmar Sur, some eighty kilometers away.
The stone spheres came to light during early cultivation of the farmland. Most were discovered by workmen as they cleared and burned the jungle in preparation for planting. Recognizing the stones as man-made, the workmen pushed them aside with bulldozers and heavy equipment. At some point thereafter, they returned to the stone balls, and, inspired by stories of hidden gold, began to drill holes into them.
Within the drilled holes they inserted sticks of dynamite, which they would use to remove stubborn roots and stumps. Unfortunately, several of the spheres were destroyed before authorities intervened. Some of the dynamited spheres have been reassembled and are currently on display at the National Museum in San Jose.
The first scientific investigation of the spheres was undertaken shortly after their discovery by Doris Stone, a daughter of a United Fruit Co. executive. These were published in 1943 in American Antiquity, attracting the attention of Dr. Samuel Lothrop of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. In 1948, he and his wife attempted to excavate an unrelated archaological site in the northern region of Costa Rica. The government of the time had disbanded its professional army, and the resulting civil unrest threatened the security of Lothrop's team. In San Jose he met Doris Stone, who directed the group toward the Diqu’s Delta region in the South-West and provided them with valuable dig sites and personal contacts. Lothrop's findings were published in Archaeology of the Diqu’s Delta, Costa Rica 1963.
Myths.
Numerous myths surround the stones, such as they came from Atlantis, or that they were made as such by nature. Some local legends state that the native inhabitants had access to a potion able to soften the rock. Another calls for the center of the spheres to contain a single coffee bean.
It is wrongly believed that the spheres are perfect. However they do have a surprisingly smooth surface. According to laser measurements by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, the spheres were 96% perfect.
The stone spheres have been found in clusters of up to twenty, and often in geometric patterns such as triangles, rectangles or straight lines. Such alignments often point to the earths magnetic north. A large number of the spheres have been located in the Diquis River Delta, with other popular sites being the southern cities of Palmar, Sur, Buenos Aires and Golfito as well as in the province of Guanacaste to the north and in the central valley. Archaeologists have been able to date the stones by the artefacts that have been found lying alongside them. Some of them have, thus, been dated as far back as 400 BC.
The majority of them have, however, been dated between 800 and 1200 B.C.E. Many of these stones have been found near the remains of dwellings and in close proximity to grave sites. Some believed that the stones contained some hidden treasures and a few of them have been smashed to try to get at this supposed treasure. None has been forthcoming, however. Despite these losses, however, the National museum of Costa Rica has catalogued some one hundred and thirty existing stone spheres. However, many of them are not catalogued. This is because of the fact that many of the spheres have been removed from their original sites and used as ornaments in private homes, gardens and churches. Clearly, there are also many stones that still lie undiscovered.
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Just how the ancient people of Costa Rica made these perfectly cylindrical stone spheres, remains largely a mystery. It is clear that some sort of mechanical procedure was needed in order to attain the precision displayed by the stones. Statues emanating from the same period show that the ancient Costa Ricans were very skilled sculptors. The existence of gold artefacts from about 800 C.E. also show that the people living at that time were experienced at working with high temperatures. It is, therefore, believed by some researchers that the stones were moulded into their perfectly cylindrical shapes by extreme heating followed by cooling, to remove any outer layers of rock. The rocks could have been finished by polishing with sand or leather.
The larger stones were clearly crafted by the most skilled sculptors. These stones are so perfectly shaped that the tape and plumb bob measurements of diameters reveal no imperfections. This shows that the makers of the stones must have had a degree of mathematical ability as well as advanced knowledge of stone carving and the use of tools. The ancient Costa Ricans, however, had no written language. There is, therefore, no written record of just how they made the stones spheres.
Many of the spheres are made of granite like rock. Yet the granite rock quarries were often twenty five to thirty miles away from the location of the largest stone spheres. How, then, did the sculptors move such heavy stones? Some of the stones, after all weigh sixteen tons. If the granites rocks were moved before they were sculpted, then the nine foot cube that would be needed to sculpt a sphere eight feet in diameter would weigh a whopping twenty four tons. To even get such a massive stone to its final location the natives would have to cut large tracks through very dense bush.
Other stones were made of coquina, a limestone like material which is found on the beaches near the mouth of the Diquis river. This stone was probably rafted up river about thirty miles to its final location. Some of these stone spheres have been found on Cano Island, which is located about twelve miles off the Pacific coast. As to why the stone spheres were made, there are, as yet, no explanations. It is possible that they were used as a symbol of rank or importance for a tribal chief or a village. Then again, they may have been used as religious or ceremonial symbols. Perhaps further study by archaeologists will unravel the secrets of the stone spheres of Costa Rica.
There seem to be lots of if, buts and maybe's! No real answers as to by who, how and why these stones were produced. The fact they many are found in dense jungle suggests that either they were brought there or there was no jungle when they were placed there which again is interesting. Could it be that they are much, much older than scholars currently believe?
Stone is difficult to date especially when it has been moved from where it was originally quarried or placed. Further study is absolutely needed if the mystery of these stones is ever to be revealed.
I've read a number of articles regarding the Costa Rican stones however there are no definitive answers, there are plenty of theories however not a lot of evidence to back any of them up. Some have postulated that they were used for star mapping (see this article ) which the ancients certainly did, one blog even suggested they were used for games by Giants in antiquity! I like a good conspiracy theory but even for me that one is out there.
Lets move on to another part of the world where stones almost identical to those found in Costa Rica have been discovered.
In recent years there has been a lot of archeological interest in Bosnia. This is due to the discovery of potentially the world's largest pyramid. I wrote about this recently in this post - The Bosnian Pyramids.
Hundreds of stone spheres have been found laying around the countryside of Bosnia however a 2016 discovery made the mainstream press. The reason it made headlines was because it is the biggest found on earth to date with a diameter of three meters and is estimated to weigh 60tons! The pictures below are of this massive sphere, discovered by Dr Sam Osmanagic in Zavidovici just 80km north of the pyramid site.
This is just one of the many that have been discovered over a longer period of time in this area, so many in fact that a park was opened in the area in 2006. This article from Megaliths.org reveals the story of the discovery of the stones.
It reads....
The Bosnian Stone Sphere Park near the town Zavidovici, Bosnia and Herzegovina was opened in September of 2016 by the Bosnain Pyramid of the Sun Foundation in conjunction with a group of local enthusiasts who recognised the value of the stones and the need to protect them.
It is located 80 kilometres north of the Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun in Visok. The spheres were discovered in 1936 after a large storm caused heavy run off in the area that opened the hillside and washed out an estimated 80 stone spheres.
Some of the spheres were washed all the way to the Bosna river, but most remained in the area that is now the park. In the 1960's and 1970's many of the spheres were destroyed when a rumour circulated that they had gold inside. Spheres were also taken from the site by collectors.
It continues....
The spheres are shiny and very smooth on the outside. Materials analysis revealed that the spheres are made of the local native sandstone but contain additional materials that are consistent with binding and hardening rock used during a geopolymer casting process.
Essentially it appears that the spheres were created from powdered or melted local stone mixed with a calcium carbonate (binder) and manganese (hardener), then molded into the sphere shapes.
I'm going to quickly cut in here to say.......What?!
If this is true it shows a level of sophistication comparable to modern techniques. There must have been a specific reason to do this, the stones must have had a purpose or why make them? It would be just as easy to use this process to create statues or building blocks. Why make spheres of varying sizes?
Continuing with the article.......
Stone spheres in other parts of the world made of granite and other hard natural stones are typically 'shaped' into their spherical form. Stone spheres have discovered in 8 different locations in Bosnia and Hezegovina. The stone spheres in NE Bosnia are made of granite and those in central Bosnia are made of volcanic stone, these geopolymer spheres are the third type of material discovered.
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Again after reading a number of articles no one comes up with answer as to why these spheres were created. Could it just be coincidence that the Bosnian spheres are a stones throw pun intended from the site of the Bosnian pyramid? I suppose it could be however the stones in Costa Rica aren't that far from many pyramid complexes, remember the country borders in place now are modern when you consider the timelines, is it a stretch to think they could have been connected to the builders of the Central and South American Pyramid complexes?
The stones of Costa Rica and Bosnia appear to me to have been produced by man however it would appear the methods are different. Some scholars still claim that they were produced through a natural process called concretion however I find this hypothesis disingenuous as you will see when you compare the spheroid stones that have been formed by this process to the ones I've shown you thus far. They are formed of much weaker materials and in most case are nowhere near as close to the almost perfect spherical of the stones in Costa Rica and Bosnia.
Lets take a look at some examples to compare.
The Moeraki Boulders are found on a long stretch of beach called Koekohe Beach - New Zealand between Moeraki and Hampden. These are a great example of spherical stones formed by concretion.
There are more called the Katiki Boulders found just 19km away at Shag Point and similar boulders are found in New Zealand's north island called the Koutu Boulders. All examples of concretion however they don't look anything like as well made or perfect as the ones we've see no of far.
They are indeed a fascinating phenomena however they are natural, the pictures are evidence of that. They're spherical however not even close to the perfection seen in Costa Rica and Bosnia.
An easy to digest explanation of how these particular stones formed can be found in this article along with more pictures of the stones.
New Zealand is by no means the only place these naturally formed boulders are found. Below are a few more examples.
Not even close to the quality of the stones spheres found in both Costa Rica and Bosnia. Clearly a quirk of nature found in many places around the world.
I visited Costa Rica early this year and while I was aware of the existence of the stones I'll admit I'd never given them much thought. However when you set eyes on them you can see and feel that they are somehow different to the ones produced by the earths natural processes. The pictures alone testify to that. Sadly I'm still no closer to the answers I seek regarding these amazing sculptures. The composition of the stones in Bosnia may well be a game changer if they prove to have been made from a molded geopolymer. Stories of the ancients having the ability to 'melt' and reshape stone in Central and South America are well documented, if this is true did people in the past have the same knowledge in Bosnia? If so, where did this knowledge originate? Hopefully one day the answers will be forthcoming and another mystery from the many in our history will be solved.
Thank you for reading Mystery History.
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