Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society » Stone Spheres of Costa Rica

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September 19th, 2006

Stone Spheres of Costa Rica

In the 1930s, workers from the United Fruit Company, who were clearing land in the Diquis Valley of Costa Rica for banana plantations, began unearthing large numbers of almost perfectly round stone spheres. The largest of these apparently man-made balls was over two meters in diameter and weighed over 16 tons. No one is sure exactly when or how they were made, or by whom, or for what reason, but according to University of Kansas archeologist John Hoopes:

The balls were most likely made by reducing round boulders to a spherical shape through a combination of controlled fracture, pecking, and grinding. The granodiorite from which they are made has been shown to exfoliate in layers when subjected to rapid changes in temperature. The balls could have been roughed out through the application of heat (hot coals) and cold (chilled water). When they were close to spherical in shape, they were further reduced by pecking and hammering with stones made of the same hard material. Finally, they were ground and polished to a high luster. This process, which was similar to that used for making polished stone axes, elaborate carved metates, and stone statues, was accomplished without the help of metal tools, laser beams, or alien life forms.

Today, virtually all of the spheres have been taken from their original locations. Many are now prized lawn ornaments across Costa Rica.

The stone spheres have played a role in various pseudoscientific theories involving aliens and supercivilizations from Atlantis. Intriguingly, similar spheres have also been found in several other places around the world, including most recently in Bosnia and Herzegovina (where they have been touted by the same folks involved in digging up the so-called “Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun”).

* Other uncommon spheres discussed in the Proceedings: Elephant Bezoar Stones and Hikaru Dorodango.

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