Stone spheres of Costa Rica

The stone spheres of Costa Rica are an assortment of over 300

petrospheres in Costa Rica, on the Diquís Delta and on Isla del Stone spheres of Costa Rica
Caño. Locally, they are also known as bolas de piedra (literally
stone balls). The spheres are commonly attributed to the extinct
Diquís culture, and they are sometimes referred to as the Diquís
Spheres. They are the best-known stone sculptures of the
Isthmo-Colombian area.

They are thought to have been placed in lines along the approach
to the houses of chiefs, but their exact significance remains
uncertain.
Stone spheres of the Diquís at the
The Palmar Sur Archaeological Excavations are a series of Finca 6 archaeological site
excavations of a site located in the southern portion of the
country, known as the Diquís Delta, and have centered on a site
known as "Finca 6" (Farm 6). The archaeological findings date
back to the Aguas Buenas Period (300–800 CE) and Chiriquí
Period (800–1550 CE).

In June 2014, the Precolumbian Chiefdom Settlements with

Stone Spheres of the Diquís was added to the UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites.[1] In July 2014, a project, which had been
proposed in 2011, to declare the spheres a national symbol of the
country was approved.[2]
Location within Central America
Location Palmar Sur, Osa,
Contents Puntarenas, Costa
Rica
Description
Region Osa, Puntarenas
Geographic setting and location
Coordinates 8°54′41″N 83°28′39″W
Site description
History
Pre-Columbian history
Periods 500–1500 CE
Post-contact history
Cultures Diquís culture
Historical background
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Early researchers in the region
Current research Official name Precolumbian
chiefdom settlements
Tourism
with stone spheres of
Cultural identity the Diquís
Art and architecture Type Cultural
Myths Criteria iii
See also Designated 2014 (38th session)
References
Reference no. 1453 (https://whc.unes
External links co.org/en/list/1453)
State Party Costa Rica
Region Latin America and the
Description
Caribbean

The spheres range in size

from a few centimetres to over 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter, and
weigh up to 15 tons.[3] Most are sculpted from gabbro,[3] the coarse-
grained equivalent of basalt. There are a dozen or so made from
shell-rich limestone, and another dozen made from a sandstone.

They appear to have been made by hammering natural boulders with

other rocks, then polishing with sand. The degree of finishing and
Several stone spheres of the Diquís precision of working varies considerably. The gabbro came from
exhibited at Museo Nacional de sites in the hills, several kilometres away from where the finished
Costa Rica. For comparison spheres are found, though some unfinished spheres remain in the
purpose, the image on the wall hills. They are used for decoration.
shows the diameter of the biggest
recorded stone sphere, 2.66 metres
(8.7 ft)

Geographic setting and location

The archaeological site of Palmar Sur is located in the southern portion of Costa Rica, known as the Diquís
Delta, and in the southernmost part of the Puntarenas Province. The Diquís Delta is defined as the alluvial
plain with the geographical boundaries of the Fila Grisera to the north and east, the Pacific Ocean to the
west, and the Osa Mountains comprising the southern boundary.

The Site is located in Palmar Sur, southern Costa Rica. The site is located on approximately 10 hectares of
property that was previously owned by the United Fruit Company in the alluvial plain of the Térraba River.

Site description
The archaeological site of Farm 6 has been dated to the Aguas
Buenas Period (300–800 CE) and Chiriquí Period (800–1550 CE). It
was a multifunctional site accommodating a settlement and a
cemetery, and remains of monumental architecture and sculpture are
also present on the site. The monumental architecture consists of two
mounds which were constructed with retaining walls made of
rounded river cobbles and filled with earth. The site contains
multiple locations where large stone spheres are found in situ.
Additionally, since many of the stone spheres in the region were In situ stone sphere at Finca 6
removed from their original locations and serve as landscape Archaeological site
decoration, the site has become a storage location for spheres that
have been returned to the National Museum. One of the neighboring
towns to Farm 6 also had spheres or "esferas". They were called "zanahoriagas", for their more oval-like
shape.

Pre-Columbian history
The stones are believed to have been first created around the year 600, with most dating to after 1000 but
before the Spanish conquest. The only method available for dating the carved stones is stratigraphy, but
most stones are no longer in their original locations. The culture of the people who made them disappeared
after the Spanish conquest.[4]

Post-contact history
The spheres were discovered in the 1930s as the United Fruit
Company was clearing the jungle for banana plantations.[4]
Workmen pushed them aside with bulldozers and heavy equipment,
damaging some spheres. Additionally, inspired by stories of hidden
gold, workmen began to drill holes into the spheres and blow them
open with sticks of dynamite. 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 of Costa Rica in San José.
View of the Farm 6 Archaeological
The first scientific investigation of the spheres was undertaken site.
shortly after their discovery by Doris Stone, a daughter of a United
Fruit executive. These were published in 1943 in American
Antiquity, attracting the attention of Samuel Kirkland Lothrop[5] of the Peabody Museum at Harvard
University.[6] In 1948, he and his wife attempted to excavate an unrelated archaeological site in the northern
region of Costa Rica.[7] The government had just disbanded its professional army, and the resulting civil
unrest threatened the security of Lothrop's team. In San José he met Doris Stone, who directed the group
toward the Diquís Delta region in the southwest ("Valle de Diquís" refers to the valley of the lower Río
Grande de Térraba, including the Osa Canton towns of Puerto Cortés, Palmar Norte, and Sierpe[8]) and
provided them with valuable dig sites and personal contacts. Lothrop's findings were published in
Archaeology of the Diquís Delta, Costa Rica 1963.

In 2010, University of Kansas researcher John Hoopes visited the site of the Stone Spheres to evaluate their
eligibility for protection as a Unesco World Heritage Site.[9]

Historical background
Before the arrival of the Companía Bananera de Costa Rica, a
branch of the United Fruit Company, and banana plantations in the
1930s, vegetation in this area offered a great deal of biodiversity in
both plant and animal resources. Resources available to
Precolumbian inhabitants in this alluvial plain consisted of riverine
and ocean resources, including mangrove forests located in the
Terraba and Sierpe Rivers.

The rich alluvial soils of this region facilitated historical agriculture

Remnants of UFCO occupation in since the 1930s. The United Fruit Company dominated this southern
Palmar Sur region with banana plantations as early as the 1920s in Parrita and
Quepos. The UFCO entered Palmar Sur in the 1930s under the name
of Companía Bananera de Costa Rica in an effort to avoid
antimonopoly legislature. [10] Today the landscape is still carved into agricultural fields which are owned by
co-ops and consist of plantain, banana, and palm plantations.
Early researchers in the region
Scientific research in the alluvial plain, particularly on United Fruit
Company properties, began in the 1940s with the work of Doris
Zemurray Stone and Samuel Lothrop. Lothrop's work focused on
excavation at a handful of sites, one being Farm 4. His work aimed
to document all archaeological sites containing "in situ" stone
spheres, to record the number of spheres and their dimensions, and
to make detailed maps illustrating both their arrangement and
alignments.

After the work of Lothrop and Stone, research in the area took a
Pre-Columbian stone sphere,
hiatus for nearly fifty years. In the 1990s, Claude Baudez and a team
located at the University of Costa
of researchers set out to establish a ceramic chronology of the region Rica as a symbol of tradition and
by observing the change in ceramic styles over time.[11] This was ancient wisdom.
accomplished by examining the drainage ditches that were cut into
the landscape by the UFCO. Research carried out by Ifigenia
Quintanilla, under the direction of the MNCR from 1991–1996 was
performed in the region under the project titled "Man and
Environment in Sierpe-Terraba" focusing on settlement patterns,
occupational sequences, and resources utilized in the region.[12]

Francisco Corrales and Adrian Badilla, archaeologists with the

Museo Nacional de Costa Rica, have performed continuous research
in the region since 2002. Their research began in 2002 and focused
on four archaeological sites in the region containing stone spheres
Stone spheres of the Diquís
and of which comprise a "circuit". These sites include Grijalba, exhibited at Museo del Jade.
Batambal, El Silencio, and "Farm 6". The purpose of the project was
to assess the cultural significance of the sites, to protect the cultural
heritage, in addition to beginning research and studies at the sites.[13] Corrales and Badilla produced a
booklet entitled El Paisaje Cultural del Delta del Diquís which provides a quick overview on the history of
the Diquís Delta, the history of banana plantations and the UFCO, the natural environment, archaeological
sites in the region, and the importance of the Diquís region as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.[14]
Research has continued in the region by Corrales and Badilla focusing on the archaeology and the
Precolumbian political structure in the Diquís Delta. Research emphasis was on chiefdoms and their
associated archaeological indicators. Their objectives were to study the archaeological sites containing stone
spheres in the Diquís Subregion to gain an understanding of community configuration, activity areas,
sequences of occupation, and the recording of monumental architecture.[15]

Current research
Research is currently ongoing at the "Farm 6" site under the direction of archaeologists at the Museo
Nacional de Costa Rica. The first field season in which archaeological excavations were undertaken was in
2005. Objectives during this field season included defining the area in which two mounds were located,
sphere alignments, and various excavations associated with mound 2. In 2007, as second field season was
undertaken focusing on archaeological excavations of Mound 1. During this field season, a stone sphere was
discovered "in situ" in association with the mound.

Tourism
Archaeo-tourism is a concept that is still relatively new in Costa
Rica. To date, the national monument of Guayabo de Turrialba is
primarily the only archaeological site open for tourism. Tourism on a
smaller scale is occurring at the site of Farm 6 but is open to visitors
upon paying a nominal fee to tour the museum display and then tour
the grounds, viewing some of the discovery sites. It is no longer
necessary to have an appointment. Future plans of the MNCR are to
open the site to tourism on a larger scale and to include other sites
nearby in the region.

Cultural identity
The stone spheres are regarded as a national symbol[2] and part of
Stone sphere made by the Diquís
the cultural ethos of Costa Rica, therefore it is common to see them
culture in the courtyard of the
installed in government buildings, such as in the under construction National Museum of Costa Rica.
building of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica, where in
October 2019, seven spheres lent by the Museo Nacional de Costa
Rica where installed inside. [16]

Art and architecture

The stone spheres have been the inspiration of sculptures, such as Ibo Bonilla and Jorge Jiménez Deredia.
Also, its symbols has been used by some architects.

Gallery: Diquís stone spheres in art

 Arruyo from the Diquís stone sphere Steel sculpture by Imagen Cósmica, a
open air exposition inside a glass and Ibo Bonilla, with work on ancient
“Jiménez Deredia steel spherical 18 m (59 ft) is the mysticism, Costa
en San José: La structure at the main tallest in Costa Rica Rican Art Museum,
Fuerza y la entrance of Museo San José, sculpture
Universidalidad de Nacional de Costa by Jorge Jiménez
la Esfera”, San Rica. Deredia
José, Costa Rica

Close-up of the Architectonic-

sculpturea Génesis sculptural
de Meditación by arrangement at
Jorge Jiménez Plaza de la Justicia,
Deredia at Museo San José, by Ibo
del Oro Bonilla.
Precolombino

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.
Limestone, for example, can be dissolved by acidic solutions obtained from plants. Research led by Joseph
Davidovits of the Geopolymer Institute in France has been offered in support of this hypothesis.[17]
However, most of the spheres were created from gabbro, an acid-resistant igneous rock.[18]

In the cosmogony of the Bribri, which is shared by the Cabecares and other American ancestral groups, the
stone spheres are “Tara’s cannon balls”. Tara or Tlatchque, 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.

It has been claimed that the spheres are perfect, or very near perfect in roundness, although some spheres are
known to vary over 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in diameter. Also, the stones have been damaged and eroded over
the years, and so it is impossible to know exactly their original shape. A review of the way that the stones
were measured by Lothrop reveals that claims of precision are due to misinterpretations of the methods used
in their measurement. Although Lothrop published tables of ball diameters with figures to three decimal
places, these figures were actually averages of measurements taken with tapes that were nowhere near that
precise.[19]

See also
Olmec colossal heads
Barrigones of Guatemala
Petrosphere
Stone ball
Kugel ball
Bosnian sphere
List of megalithic sites
Moeraki Boulders

References
1. "Six new sites inscribed on World Heritage List" (https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1160).
UNESCO. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
2. "Esferas precolombinas son declaradas símbolo nacional" (https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/poli
tica/esferas-precolombinas-son-declaradas-simbolo-nacional/WC2VC73HUZH5RM46VEQWY
YTLAQ/story/). 16 July 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
3. "The stone spheres of Costa Rica" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8593717.stm). BBC
News. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
4. Brendan M. Lynch (22 Mar 2010). "University of Kansas researcher investigates mysterious
stone spheres in Costa Rica" (http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-03/uok-uok03221
0.php). Retrieved 2010-03-24.
5. National Academy of Sciences (1877). "Samuel Kirkland Lothrup" (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=43U3AD_F9UMC&pg=PA253). Biographical memoirs, Volume 48. National
Academies Press. p. 253. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
6. Tim McGuinness. "Costa Rican Diquis Spheres: Sphere history" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0100329102018/http://www.mysteryspheres.com/history.htm). mysteryspheres.com. Archived
from the original (http://www.mysteryspheres.com/history.htm) on 2010-03-29. Retrieved
2010-03-31.
7. Eleanor Lothrop (September 1955). "Prehistoric Stone Balls—a Mystery" (http://naturalhistory
mag.com/print/1353). Picks from the Past. Natural History. Retrieved 2010-03-31.
8. Gazetteer of Costa Rican Plant-Collecting Locales: Diquís (or Dikís) (http://www.mobot.org/MO
BOT/Research/costaricagaz.shtml#Diquis) from the website of the Missouri Botanical Garden
9. "The stone spheres of Costa Rica" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8593717.stm). BBC
News. 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
10. Villalobos 2005
11. Baudez, et al. 1993
12. Quintanilla 1992
13. Corrales and Badilla 2002
14. Corrales and Badilla 2005
15. Corrales and Badilla 2005, 2007
16. "Inician instalación de esferas precolombinas en nuevo edificio legislativo" (https://www.crhoy.c
om/sin-categoria/inician-instalacion-de-esferas-precolombinas-en-nuevo-edificio-legislativo/).
24 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
17. Joseph Davidovits. "Making Cements with Plant Extracts" (http://www.geopolymer.org/dl/?x=pd
f&get=CemPlant.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 2010-08-13.
18. Dunning, Brian (3 February 2015). "Skeptoid #452: The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica" (https://
skeptoid.com/episodes/4452). Skeptoid. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
19. John W. Hoopes. "Errors and Misinformation" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130323062800/h
ttp://web.ku.edu/~hoopes/balls/errors.htm). Archived from the original on March 23, 2013.
Retrieved 2007-06-19. (mirror: "Common Misconceptions" (http://www.world-mysteries.com/sa
r_12.htm))

Egitto, A. (2007). A GIS analysis of the archaeological relationships in the Diquis Delta of
Southeastern Costa Rica. Cleveland State University.

Quintanilla Jiménez, I. (1992). "Prospección arqueológica del Delta Sierpe-Térraba, sureste de

Costa Rica: Proyecto Hombre y Ambiente en el Delta Sierpe-Térraba (Informe 1)". Museo
Nacional de Costa Rica. Submitted to MS.

Quintanilla Jiménez, I. (2004). Las esferas de piedra del Pacífico Sur de Costa Rica: descifrando
el "enigma" desde la arqueología. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Baudez, Claude; Borgnino, Natalie; Laligant, Sophie; Valerie Lauthelin (1993). Investigaciones
arqueológicas en el Delta del Diquís. Mexico, D.F.: CEMCA.

Corrales, Francisco; Badilla, Adrian (2005). El Paisaje Cultural del Delta del Diquís. San José.:
Museo Nacional de Costa Rica–UNESCO.

Corrales, Francisco; Badilla, Adrian (2005). Investigaciones Arqueologicas en Sitios con Esferas
de Piedra, Delta del Diquís. San José.: Museo Nacional de Costa Rica–UNESCO.
Propuesta de proyecto Departamento de Anthropología e Historia.

Lothrop, S. K (1963). Archaeology of the Diquís Delta, Costa Rica. Cambridge: Papers of the
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 51. ISBN 0-00-000000-0.

Stone, Doris (1943). "Preliminary investigation of the flood plain of the Río Grande de Térraba,
Costa Rica". American Antiquity. 9 (1): 74–88. doi:10.2307/275453 (https://doi.org/10.230
7%2F275453). JSTOR 275453 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/275453).

External links
Stone Spheres, Diquis Delta, Costa Rica (https://web.archive.org/web/20110719103142/http://
www.landmarksfoundation.org/projects_diquis.shtml) from Landmarks Foundation
Costa Rican Stone Spheres (https://web.archive.org/web/20130113010459/http://www.mystery
spheres.com/) a website by archaeologist Tim McGuinness, Ph.D.
Dunning, Brian (3 February 2015). "Skeptoid #452: The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica" (https://
skeptoid.com/episodes/4452). Skeptoid. Retrieved 17 January 2017. A review by the Skeptoid
Podcast

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