Stone Spheres of Costa Rica

An archeological mystery of Costa Rica is the large stone balls that were created from 200 BC to 800 AD.  They range in size up to 2 meters and can weigh 16 tons (15,000 kg.).  If you remember the opening scene of the first Indiana Jones movie, you might remember Harrison Ford running away from one of these balls rolling towards him in the jungle.

There are at least 300 of these balls that are known, including several in the National Museum in San Jose, and two are on display in the United States, one at the National Geographic Society in Washington and another at the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.

The stones came to public attention in the 1940's after United Fruit Company uncovered a bunch of them in their agricultural activities.  They were made from a very hard stone, called granodiorite.  Amazingly, they were transported from the quarry location to places as far as 50 miles away.

This stone is in front of some shops on the circle in the middle of Tamarindo.  The stones have been scattered around the country, with some rich people using them for lawn ornaments.  There is another in Tamarindo near the beachfront restaurant at the Tamarindo Diria Resort.   Before I noticed them right in town, the only one I had seen is at the entrance to the International Airport in Liberia.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site. This week we are posting photos from Tanzania, Africa.