The Costa Rican Stone Sphere mystery.......?

Question

Huge spheres carved from granite were discovered around 1940. Hundreds lay about the area ranging from grapefruit sized to over six feet diameter, with an accuracy of 0.2% roundness.

Any idea why the skilled makers - never tried making ANYTHING else using their skill ?

Or any thoughts on why they are there?

-link-

http://www.mysteryspheres.com/history.htm

Answer 1

I saw a show about this on PBS.They are man-made.There's at least one guy still doing it.We can only guess why.Mine guess,some kind of religious thing.Then again maybe it was just to make people wonder.

Answer 2

They truly are a mystery aren't they?  Thanks for posting.  I have never heard of those before.  I love that kind of stuff.

Answer 3

There is no doubt that the ancient south Americans took stone masonry seriously and were highly skilled: pyramids, sculpture, stone walls at Macchu Picchu etc....

I like the theory that they were part of a large scale calendar such as the earlier versions of Stonehenge.

The sphere is an obvious choice of symbolism as the sun is a perfect sphere as seen from earth and their religion was based around the sun.

Making a sphere isn't that hard for skilled stone masons: a correctly curved template matched to the preferred diameter of sphere is the only requirement. I wouldn't be surprised if there were only half a dozen or so sizes because making an accurate template was difficult too.

The template was probably a piece of the same stone carved to a given radius by using a string tied to a fixed point, the same method as a school compass. Using the same stone meant ther would be no errors for thermal expansion.

Answer 4

Maybe they did use their skills to make other things but those thing haven't lasted as long. They have them in other places too. At least two large ones ,(about 2 1/2 -3 feet tall ones) were found in Texas at the Peluxy River near Glen Rose, TX near where the human and dino tracks are found together. The spheres were moved to a elementary school were they sat at the entrance for years. Then they were auctioned off and are now in private collections. One woman has one of them in her yard she inherited it from her father who bought it in the auction, she lives in Cleburne, TX.  

I believe that there are a few other places in the world that have them too.  Very interesting they are.

Answer 5

The biggest mystery is why you would ask about it when you know anyone who asks about it will be cursed with higher gas prices at the pump.

Answer 6

These truly are amazing artifacts. Archaeologists still aren't sure what they were used for. However, the web page below might be the most comprehensive source for answering questions on these spheres. It is authored by Tim McGuinness, Ph.D., member of the Society of American Archaeology.

Answer 7

The spherical shape used, as opposed to using a block shape, or any other shape, creates the question....what was consistently spherical in their world?

The Moon and Sun...common objects of worship and sources of mythology, since man began seeking answers to the unknowns of their world.