Diquis spheres

Fiction over fact Pseudohistory

How it didn't happen

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Two Diquis Spheres

The Diquis Spheres are pre-Columbian stone spheres found in Costa Rica. They range in size from hand-held balls to over two metres in diameter. They are exquisitely worked from a variety of types of local stone and, while not "perfectly spherical", as is sometimes claimed by those offering the spheres as out-of-place artifacts, they do come impressively close.

The stones came to light during the 1930's when fruit company workers cleared land. Initially, some of the spheres were moved and several were drilled and dynamited in a search for hidden treasure. Over three hundred have since been found. They are undoubtedly artificial, but since the indigenous Diquis culture that likely created the stones vanished following the Spanish conquest, dating is uncertain. Conservative dating estimates based on associated finds place the spheres between 200 BCE and 1500 CE.

As well as being associated with native mythology, the uncanny spheres have attracted modern woo, largely based on the early measurements that mistakenly found them to be perfectly spherical even after hundreds or thousands of years of weathering. While they are spherical enough to deceive the eye and awe the onlooker, the "perfect sphere" claim does not stand up to detailed measurement. Neither does the claim that advanced knowledge or technology, beyond that of the ancient cultures of Costa Rica, would be needed to create the stones. Like any other stone sculpture they appear to have been first crudely shaped then painstakingly smoothed and refined. This may represent a level of craftsmanship and an expenditure of man-hours that an industrialised civilisation finds it difficult to grasp, but it is far from impossible. We do not need visiting wise white men from Atlantis nor ancient alien intervention to explain the creation of the Costa Rican stones, which are a poignant and lasting symbol of the unique cultures and histories the world lost following European invasion of the Americas.

Another theory is that the placement of the spheres is significant — possibly a star map or similar. As so few of the stones remain in situ due to decades of disturbance and land clearance, there's no evidence for any theory that takes the original placement of the stones into account.

In 2014 the Costa Rica spheres and associated archaeology were granted UNESCO World Heritage Site status.