The strange stones of Ica in Peru

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hardluck:
Hello All

In the oasis town of Ica in southern Peru is a private museum of Dr Jose Cabrera. In his museum is some very bizarre stones.

These stones are very enigmatic because carved into these stones are cultural, geological and technological themes which would call into question our perceptions of the pre history of South America.

The Ica stones were popularized by Javier Cabrera, a Peruvian doctor who received an engraved stone as a birthday gift in 1961. Cabrera identified the engraving on the stone as a stylized depiction of an "extinct fish" that lived millions of years before. Carlos and Pablo Soldi, two collectors of artifacts who had failed to interest the archaeological community with their findings, found an interested party in Cabrera, to whom they sold 341 similar stones.

Cabrera soon found another supplier, a peasant named Basilio Uschuya, and from these and other sources, Cabrera collected over 15,000 engraved stones over the next thirty-five years.

The stones depict a wide variety of scenes: dinosaurs attacking or helping humans, advanced technology, advanced medical operations, maps, and sexual depictions. While there is a degree of ambiguity that leaves room for differing interpretations, they display definite knowledge of things that are wholly anachronistic. They have caught the attention of many people inclined to question aspects of modern science, and Creationists and others have used the Ica stones to argue against prevailing scientific theories.

Cabrera attempted to resolve the many scenes into a narrative, and from there to decipher a history of the civilization he believed made the stones. He believed that the ancient technology belonged to what he called Gliptolithic Man, an extraterrestrial race which supposedly arrived sufficiently long ago to coexist with the dinosaurs and then genetically engineered modern man. Cabrera believes that some time afterward, they left to another planet, utilizing the nearby Nazca lines as a spaceport, before some unspecified catastrophe occurred.

The stones are reported to have been found in caves and stream beds. Because they are rocks and contain no organic material, Carbon-14 dating cannot be used. No other method of radiometric dating has been applied to the stones. Furthermore, even a confirmation of the rocks' age would not prove that the engravings upon them had not been produced at a later date.

In 1998, Spanish investigator Vicente Paris declared after four years of investigation that the evidence indicates that the stones are a hoax. Among the proofs presented by this investigator were microphotographs of the stones that showed traces of modern paints and abrasives. The strongest evidence of fraud as claimed is the crispness of the shallow engravings; stones of great age should have substantial erosion of the surfaces.

In 1973 Basilio Uschuya confirmed that he had forged the stones during an interview with Erich von D?niken, but later recanted that claim during an interview with a German journalist, saying that he had claimed they were a hoax to avoid imprisonment for selling artefacts. In 1977, during the BBC documentary Pathway to the Gods, Uschuya produced a "genuine" Ica stone with a dentist's drill and claimed to have produced the patina by baking the stone in cow dung. He continued to make and sell stones.

 In 1996, another BBC documentary was released with a skeptical analysis of the stones and the newfound attention to the phenomenon prompted the authorities of Peru to arrest Basilio Uschuya, as under Peruvian law it is illegal to sell archaeological discoveries. Uschuya recanted his claim that he had found them and instead admitted that they were hoaxes, saying ?Making these stones is easier than farming the land.? He also said that he had not made all the stones. He was not punished, and continued to sell similar stones to tourists as trinkets.

South America like all countries have some marvelous ancient treasures and like every where else and like every country there is people out there wanting exploit the interest in lost treasures.

It is some thing all treasure hunters, Historical researchers and collector should always beware of.

Hardluck  ;)


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Marticuss:
I have heard and read a bit about these stones. I dont doubt the majority are fakes. The second supplier Basilio Uschuya seems to be the likely candidate for that.
But the originals the first ones to appear from the story Carlos and Pablo Soldi where might they have got theirs, maybe there is some truth to the story.



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