The Ica Stones, a group of rocks carved with images that seem to question many of our hard held scientific perceptions, remain a bit of a mystery and an enigma. A local farmer supposedly found the stones in 1961. He claimed to have found them in a cave near Ica, Peru.
The stones were varied in size. Some were small enough to hold while others were large enough that a single individual couldn’t easily lift them. The pictures etched into them were, as a rule, lighter in color than the aged stone. However, the etched grooves bore traces of the rock’s natural varnish, making it appear as though they were etched many years ago.
According to typical scientific dating processes, the stones themselves were more than 10,000 years old. However, the images carved into them appeared to be anything but.
If one assumed that the pictures on the stones were made during the same time period as the rocks themselves, then an interesting conundrum arises. It is, according to everything that modern science believes, virtually impossible. The creatures and objects pictured on the stones didn’t even co-exist within the same time period.
For example, some stones showed images of men using an object that looked like a telescope. Others showed people apparently performing heart surgery with tools that didn’t exist during the period of time pictured.
Still other stones included maps of parts of the world that had not yet been chartered with such precision. Some showed pictures of men, who resembled the ancient tribes of the Inca or Aztec, attacking monsters that realistically resembled the dinosaurs of an age gone by.
Dr. Javier Cabrera, who eventually collected more than 11,000 of the stones, stated that he believed they could have been a part of the library of the lost city of Atlantis. He was not alone in his theory. The French scientist, Robert Chartrous, who examined Cabrera’s collection on more than one occasion, also concurred.
However, the cave where the farmer claimed to have found the stones was identified and has, therefore, never been scientifically explored for its authenticity. That fact has led many to believe that the Ica Stones were nothing more than a hoax, put together to gain notoriety for Cabrera and to supplement a farmer’s pitiful income.
That belief seemed all but certain when the farmer was eventually arrested for selling similar stones to tourists. After his arrest, he admitted that he hadn’t actually found the stones at all, but had made them himself.
Several other artists also came forward claiming that they, too, have carved Inca Stones and sold them to gullible tourists. They said that they got the idea from books and magazines.
If that were the case, however, it leaves one wondering how a German laboratory could have certified the authenticity of the carvings as dating back to the same time period as the rocks themselves. And local bone fragments reported to have been found within the same region as the rocks, dated back for millions of years.
In 1990, a television crew captured the work of one of the artists who claimed to have etched some of the rocks. He even stated that he had personally carved several of Cabrera’s stones himself. More than that, he implied that he also carved some of the figurines and other artifacts found within the doctor’s collection; all while working under Cabrera’s direction.
Further muddying the water, however, was the fact that the stones were authentic to the region and appeared to date back several thousand years. A search ensued for similar stones from the same region that were also engraved with images. However, they bore little resemblance to those in Cabrera’s collection.
After Cabrera’s death in 2001, the desire to solve the mystery somewhat died out. However, his museum remains open and the stones are still there for anyone to view. And, if nothing else, they certainly raise a lot of questions.
Thes questions continue to intrigue and incite new hypotheses. Many believe the stones were nothing but a hoax. Some believe them authentic. Still others believe that the stones are pictures left behind by extraterrestrials to outline for man’s impending history. Others believe that they prove that cultural myths shed the light of doubt on scientific theories. Others just let them remain a mystery of life.
