Costa Rican National Museum announces new discovery of pre-Columbian stone spheres

Three new pre-Columbian stone spheres have been discovered in Batambal, an important archeological site in the Southern region of Costa Rica. The recent find of three spheres has confirmed Batambal as an important pre-colombian site and helped reignite interest into the mystery of these enigmatic pre-Colombian objects.

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The discovery of numerous archeological artifacts dating back to the periods of Aguas Buenas (300 A.C.-800 a.C.) and Chiriqui (800-1500 A.C) along with previously discovered spheres has helped Batambal receive a nomination as a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Francisco Corrales, a leading anthropologist at Costa Rica’s National Museum has stated that the three new spheres were located together, with two of the objects measuring 25cm in diameter and the third slighter smaller at 16cm wide. Corrales adds that the spheres had not been disturbed since they were first buried.

This incredible find has been linked to the previous discovery of four spheres located only 6 meters away. According to Corrales, the added discovery of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic artifacts including a 50cm tall sculpture with feline features has helped contextualize the significance of the nearby spheres. Corrales believes that Batambal was used for funeral rites and other symbolic activities in the Chiriqui era and considers the spheres to be important objects used in ceremonial acts.

Not everyone agrees with these assertions and there have been a number of alternative theories regarding the creation and significance of the spheres since they were first discovered during the 1930’s by United Fruit Company workers.

From alien visitors to mapping the location of Atlantis, a lack of information from both the pre-Colombian and colonial era has helped fuel a long list of theories to the spheres existence. One of the most recent claims comes from Ivan Zapp and George Erickson who argue that the spheres were in fact used to teach sea routes and constellation maps to navigators of the ancient world.