An Ica stone depicting a fight with monsters.
The Ica stones are a collection of andesite stones that bear a variety of diagrams, including depictions of dinosaurs and what is alleged to be advanced technology. They were popularized by Peruvian physician Javier Cabrera. They are considered to be a modern hoax created by Peruvian locals.
Description
The stones are composed of andesite and vary in size from pebbles to boulders. They are shallowly engraved with a variety of images, purportedly depicting a variety of phenomena.
· Extinct animals
· Surgeons and astronomers performing advanced works
· Star and land maps
The stones that contradict extant knowledge of Peruvian prehistory are considered prime examples of out-of-place artifacts. The stones themselves cannot be carbon dated due to a lack of organic deposits.
History
Origins
In the past, a number of engraved stones were uncovered in the context of archaeological excavations, and some engraved stones may have been brought from Peru to Spain in the 16th century.
Popularization by Cabrera
A collection of Ica stones surrounding a portrait of Javier Cabrera
Peruvian physician Javier Cabrera Darquea was presented with a stone that had a carved picture of what Cabrera believed to be an extinct fish by a friend for his 42nd birthday in 1966. Having an interest in Peruvian prehistory, Cabrera began collecting them. This supplemented an existing collection of stones gathered by his father from their plantation in the 1930s. Cabrera's collection burgeoned, reaching more than 10,000 stones in the 1970s. Cabrera published a book, The Message of the Engraved Stones of Ica on the subject, discussing his theories of the origins and meaning of the stones.
Though Cabrera's collection is the largest, other collections exist or existed as well. These include the Callao Naval Museum collection, several stones residing in the Regional Museum of Ica, and multiple stones in the Peruvian Aeronautical Museum
Cabrera's fraudulent stones
In 1973 Uschuya confirmed that he had forged the stones he gave to Cabrera during an interview with Erich von Däniken, copying the images from comic books, text books and magazines 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 archaeological artifacts. In 1977, during the BBC documentary Pathway to the Gods, Uschuya produced an Ica stone with a dentist's drill and claimed to have produced the patina by baking the stone in cow dung. The Ica stones achieved popular interest when Cabrera abandoned his medical career and opened a museum to feature several thousand of the stones in 1996. That same year, another BBC documentary was released with a skeptical analysis of Cabrera's stones, and the newfound attention to the phenomenon prompted Peruvian authorities to arrest Uschuya, as Peruvian law prohibits the sales of archaeological discoveries. Uschuya recanted his claim that he had found them and instead admitted 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. The stones continued to be made and carved by other artists as forgeries of the original forgeries.
Impact
The stones have been used by some creationists to show evidence of humans living in proximity with dinosaurs; believers in ancient astronauts as evidence of a lost, advanced civilization brought to man from other planets; and mytho-historians claiming them as evidence that ancient myths are accurate histories. They have also generated a large amount of literature written to refute those claims.
