Having a whale of a time in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

While all eyes are on Costa Rica’s national football team in the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, the country of Costa Rica also is getting attention from the United Nations.

At the end of June 2014, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added four pre-Colombian historic sites located in the southern region of Costa Rica to its list of World Heritage locations.

These archeological sites of Finca 6, Batambal, El Silencio, and Grijalba-2 in the Diquís Delta of the Osa Peninsula have gained international recognition for the mysterious stone spheres found there.

“The spheres are distinctive for their perfection, their number, size and density, and their placement in their original locations. Their preservation from the looting that befell the vast majority of archeological sites in Costa Rica has been attributed to the thick layers of sediment that kept them buried for centuries,” stated UNESCO.

Approximately 300 giant, nearly perfectly-formed spheres of granite-like igneous rock have been discovered in southern Costa Rica, starting in the 1930s when jungle was being cleared for banana plantations. The spherical stones range in diameter from 0.7 meters (2.3 feet) up to 2.57 meters (8.5 feet), with the largest weighing 16 tons. Their origin, exact age and history are still a mystery, although archeologists tentatively date the spheres to between 500 and 1500 AD.

It is thought that the spheres were created by ancestors of the indigenous Boruca people in southern Costa Rica, though that ancient people is long gone and left no written records. The spheres’ origin and purpose have sparked international attention. Scientists suspect they were used to represent astronomical constellations, for delineation of tribal areas, or served as a place of worship and gathering.

You can see the strange stones at the Museum of the Stone Spheres, which opened in December 2013 at Finca 6 in Palmar Sur.

The Stone Spheres Museum is only one hour from Portasol Rainforest & Ocean View Living residential community. The Costa Rica sustainable community, in the coastal mountains between Manuel Antonio National Park and Dominical, has Costa Rica property for sale and offers tourism hospitality with unique vacation rentals. Stay in one of Portasol’s vacation bungalows or Costa Rica homes for rent while you explore the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica.

“The new status of the pre-Columbian spheres is an honor for Costa Rica,” said Stefano Luconi, Portasol client services manager. “With this event, we can show the world that besides being a country focused on sustainability and conservation, and one of the few countries in the world without an army, we also have an impressive history.”

Article by Shannon Farley