Ica Stones

Ica Stones : are located high up in the Andes Mountains, the "Rockies" of South America, in one of the more arid regions of Peru called Ica. They comprise of a number of rocks which very in size from a tennis ball to twice the size of a football. They are made out of andesite, this is a very hard mineral that would be difficult to carve with primitive tools. These stones are also covered with a natural varnish created by bacteria over thousands of years. It is by scraping away this dark natural varnish to reveal the lighter mineral beneath that the etchings are made. Some examinations of the stones show that the grooves of the etchings also bear traces of additional varnish, indicating that they are very old. They contain pictures of primitive fish, ancient Indians using what can only be described as modern technology and dinosaurs. These images are all etched by hand. Although highly fascinating, the age of the rocks cannot be verified due to a lack of organic material, this tends to add to their mystery.