In 1966 Peruvian physician, Javier Cabrera Darquea was shown a strange andesite stone that depicted a fish that was found in the Ica province. Cabrera recognized it to be a long extinct species before the dawn of man. This begged the question, who could have created the carving on this stone? Coincidentally, Javiers father used to collect similar stones back in the 1930’s as well, so there may have been a preexisting knowledge that he had regarding this artifact. Thus Javier began seeking more of these unexplained stones.
Initially Cabrera purchased 300 stones from two brothers, Carlos and Pablo Soldi, known for collecting pre-Incan artifacts and had previously tried to garner interest from archeologists to study the stones. These stones seemed to tell a story contrary to established history, depicting humans coexisting alongside dinosaurs and other extinct animals. Other rocks depicted complex surgical procedures among other revelations like ancient maps of Earth. It would seem that a big chapter of the human story was missing. Either that or these stones were just a hoax. Cabrera eventually found the source of the stones - a farmer named Basilio Uschuya, whom Cabrera acquired thousands more stones from. By the 70’s Cabrera had amassed a 11,000 strong collection of these so-called Ice Stones.
Cabrera went on to publish the 1994 book, The Message of the Engraved Stones of Ica whose subject matter theorized the origins of these alleged pre-Incan stones. Part of these theories suggest the far-fetched idea that mankind is at least 405 million years old and originates from the “Gliptolithic” man, an inter dimensional, highly advanced species of human from a planet in the Pleiades constellation. This race of beings allegedly traveled to Earth long ago to transplant their genetic code into archaic primates which we descend from. As the Ica Stones gained popularity, Cabrera abandoned his medical career and opened up a museum dedicated to featuring the thousands of stones in his collection in the late 90’s.
Most skeptics point to a 1973 interview that Erich von Däniken had with farmer Basilio Uschuya to debunk the case of these out of place artifacts. Uschuya claimed then that the stones he sold were fakes, and it was easier to earn a living selling them than farming. Uschuya and another farmer, Gutierrez de Aparcana both confirmed they created them by referencing images from books, comics and magazines. A simple explanation it seems. Then in 1977, Uschuya demonstrated in the documentary, Pathway to the Gods how to create one of these stones using a dentists drill and then baking the stone in cow manure to achieve the signature patina these Ica stones had. Later on, Uschuya rescinded his statement claiming that he only said they were a hoax to avoid being sent to prison, as it is illegal in Peru to sell archeological artifacts. However, due to new found attention from his interviews and appearances in documentaries, Uschuya was arrested by Peruvian authorities. He didn’t wind up getting sentenced and was able to continue selling similar stones as trinkets and souvenirs to tourists.
In the end, there is no way to date stones to reveal their age. The likely explanation is that these were indeed created by Uschuya and other farmers, though it is worth noting Uschuya’s recanting of hoaxing them. All in all this case is an interesting curiosity and if anything makes the mind wonder about where we came from and where we might be going.
What do you think? Are these stones just interesting curiosities and trinkets for tourists, or is there something more to these stones? Perhaps something from our ancient past, trying to remind us of our origins? The answer is up to you.
Thanks to my Amazon Affiliate partnership I'm able to provide links to great reads about fortean subjects. As mentioned and linked above, Javier Cabrera Darouea's 1994 book, The Message of the Engraved Stones of Ica that takes an academic look after studying the stones for 40 years. If you follow through my link it helps me out and keeps the lights on. Thanks for reading! Buy it here (or click the book image)!
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