Costa Rica: Finca 6 Sphere Museum

Costa Rica has a small number of UNESCO Heritage Sites, four in total, and not surprisingly three of these are areas of natural beauty and environmental significance. The fourth is not actually a location but are historical artefacts, the pre-Colombian Diquis stone spheres. We decided to go and see the spheres ourselves at one of the four sites managed by the National Museum of Costa Rica; Finca 6. Finca translates to ‘estate’, referring to a piece of rural or agricultural land.

The Diquís culture emerged in the Valley of the Rio Grande de Térraba, where they established complex social, economic, and political systems to govern their society. The Diquis culture reached its peak between 800 and 1500AD, with the settlements growing into large communities, constructing large structures using round-edged boulders, paved areas, burial sites, and circular or rectangular mounds with stone walls. Their artisans created elaborate ceramic, bone and gold objects and sculpted stone spheres in key areas within the settlements. Stone spheres were also placed in alignments in public plazas, or on the approaches to the dwellings of the ruling elite or chieftains.

Over time many of these spheres became naturally buried and it was not until the 1930s, when these lands were cleared to plant banana plantations. Large numbers of these almost perfectly round stone spheres were uncovered. The largest of these apparently man-made balls is over two metres in diameter and weighs over 16 tons.

Today, virtually all of the spheres have been taken from their original locations. Many are prized lawn ornaments across Costa Rica. A collection of six now resides in the courtyard of Costa Rica’s National Museum in San Jose.

Some of these spheres have been collected, restored and placed in four sites in the region they were discovered.

At Finca 6 there is a small museum dedicated to the Diquis culture and the stone spheres.