Acámbaro figures

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The Acámbaro Figures are several thousand small ceramic figurines allegedly found in July 1944 in Acámbaro, Guanajuato, Mexico, by Waldemar Julsrud.

The figurines are said by some to resemble dinosaurs and are sometimes cited as anachronisms. Some young-earth creationists have adduced the existence of figurines as credible evidence for the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans, in an attempt to cast doubt on scientific dating methods and potentially offer support for a literal interpretation of the Bible.^[1]

However, there is no reliable evidence for the validity of the Acambaro figures as actual ancient artifacts; they are accepted by no credible scholar of archaeology or paleontology, and the motives of many who support them are questionable.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Evidence of a hoax 3 Dating 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] History

The Acámbaro Figures were uncovered by a German immigrant and hardware merchant named Waldemar Julsrud. According to Dennis Swift, a young-earth creationist and major proponent of the figures, Julsrud stumbled upon the figures while riding his horse and hired a local farmer to dig up the remaining figures, paying him for each figure he brought back. Eventually, the farmer and his assistants brought him over 32,000 figures which included representations of everything from the supposed dinosaurs to peoples from all over the world including Egyptians, Sumerians, and “bearded Caucasians.”^[1]

The figures attracted little attention from scholars and scientists, and when Julsrud began to assert that they were accurate representations of dinosaurs created by an ancient society, he only alienated himself further from serious scientific investigation. Tabloids and popular media sources covered the story however, and the figures steadily became somewhat famous.

Archaeologist Charles C. Di Peso was working for the Amerind Foundation, an anthropological organization dedicated to preserving Native American culture. Di Peso examined the figures and determined that they were not authentic, and had instead been produced by local modern-day farmers, publishing his results in the journal American Antiquity.

He concluded that the figurines were indeed fakes: their surfaces displayed no signs of age; no dirt was packed into their crevices; and though some figurines were broken, no pieces were missing and no broken surfaces were worn. Furthermore, the excavation’s stratigraphy clearly showed that the artifacts were placed in a recently dug hole filled with a mixture of the surrounding archaeological layers. DiPeso also learned that a local family had been making and selling these figurines to Julsrud for a peso apiece since 1944, presumably inspired by films shown at Acámbaro’s cinema, locally available comic books and newspapers, and accessible day trips to Mexico City’s Museo Nacional.^[3]

Julsrud quickly gained supporters of the figures' authenticity. Some of these have tried to argue against Di Pesco's investigation.^[4] Charles Hapgood, pioneer of pole shift theory, became one of the figures most high profile and devout supporters.^[5] Other supporters included Earle Stanley Gardner, the prolific novelist and creator of the character Perry Mason, who came to Julsrud’s defense claiming that the 32,000 figures could not possibly have been produced by a single person or group of people. This was in defense against accusations that the figures were a hoax played on Julsrud.^[1]

The figures continue to draw attention in the present day. They have been cited in some pseudoscientific books such as Atlantis Rising by David Lewis, and Don Patton, another young-earth creationist, has emerged as their staunchest supporter. He has proposed some new lines of evidence, including the figure’s resemblance to the dinosaurs depicted in Robert Bakker’s book, Dinosaur Heresies.

[edit] Evidence of a hoax

The very circumstances from which the figures first appeared are cited as dubious.^[2] Julsrud claims that he paid the farmers for every figure they brought him, which would have given the farmers motive to create their own figures and disguise them as ancient artifacts.

According to DiPeso, the surface of the figures was practically brand new and they showed no characteristic evidence of having been in the ground for at least 1500 years. If they were authentic artifacts, they should be scratched and marred from the rocky soil, which is characteristic of artifacts found in that area of Mexico. Also, while people were digging up the artifacts, DiPeso observed them crush through authentic artifacts to reach the figures, yet none of the figures themselves displayed any marks of damage. Other evidence includes fresh manure and fingerprints found under the ground, and black fill from other strata which was discovered in sterile red earth, all of which is evidence of tampering with the site.^[2]

The sheer number of perfect figures found is cited as evidence for a hoax.^[2] Over 32,000 figures were found, and all of them in perfect condition except for a few that were cleanly broken, perhaps to create the illusion of antiquity. If these were authentic antiquities, they would not be preserved with such perfection in such an inhospitable environment. Pottery is almost always uncovered as fragments called sherds; nowhere have 32,000 unblemished ceramics been uncovered with none of them in fragments and all of them in perfect condition (cleanly broken in two does not count as fragmentation).

[edit] Dating

Although attempts have been made to date these figures using Thermoluminescence, or TL dating, and the earliest results, done when TL dating was in its infancy, suggested a date around 2500 BCE, later work showed these dates to be artificially old.^[6]

[edit] See also

• Ica stones
• Out-of-place artifact

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ironskeptic.com explanation of the figures
• Municipality of Acámbaro official page on the figures and the Julsrud museum.