Ica stones

The Ica stones are a collection of carved stones depicting what appears to be humans and dinosaurs interacting, advanced technology being used by ancient people and various other unusual images. They come from Ica, Peru and were popularized by the Peruvian doctor Javier Cabrera. Cabrera recognized a species of ancient fish on a carved stone he was given as a gift and concluded that the carving was extremely ancient. He then let it be known that he wanted to purchase more of these stones. Over the years, Cabrera purchased a large collection of carved stones and publicized his findings. The authenticity of the carvings has been hotly debated and there are various theories about their origin.

Authenticity
Cabrera purchased most of the stones from a local farmer named Basilio Uschuya. Uschuya claimed he found the stones in a cave. Selling archaeological artifacts is illegal in Peru. When Uschuya was questioned about selling the stones by the authorities, he said he had made the carvings himself. In an interview, Uschuya told Erich von D&auml;niken that the stones were a fraud and made a carving for a BBC documentary in which he explained his methods. However, Uschuya later stated that he had lied about making the carvings in order to avoid legal trouble and the stones were in fact genuine. Cabrera also bought stones from other local people.

Theories
Other than the theory that the carvings are a modern fraud, there are several theories about the origins of the Ica stones. In one theory, the stones are proof that humans and dinosaurs coexisted several thousand years ago and that the Biblical account of creation is correct. The stones are held up as proof of this by creationists.

Another theory states that the stones are proof that ancient astronauts taught early humans advanced technical, scientific and medical knowledge. This accounts for the carvings of complex medical procedures and technology such as telescopes. Variants of this theory are that the beings depicted in the carvings are actually extraterrestrials or Atlanteans. Cabrera himself thought the beings were from the Pleiades and had colonized the Earth millions of years ago. They later left the planet but genetically engineered modern humans before their departure.

A third theory holds that ancient myths and legends are historically accurate and the carvings prove this is true. Depictions of ancient humans riding and fighting dinosaurs prove that ancient legends of dragons are true.