An Oopart (Out Of Place ARTifact) is a term applied to dozens of prehistoric objects found in various places around the world that, given their level of technology, are completely at odds with their determined age based on physical, chemical, and/or geological evidence. Ooparts often are frustrating to conventional scientists and a delight to adventurous investigators and individuals interested in alternative scientific theories.
In 1944, German entrepreneur Waldemar Julsrud found a clay figure near the banks of Cerro del Toro in Acámbaro, Guanjato, Mexico. No stranger to the area, Julsrud had contributed to the discovery of Chupicuaro culture in 1923. Yet as he continued to find similar figures, Julsrud began to wonder whether they corresponded to the same ancient people he helped discover more than 20 years before.
According to Julsrud, a more in-depth search revealed that similar figures were quite plentiful so he employed assistants (mostly local farmers) to help him collect the artifacts. Julsrud paid $1 for every piece found and soon gathered an impressive collection. In a short time, the entrepreneur’s rare assortment grew to an envious size—about 32,000 figures.
While the figures appeared to be of ancient origin, their depictions were quite controversial and began to attract attention among skeptics in the scientific community. The Acámbaro figures portrayed not only dinosaurs but also unknown animals as well as those that had long been extinct. The figures also included camels and other animals not known to the area, as well as depictions of faraway cultures.
Because it directly challenged the contemporary scientific understanding of man’s evolutionary development, many researchers began to take a closer look at Julsrud’s clay figures. Archeologist Dr. Charles Di Peso is perhaps the most well-known skeptic of the Acámbaro finds. He notes that the pieces look too well preserved to have been buried in the ground for as long as Julsrud and others claim. He published a detailed criticism of the artifacts in the journal American Antiquity.
In 1972, carbon-14 analysis was made of various figures kept at the Museum of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Laboratory tests showed that the objects were 5,000 years old. Four years beforehand at Isotopes Inc. in New Jersey, thermo-luminosity tests revealed that the approximate age was around 6,000 to 1,500 years old.
The archeologist and the regional director of the Acámbaro National Museum of Archeology enlisted various authorities to testify to the authenticity of the figures, including the paleontologist at the EUA Natural History Museum, naturalist Dr. Gaylord Simpson; Ivan T. Sanderson; and attorney/criminologist Erle Gardner.
As the popularity of the collection grew, so did the number of people who questioned the authenticity of the pieces. It was proposed that Julsrud was scammed by his assistants, who crafted the figures just to make money. While those who believe in Julsrud’s claim insist that making thousands of figures with such miniscule detail in such a short amount of time wouldn’t have been possible, critics counter that poor villagers were recruited to create exactly the kind of sculpture that Julsrud was looking for.
Critics also note that the figures are found in only one archeological site. However, those supporting the validity of the clay statues surmise that they may have been strategically buried by their creators, in a place considered religious or sacred.
While some argue that much more recent aboriginals could have crafted the pieces based on prehistoric animal bones found in the area, other researchers suggest that a civilization with an advanced culture sculpted the figures based on recorded history from an epoch when their ancestors coexisted with enormous reptiles.
Among the strange contents of the Acámbaro collection, there is a depiction of an extinct species of rhinoceros, a horse not seen since the Ice Age, extinct South American monkeys, plesiosaurus, and brachiosaurus. Unidentified species include some that are part bird and part reptile, combinations of reptiles and marsupials, reptiles with spoon-shaped beaks, and reptiles with horns. Among the human figures, a culture dedicated to hunting, without knowledge of agriculture, can clearly be seen. There are also some that show domestication of reptiles as well as other depictions.
The case of the Acámbaro figures shares striking similarities with stones found in Ica, Peru. Both supposed relics show scenes of dinosaurs alongside humans (among other rarities) and both have been labeled hoaxes by many in the scientific community.
Whether these figures are the product of fraud or a genuine testimony of prehistoric civilizations, the Acámbaro figures continue to intrigue a number of researchers who are searching for the true origin and development of man.
