The purpose of primitive stone sculptures created by pre-Columbian civilizations of America remains a mystery for several generations of scientists.
According to one version, they represent the gods, on the other – the deceased ancestors, on the third – representatives of the ruling elite.
A study conducted by scientists from Harvard University (USA), pointed to a new mystery idols.
It turned out that some areas of stone figures are magnetized. They are located not randomly, but in a certain way: either on the right temple or in the center of the abdomen.
From this we can conclude that the ancient tribes were familiar with the concept of magnetism and were able to determine magnetic anomalies, that is, had much more advanced technologies than it was thought
Scientists noted that all rocks contain magnetic minerals.
Rocks are usually magnetized when cooled, and minerals such as magnetite, hematite, and iron sulfides align with the earth's magnetic field.
As a rule, their fields are very weak and can not even shake the compass needle.
But the radiation found in the stone statues was four times more powerful than the "background" magnetic radiation.
The authors of the scientific work have found only one possible explanation – in ancient times, these stones were struck by lightning. Later, the natives somehow found them and used them to create their artifacts.
"Lightning produces very strong magnetic fields, many orders of magnitude stronger than usual. We believe that the ancient Mesoamerican people were able to identify these anomalies", – said the experts.
The exact reason why the tribes chose such stones remained unknown.
Perhaps the sculpture was used in local rituals, and manifestation of the magnetic anomaly (e.g., when they rejected the magnetized rock) served as a proof of their supernatural power.
Scientists noted that the first mention of magnetism preserved in ancient Greek documents of the VI century BC. The first usable compass was created in China a century later. New data show that in Mesoamerica, regardless of other civilizations, the presence of magnetic fields has also been discovered.
