What are the Acambaro figures?
The Acambaro figures are clay figurines said to have been found in Acambaro, a town in Guanajuato in central Mexico. In the 1940s, Waldemar Julsrud, a German-born businessman living in the town, found figurines on a nearby hill and then asked local people to bring him more, buying them up. His collection grew to more than 30,000 pieces.
Figures that look like dinosaurs
Besides figures of humans and animals, the collection included many figures that look just like dinosaurs, such as long-necked sauropods and plated stegosaurs. Some even showed humans together with dinosaurs, prompting speculation that “ancient people may have seen dinosaurs.” Today Acambaro has a museum bearing Julsrud’s name, displaying part of the collection.
Are they really ancient?
An American archaeologist who investigated the site in the 1950s concluded that the figures lacked the dirt and wear they should have had after being buried there for a long time, and that they were made in modern times. The results of scientific dating of the figures were also debated, but most archaeologists think they were made by local people who knew Julsrud would buy them.
They are often compared with Peru’s Ica stones, also said to depict dinosaurs. Among Japanese figurines, the shakoki dogu are known for an alien theory. Famous OOPArts are listed on the OOPArts page.
