GUARDIANS OF STONE

Ancient statues keep watch over hundreds of tombs in the mountains of Colombia…

MORE STATUES AT THIS SPOT A 2m-tall warrior glares across a grassy valley in the Andes Mountains of South America. He flashes fierce jaguar-like fangs and watches the scene with a stony stare. Makes sense – the figure is made of, well, stone. Around 600 magnificent statues have occupied the area near San Agustín, Colombia, for more than 1,000 years. But nobody’s sure why they were built or who made them. So scientists are digging up clues to try and solve the mystery. STONES AND BONES When the Spanish colonised the region about 500 years ago, the longabandoned statues were the only traces of the mysterious people who’d made them. Some of the colonisers believed the statues’ creators must have had magical powers. How else could you explain the sculptures when…

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National Geographic Kids (AU/NZ) (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 121

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