In the vicinity of the Colombian city of San Agustin, many stone steles have been found depicting strange anthropomorphic or zoomorphic creatures. Almost nothing is known about the civilization that created these statues: it probably ceased to exist long before the Spanish conquest.
One has only to guess about the purpose of these figures. It is only clear that most often they were installed over the graves. My version: the figures were supposed to scare away evil spirits. It's not for nothing that they are so ugly.
I call them "nibblers" or "vampires" because they always have a Hollywood grin, usually also with vampire fangs. And also the arms hold something or are simply folded on the chest. They remind me of the evil monsters from children's cartoons; having done another evil deed, they usually giggle and rub their hands. Nibblers cannot cope with their likely function of intimidation: they usually look very funny.
So, a huge number of such figures were found here - something of the order of 500-600 pieces, from 20 centimeters to 3 meters. And this is only according to official data.
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However, what has already been found is enough to assess the scale and form your own impression of this civilization. Archaeological Park of San Agustin is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Most of the statues are concentrated in the park and museum near the town of San Agustin, but a couple of interesting sites can only be reached on foot or by horse. Among them are figures on which paint is still preserved (La Pelota), and a rock carving in an inaccessible and very beautiful place (La Chaquira).
La Pelota.
La Chaquira.