Fuente Magna Bowl

The Fuente Magna Bowl was discovered in Bolivia near Lake Titicaca. Prior to this discovery, the site had not been a part of any excavation. It is a stone bowl (some authors say it is ceramic, though stone is the most accepted material) in the shape of a bowl for making libations, with zoological and anthropomorphic engravings on it.

The bowl also has either Proto-Sumerian, according to Dr. Clyde Winters, a stern Atlantean pseudoscientist, or Phoenician, according to Hugh Bernard Fox, script engraved on either side. Clyde Winters translated the script on either side of the bowl.

The right side reads:

"Girls take an oath to act justly (this) place. (This is) a favorable oracle of the people. Send forth a just divine decree. The charm (the Fuente Magna) (is) full of Good. The (Goddess) Nia is pure. Take an oath (to her). The Diviner. The divine decree of Nia (is), to surround the people with Goodness/Gladness. Value the people's oracle. The soul (to), appear as a witness to the [Good that comes from faith in the Goddess Nia before] all mankind."

The left side reads:

"Make a libation (this) place for water (seminal fluid?) and seek virtue. (This is) a great amulet/charm, (this) place of the people is a phenomenal area of the deity [Nia's] power. The soul (or breath of life). Much incense, to justly, make the pure libation. Capture the pure libation (/or Appear (here) as a witness to the pure libation). Divine good in this phenomenal proximity of the deity's power."

Alberto Marini translates it differently; however, and claims the bowl reads much more simply “the Lord of Serenity with the light gathers and herds together the large animals and the goats and the kids (weakened by lack of fodder, or wandering in search of food) to the open fields for rest.” Furthermore, the linguist Anna Meskhi claims there are Kartuli Asomtavruli (Georgian) letters engraved on the bowl along with Sumerian.

Discovery and (lack of) Excavation

The Fuente Magna Bowl was found outside of La Paz, Bolivia near Lake Titicaca by a worker from the Chúa Hacienda. The area in which it was found had never produced other relics, although which site that is exactly is hazy. The context, exact location, and even date of the artifact’s discovery are murky. There is no solid provenance. Freddy Arce Helguero, a renowned pseudoarchaeologist, and Bernardo Biados, whose title seems to be “Independent Education Management Professional”, travelled to the location of the discovery and met an 95 year-old man who recognized photographs of the object and claimed they used it to feed pigs. In 1960 it was taken from the hacienda to the Museo de Metales Preciosos in Bolivia where it still resides today. Although it’s hard to say if this account actually gives context, as some reports say the Fuente Magna bowl had to be restored, while this pig feed bowl would have needed to be in one piece. There is no date for the actual discovery, but authors seem to place it somewhere between 1950 and 1960, depending on who is writing about it.

Pseudoarchaeological Narrative

Author Zecharia Sitchin uses the Sumerian supposedly engraved on the bowl, with the bowl being found so far away from Mesopotamia, as evidence of otherworldly intervention and interactions with Sumerians, particularly by a race of aliens called the Anunnaki.

Others claim that the bowl was crafted by Sumerians who settled in Bolivia in 2500 BC. This “theory” says the bowl is proof of ancient trans-Atlantic travel and the influence Sumerians had on South America. Frank Joseph claims that this idea is being covered up by the mainstream archaeologists, and that they have destroyed or hidden away other artifacts that may relate Sumerian culture to Bolivia.