A Peek at the Past, Petroglyphs in Alajuela, Costa Rica

It’s hard to believe that in the heart of an urban area of Alajuela there are signs carved into the rocks that date back more than 500 years. Pre Columbian grafitti.

Our group of intrepid curiosity seekers followed our guide, Ronald Castro, to a coffee farm just around the corner from a chain of houses and garages, and across some rough terrain to the back of the farm along the Itiquis river.

There where huge boulders line the river course we saw them, designs that looked like sunflowers with legs and some lizzard like creatures. “Probably iguanas,” Castro told us. “They were food.” With a sprinkling of talcum powder rubbed into the drawings they were easier to see. “They were most likely carved with stones that are harder than the rocks,” he explains. There were also faint lines, like channels connecting some of the figures.

Castro has a degree in International Relations and has taught at the University for Peace but his passion is for local history and he, aided by his wife Francia Espinoza, writes a weekly on line history bulletin of Alajuela and and is called on to explain historical sites on various television shows.

“These carvings were made by the Catapa (Katapa)tribe who lived in an area about ten kilometers by 15 kilometers and stretched from Alajuela to Santa Barbara de Heredia. Almost nothing is known about the people or how they lived but there are more stone carvings along the river, and up near Sabanilla de Alajuela (Poas area) there is a flat rock with holes and channels,” Castro tells us. “We think that may have been for sluicing gold from the river. The water passed over the rock and the gold fell into the holes.”

No one has ever studied the petroglyphs or can tell what they mean, according to Castro but because they are along a river they might be directions or messages for people passing by. At that time, 500 years ago, the river was much higher. Also, Castro pointed out, with the lines connecting some of the drawings it could be a map.”

What happened to the people who made the drawings, the Catapas? “When the Spanish took over after the conquist they encomended the original people, put them in groups to be slaves to work the farms and haciendas,” said Castro. “The first mention of them is in a record from 1569 when Pedro de Valmaseda received an encomiendo de Catapa Indians. A census of that year counts only 40 individuals.

In 1576 Francisco Carajo received the encomiendo with all their lands. In 1590 a judge declared the encomiendo to be legal. Fifteen years later Garcia Ramiro Corajo, son of Francisco, asked for recognition of the land as his, and in 1657 his widow, doña Juana de Vera y Sotomayor lists in her will a hacienda in La Lajuela (Alajuela) with an encomiendo of Catapas and all their territory.

That is the end of their history, says Castro. “Disease and hard conditions probably contributed to their demise. But Costa Ricans are a mixed people. All of us have some indigenous genes in our background.”

The only memorial to the Catapas is the writing on the rocks, preserved because the owners of the properties where they are found, care.

Ronald Castro offers tours of historic sites in and around Alajuela including to the petroglyphs and to the old restored chapel in El Llano, at ¢5000 a person. Contact him at

Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.