Fuel prices went up again today, as a hike approved by the Public Services Regulatory Authority went into effect. The cost of a liter of super and regular gasoline went up 22 colones ($0.044) and 20 colones ($0.04), while diesel went up by 25 ($0.05).

National Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Choir Perform
Performing Handel's Messiah, 7:30 p.m., International Christian School, San Miguel de Santo Domingo de Heredia; tomorrow, 7:30 p.m., San Ramón Church; Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Alajuela Cathedral; Friday, 7:30 p.m., Sendero de Luz Church, Gravilias, Desamparados. Info: 240-0333.

Francisco Amighetti's Oils
Last chance! Art exhibition of the work of Francisco Amighetti at Enrique Echandi Gallery, behind National Theater, San José. Ends today.

By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net

What's gray, round and keeps popping up all over? Stone spheres, hand-crafted by the country's indigenous population.

Archaeologists have found another one of Costa Rica's mysterious spheres in an excavation near the Osa Peninsula, the National Museum reported. The sphere is roughly the same size as one discovered at the same dig in 1993: 1.10 meters in diameter.

Regarded as indigenous monolithic treasures, hundreds of perfectly round balls have been spotted in different parts of the country. Many are no larger than a bowling ball. Some are more like a big boulder, weighing 16 tons. They are usually made of granodiarite, a hard, igneous stone.

This one was found at the Finca 6 site, in canton de Osa, at the foot of an underground entrance ramp to what archaeologists believe was a pre-Colombian chiriquí home, museum Director Francisco Corrales told The Tico Times.

The exact use and origin of the spheres remains a mystery; attempts to explain it have ranged from comic to cosmic.

But according to Corrales, this latest discovery reinforces a more scientific theory.

“The finding leads us to believe that these spheres were symbols of social prestige and hierarchical positions” during the Chiriquí period from 800 to 1500 AD, he said. The Chiriquí people were ancestors of the Brunca, one of Costa Rica's eight indigenous groups.

“This is important because it reinforces the fact that they (the spheres) were created by indigenous people who had a complex society, capable of constructing such things. (The Chiriqui) were experts with stone,” he said.

Ifigenia Quintanilla, the archaeologist who discovered the sister sphere in

1993, was delighted to hear the news. “After more than 50 years of destruction, by people mining for gold and exploiting the land for bananas, it is amazing that it's still possible to find spheres intact in their original place,” said Quintanilla, who will soon publish an illustrated book with explanations in Spanish and English of the sphere phenomenon.

Considering over 90% of the known stone balls are not in their original homes, she added, it is all the more remarkable.

By Alex Leff
Tico Times Staff | aleff@ticotimes.net

The fertility rate reached an all-time low last year at 1.9 children per woman of reproductive age, reports Costa Rica's National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC). The number has fallen just below the two-child mark needed to sustain the population replacement level.

Society has strayed a long way from the average 7.3 kids per household of 1960-1961. Since then, the rate has steadly declined. By 2003, INEC says, the birth rate was 2.1 babies per women; in 2005 it fell to two.

Luis Rosero, researcher at the Central American Population Center at Costa Rica University (UCR), attributes the birth decline to a number of factors. “Higher education levels among women and greater incorporation into the workforce, the high cost of raising children, more available contraception, changes in values,” he said, to name a few.

“Young people are placing less importance on maternity. It used to be that girls would become a woman through motherhood,” he added.

When asked if a reduced role of religion had played a part, Rosero said, “Not at all.”

“We have found no difference between practicing Catholics and non- in terms of the birth rate.”

The decline, however, isn't a threat to the Costa Rican population, Rosero said. “We predict that, most probably, the population will grow to 6 million until 2050, and will then stabilize,” he said. That is, he added, unless the birth rate continues to drop below 1.8, and immigration stops entirely.

Fuel prices went up again today, as a hike approved by the Public Services Regulatory Authority went into effect. The cost of a liter of super and regular gasoline went up 22 colones ($0.044) and 20 colones ($0.04), while diesel went up by 25 ($0.05).

That leaves prices of a liter of super, regular and diesel fuel at 574 colones ($1.15), 559 colones ($1.13), and 513 colones ($1.03), respectively.

A statement by the authority said this is the last price hike Costa Rica will see for the rest of the year. Since the beginning of the year, prices have gone up 17.6% and 21.5% for super and regular, and 40.9% for deisel.

Soaring fuel prices have helped push Costa Rican inflation to over 10% for the last 12-month period, one of the highest rates in the region.