{
  "id": "kummakivi-balancing-boulder",
  "title": "Kummakivi: the boulder that appears to defy balance",
  "country": "Finland",
  "category": "nature",
  "date": "1962-01-01",
  "date_label": "1962 protection year; 1 January is an ordering anchor, not its formation date",
  "location": "Ruokolahti, South Karelia",
  "lat": 61.494,
  "lng": 28.426,
  "summary": "A real erratic boulder rests on a small-looking support. Its striking appearance invites legends, but appearance alone does not violate mechanics.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "K1",
      "title": "Visit Finland — Kummakivi erratic boulder",
      "url": "https://www.visitfinland.com/en/product/b595c97d-fad9-46f6-bbe5-1948d513efa3/kummakivi-erratic-boulder/",
      "language": "en",
      "note": "National tourism inventory: location, erratic classification and protection context.",
      "kind": "Source record · see provenance note"
    },
    {
      "id": "K2",
      "title": "Saimaa UNESCO Global Geopark — Kummakivi interpretive sign",
      "url": "https://saimaageopark.fi/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Kummakivi-siirtolohkare-opaste.pdf",
      "language": "en",
      "note": "Geopark sign records the natural-monument protection year as 1962.",
      "kind": "Source record · see provenance note"
    }
  ],
  "author": "Eklipsis",
  "content_languages": [
    "en"
  ],
  "path": "/investigations/kummakivi-balancing-boulder",
  "source_url": "https://www.visitfinland.com/en/product/b595c97d-fad9-46f6-bbe5-1948d513efa3/kummakivi-erratic-boulder/",
  "location_source_url": "https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=61.494&mlon=28.426#map=8/61.494/28.426",
  "location_precision": "region",
  "location_note": "Approximate orientation marker for the named place or institution; not a surveyed observation point, protected excavation coordinate or recommended access route.",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-30",
  "edition": 1,
  "truth_type": "unknown",
  "verdict": "This is an unusual natural formation, not evidence that gravity is absent. A geometric and geological account is the appropriate starting point. The linked visitor record does not replace a specialist survey of the object and its supporting bedrock.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "title": "Documented account",
      "text": "Finland’s national tourism listing identifies Kummakivi as an erratic boulder and a protected natural monument. The object’s physical presence and protected status are distinct from explanations of how it arrived or why it remains stable. A visitor’s photograph can make the contact look smaller than it is, particularly when the underside and the centre of mass are hidden.",
      "refs": [
        "K1",
        "K2"
      ]
    },
    {
      "title": "Evidence and its limits",
      "text": "The marker is approximate orientation near the monument. The dossier contains no surveyed support polygon, mass measurement or force experiment. A claim that the boulder cannot be moved by a person is not equivalent to proof that ordinary forces cannot account for its position.",
      "refs": []
    },
    {
      "title": "Inspector’s assessment",
      "text": "This is an unusual natural formation, not evidence that gravity is absent. A geometric and geological account is the appropriate starting point. The linked visitor record does not replace a specialist survey of the object and its supporting bedrock.",
      "refs": []
    },
    {
      "title": "A reproducible next investigation",
      "text": "Compare photographs from several permitted viewpoints, preserving focal length and scale. Sketch possible support geometry without touching or attempting to shift the protected boulder. Seek a geological publication explaining local glacial deposits before attributing a detailed transport history.",
      "refs": []
    }
  ],
  "timeline": [
    {
      "date": "Glacial history",
      "text": "The erratic classification relates the object to geological transport; no exact formation date is assigned.",
      "refs": [
        "K1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "1962, protection year",
      "text": "The official visitor record identifies protection as a natural monument.",
      "refs": [
        "K1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "Modern documentation",
      "text": "The national tourism listing records the place and its visitor context.",
      "refs": [
        "K1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "30 September 2026",
      "text": "Eklipsis prepares this source-linked documentary synthesis. This is editorial review, not historical fieldwork.",
      "refs": []
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "text": "A real erratic boulder rests on a small-looking support. Its striking appearance invites legends, but appearance alone does not violate mechanics.",
      "status": "Documented subject; interpretations qualified in the dossier",
      "refs": [
        "K1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "This is an unusual natural formation, not evidence that gravity is absent. A geometric and geological account is the appropriate starting point. The linked visitor record does not replace a specialist survey of the object and its supporting bedrock.",
      "status": "Assessment with explicit limits",
      "refs": [
        "K1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "text": "The map point represents the exact location of every reported event.",
      "status": "Incorrect; orientation only",
      "refs": []
    }
  ],
  "hypotheses": [
    {
      "title": "Stable contact and centre of mass",
      "status": "Physical explanation to quantify",
      "support": "The object is stationary on a real support.",
      "limits": "The necessary geometry has not been measured here.",
      "test": "Use a non-contact survey to compare support and centre-of-mass estimates."
    },
    {
      "title": "A misleading photographic impression",
      "status": "Interpretive contribution",
      "support": "One viewpoint hides important geometry.",
      "limits": "Perspective alone is not a transport history.",
      "test": "Compare calibrated views rather than one dramatic image."
    }
  ],
  "tasks": [
    {
      "title": "Audit the source record",
      "body": "Retrieve the named records for Kummakivi: the boulder that appears to defy balance. Record author, edition, page or section and access date. Treat a catalogue, mirror or translation of one document as the same evidence, not independent corroboration."
    },
    {
      "title": "Build the dated evidence ledger",
      "body": "Compare photographs from several permitted viewpoints, preserving focal length and scale. Sketch possible support geometry without touching or attempting to shift the protected boulder. Seek a geological publication explaining local glacial deposits before attributing a detailed transport history."
    },
    {
      "title": "Test the interpretation",
      "body": "Use a non-contact survey to compare support and centre-of-mass estimates. Compare calibrated views rather than one dramatic image. Record what would favour or weaken each explanation; leave unperformed work marked as proposed."
    }
  ]
}