Today I’m going to tell you about an unusual natural feature found in the Ruokolahti forest region which situate in South Karelia, in the southeastern part of Finland. This feature consists of two boulders. One of them has precariously perched on top of the other one. And also the upper rock looks like it would roll off at any moment, but it has not happened. Even though some human beings have applied force to the rock, it would not have budged even a bit.
This Finnish balancing rock is named ‘Kummakivi’. It means ‘strange rock’. Two rocks have made up this uncommon geological formation. The bottom rock is lodged in the earth and has a convex and smooth surface. The rock which is on the top is a huge rock that is around 7 meters in length. The contact point between these two rocks is very small and so it looks like the upper rock is in an impossible balancing situation.
When someone sees the Kummakivi Balancing rock for the first time, he would probably expect that the upper rock will fall off at any time. Yet the upper rock is firmly anchored onto the bottom rock. The ancient residents of this area were perplexed by seeing this natural wonder and wanted to find out explanations as to how this balancing rock came to this baffling position. This group of people might have tried to move this kummakivi balancing rock with their hands. However, they realized that the physical force they applied to it was not enough to move the boulder and they speculated that some supernatural power must have moved that rock to the site.
Finland’s mythology is fulfilled with supernatural creatures such as giants and trolls. It is believed that those creatures had physical strength beyond any human in the world. Some of those creatures have been also associated with rocky landscapes. According to Finnish folklore, those creatures have habits of throwing boulders and carving out holes in rocky outcrops. So the explanation for this Kummakivi Balancing Rock provided by local folklore is it was brought or thrown by a troll or a giant.
But geologists have provided a scientific explanation for this Kummakivi Balancing Rock. According to them, this huge rock had been brought by the glaciers during the glacial period. About 12,000 years ago when those glaciers retreated to the north, this rock was left behind and it became the Kummakivi Balancing Rock.
Apart from providing interesting stories to the people, balancing rocks has also been used for scientific purposes. For example, in the USA, some researchers used a balancing rock as a natural seismoscope. They also indicate that the region had not suffered from earthquakes which are strong enough to topple them.
