Author: Cara Giaimo / Source: Atlas Obscura
Bad news, everyone: The stones are talking again. As the Associated Press reported in late August, the “hunger stones” of Děčín, Czechia—riverside rocks carved with the dates of past droughts, as well as portentous inscriptions of doom and gloom—have surfaced in the Elbe River.
Hunger stones have been found as far afield as Pennsylvania, but they’re most common in Czechia and Germany. They only come out when the water level is low, and this year’s Central European heat wave has been enough to make over a dozen of them visible along the Elbe. Travelers on or around the river are now greeted by messages like “We cried—we cry—and you will cry” and “If you see me, weep.”
Use of these stones dates back to at least the 1600s, if not earlier. They are conduits for messages from the past: warnings of the famine, heartache, and decreased mobility that droughts could bring. But every time they crop up, they’re viewed through the lens of the present, too. Here are a few ways the international media has reacted to the appearance of hunger stones over the past hundred years.
1. Hunger stones are celebrities.
“Famous…
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