This already
appears to be an extraordinary discovery and cut rock construction on a
monolithic scale is certainly significant.
As even Incan rock work is impressive and is the same fitted stone work
we already understand as clearly Incan.
There are alternative technologies that are much earlier and could well
have inspired Incan high level work.
This is surely a
new palace complex and may well be the bulls eye long looked for. The location in the middle to a large natural
gold field pretty well establishes its importance and prospective value. The scope of five thousand years of artisan
gold accumulation is impossible to imagine except to say that until the modern
era of gold extraction, Peruvian gold represented around one third of all mined
gold.
Just as clearly,
I suspect that the artisan miners will quickly reinvade those fields if vthey
are not already there.
Explorers hot on
the trail of Atahualpa and the Treasure of the Llanganates
Explorers claim to have found ruins in the Amazon
that could help lead to the Treasure of the Llanganates
6:00AM GMT 15 Dec 2013
It sounds like a plot from an Indiana Jones film,
but explorers claim to have found ruins hidden deep in a dense and dangerous
Amazonian jungle that could solve many of South America's mysteries – and lead
to one of the world's most sought-after treasures.
The multinational team, including Britons, has
located the site in a remote region in central Ecuador which
it believes could represent one of the great archaeological discoveries.
They have already unearthed a 260ft tall by 260ft
wide structure, made up of hundreds of two-ton stone blocks, and believe there
could be more, similar constructions over an area of about a square mile.
Investigations of the site, in the Andes mountain
range, are at an early stage and theories as to what it contains vary.
Some of those involved believe it could be the
mausoleum of Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor who was captured by the
conquering Spaniards, or hold the Treasure of the Llanganates, a vast haul of
gold and other riches amassed by his followers to pay for his release.
In exchange for his freedom, Atahualpa is said to
have offered to fill a room with gold. But the offer was rebuffed and he was
executed in 1533.
His body is said to have been exhumed, mummified and
later hidden by his followers in the region in which the new site has been
found. According to legend, great treasures – which had been amassed for the
ransom – were either buried with him, or separately.
The search for the tomb and the riches has been one
of the world's greatest historical treasure hunts, inspiring many, thus far
unsuccessful, expeditions.
Others believe the newly discovered site dates back
far earlier, to unknown, pre-Inca cultures from before 500 BC, citing what
appear to be rudimentary tools found there.
Local legend has it that the area was once populated
by a civilisation of exceptionally tall people and the apparently outsized
nature of some of the approximately 30 artefacts found have led some to
describe the area as the Lost City of The Giants.
The site, in the Llanganates National Park, is being
investigated by a team of British, French, America and Ecuadorean explorers.
Among them is Bruce Fenton, an Ecuador-based Briton
and researcher into the region's indigenous cultures, who has been involved in
the project for about three months, after he heard of recent discoveries made
by local trekkers. He is planning two visits to the site before the end of the
month. Also involved is Benoit Duverneuil, a French-American archaeologist, who
undertook an expedition there earlier this year.
The Ecuadorean government has been told of the
discovery and an official expedition by archaeologists and paleontologists is
expected to take place. The site is already attracting groups interested in
recovering artefacts.
It is only about 20 miles from the town of Baños de
Agua Santa, but it takes about eight hours to trek to it through swampy and
mountainous jungle. The site is about 8,500ft above sea level and in cloud
forest, where it rains most of the time. One route to it is known for the risks
posed by attacks of Africanised – "killer" – bees.
The precise extent of the structure and the possible
wider development has not yet been gauged. The vast structure is a wall,
sloping at a 60 degree angle, with a flat area at the top where many of the
artefacts have been found.
The team believes the summit was used for some form of
human activities, possibly sacrifices. Some have suggested that it could have
been the venue for human sacrifices, with the incline deliberately engineered
to allow a head to roll down the side.
The area is affected by regular landslides and much
of the structure is covered by mud and vegetation, making investigations
difficult.
There are several other large mounds - also covered
in mud and vegetation - within a square mile, which the explorers think could
be more man-made structures, as well as what appears to be a road.
The team believes the structure already discovered
could contain rooms and Mr Duverneuil, who undertook an expedition to the site
in April and May, believes it could be Atahualpa's mausoleum.
"This could be one of the biggest archaeological
discoveries ever," he said. "It would be huge. We just don't have
structures of this type and size in this part of the world. But we are some way
from declaring that yet.
"It looks like a paved wall, an ancient street
or plaza with a 60 degrees angle, perhaps the roof of a larger structure. Many
of the stones were perfectly aligned, have sharp edges and seemed to have been
sculpted by human hands. But there is still a chance that this could be a very
unusual natural rock formation."
He has also not ruled out a connection to either the
Panzaleo culture, which was established around 600 BC and saw the construction
of large temples dedicated to its gods, or the Canari people, who were rivals
of the Incas and joined forces with the Spanish during the conquest.
But Mr Fenton suspects it may date back earlier than
any of these groups. He believes the site once held a city, built there to
capitalise on the gold found in the region's rivers, and could be the size of
Machu Picchu, the Inca city in southern Peru.
"This is a very inhospitable area and is still
considered very dangerous because of the landscape," he said. "The
only thing around there of any value would have been gold. It seems artefacts
are spread over a wide area of inhospitable jungle and this only makes sense if
a long-lost settlement is present."
Unlike in Peru, where much attention goes to Inca
sites such as Machu Picchu, Ecuador's archaeological ruins attract a limited
number of tourists and government spending is limited.
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