Lost civilization site found in Peru · 2007-01-18 12:35
An unusual archeological site discovered in Peru’s mountains may hold clues to the history of the Chachapoya people, Reuters reported.
The Chachapoya civilization flourished between 800 and 1475. The Chachapoya people, known as “cloud warriors,” fought the Inca Empire before the Spanish conquest. They allied with the Spaniards after 1532, but fell victim to diseases brought from Europe and vanished.
The Chachapoya civilization is known for its mountaintop citadels like Kuelpa and Vira Vira and well-preserved mummies found in tombs at the Lake of the Condors.
The place found by archeologists in Peru is “strikingly anomalous because of its size, shape and remote location in the dense forest”, Keith Muscutt, researcher with the University of California Santa Cruz told Reuters.
This ruin consists of a large ceremonial platform, a plaza and a number of rectangular and circular buildings. The site was discovered by the Anazco family of Peruvian explorers at a plateau in the mountains between the Rio Verde and Rio Huabayacu about 560 miles north of Lima.
Although additional research is needed to confirm that it is a Chachapoya structure, it had an ornamental frieze and dry masonry very typical of the Chachapoyas. The site had been abandoned for at least 400 years.
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