The Tale of two Brothers lost map of Corrigadors treasure.

[Culinary Caveman]

Crow, I can sympathize with you on the loss of brain cells. I think of it as gettin' rid of the weak so only the fittest survive.

If this treasure does exist, whether it's looted from the mines or an amalgamation of hordes, I would think that the only hope of finding it without the complete map would be with an investigation into the corregidor's. By finding a likely suspect one might learn enough about the man to start making some educated guesses.

As far as Ruminawi goes, I don't believe he was ever bringing gold to Cajamarca to help Atahualpa. If anything he might have tried to buy the crown after Atahualpa's death. However it doesn't appear that this was the case either as he returned to Quito and burned it to the ground then killed the celestial virgins.

Now Quinara may be a different story. It would stand to reason that he and his warriors would join with Ruminawi to form a united front against the Spanish in the up coming fights. I'm sure they understood strength in numbers. So my thought is that if these two were carting tons of gold with them they'd get rid of it before heading north back to Quito in order to hasten the march. If there ever was a ransom in gold which is a big if I doubt it would be hauled all the way north to the Llanganates. A more reasonable guestimation would be between Zaruma and Loja as history seems to indicate.

Is the two brother's treasure part of the ransom? I want to doubt it but the general location of the two tales makes for interesting pondering.

 

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[Crow]

Hello cc its late and old crow needs to roost as his beak is drooping.

I might have found something...But its late.


See ya tomorrow Crow

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Good night buddy, rest well. I'll be standing by.

 

[Crow]

Now that this old bird has had a power nap.

YA know meeting up with hardluck we had some long conversations and sure enough the topic of this yarn came up. And yes he is one of these freaks of nature. When ya think ya got some thing over him he doesn't blink and eye lid but counters with some interesting document.

And yes ya guess it he pulled another rabbit out of the hat.... May you try this feller he might of been the gringo involved with the Brother great grandfather



Most of all be suggested the matter might be clarified by obtaining the state papers for obtaining more details...

And the Newspaper story the Daily Alta September 3 1889: below tells of the mysterious incarceration of Everett C Dougherty.



It appears he had some powerful connections but for some reason it had gone all horribly wrong.

Crow

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Married to the Presidents niece and still thrown in jail. Wow, you're right something went terribly wrong. I wonder what ever happened to Mr. Dougherty?

 

[Crow]

Married to the Presidents niece and still thrown in jail. Wow, you're right something went terribly wrong. I wonder what ever happened to Mr. Dougherty?

I can only make an assumption but I suspect a bit of love triangle with the uncle his neice and supposed marriage?



Maybe the uncle disproved of the Marriage or jealous?



One thing for certain the Great grandfather was living in Zaruma with this map at the time Everett C Dougherty. Did they have a business relationship?

Crow

 

[Culinary Caveman]

An interesting train of thought. I searched the census records and a couple of genealogy sites and can't find a thing about Everett C or E.L. Dougherty. I'm stuck for the moment but thinking about lookin' for the Irish spelling of Daugherty. Ideas?

 

[Crow]

An interesting train of thought. I searched the census records and a couple of genealogy sites and can't find a thing about Everett C or E.L. Dougherty. I'm stuck for the moment but thinking about lookin' for the Irish spelling of Daugherty. Ideas?

When it comes to archival records and some ones name is spoken it can be written down several ways. Depending on who is recording it. It requires a little more digging. Early census records might be of help 1850. 1860 might confirm the family link.

However strange as this seems there is no record of the president's niece ever being married in her biography?



Maybe a naughty little fling that raised the presidents ire

Untied states consul Papers might clarify the event?

crow

 

[Crow]

Hello CC the Untied states consul Papers might clarify the event? Here is a little more info on Owen Mcgarr Consul General to Ecuador
This gentleman, appointed Consul -General October 3, 1885, arrived in Guayaquil November 19, assuming the duties of the office on the 30tb, although his Senate confirmation was not until August 3, 1886 During his absence in tbe United States the following year. Vice Consul -Genera I Reinberg was in charge. Mr. McGarr vacated the post August 31, 1889, afterward being Secretary of Legation in Chile, 1893, and Consul at Cienfuegos, Cuba, in 1895.


There might be some more clarification of the connection to the story of the fate of Everett c dougherty? There is no record of a marriage. No death record either for him in Ecuador either..It seems he just vanished off the face of the earth?

Crow.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Crow cafe spiked with ?? Will loan you my favorite, never fail, OUIJI Board ..course - I think that I have purged my deviant sex life out of it. It will tell me later if you have been asking about things that you shouldn't-----------------------

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Crow]

Hello Don Jose ya know its nature of beast.... Crows are noted for being associated with dead. Its in their nature as a curious bird to delve where there beak shouldn't.

Crow

 

[coazon de oro]

Hello Homar Its my pleasure to read that ya shared it with others as that is the importance of all such treasure legends. And perhaps an excellent lesson or family members to set aside their personal differences. Yeah Caught up with Hardluck and in keeping with tradition he blew me way with his latest research...Ya know when ya find some thing Hardluck does not already know ya punch your fist into the air and taste the sweet sweet smell of victory as it is so rare its almost like ya just did the winning touch down at a super bowl.

Cheers Crow

Welcome back Crow, glad to hear that your reunion with Hardluck was loaded with eye openers. Good to hear that you too were able to counter. Yes it's a great feeling when you find a piece of the puzzle to a forgotten legend.

A lot of name dropping on this story, maybe this Gringo was using the girl just to get the clues to this treasure that he knew the President was involved with?

When I was translating some of the clues to you, I wanted to say that it seemed that a Gringo had made the map because some things were just close, while others misspelled. It seems like he got information from the girl, made the map, and used the Grandfather of the corrigador to help him find the landmarks.

Homar

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Buenos Dias my fellow lovers of tall tales and monumental mysteries.
I found an Everett Dougherty in Pennsylvania. Don't know if its the right one but its the only one with a birth date close to what we're lookin' for. One census (1850) has a birth date of 1827 the 1860 census has a birth date of 1830.
If the 1830 BD is correct then Mr. Dougherty would have been 42 when he arrived in Ecuador and 48 when he married the presidents niece.

Crow you're absolutely correct as this guy is a ghost. I can't find anything else other than some later Dougherty's with the middle name Everett. Maybe relatives?

 

[Crow]

Welcome back Crow, glad to hear that your reunion with Hardluck was loaded with eye openers. Good to hear that you too were able to counter. Yes it's a great feeling when you find a piece of the puzzle to a forgotten legend.

A lot of name dropping on this story, maybe this Gringo was using the girl just to get the clues to this treasure that he knew the President was involved with?

When I was translating some of the clues to you, I wanted to say that it seemed that a Gringo had made the map because some things were just close, while others misspelled. It seems like he got information from the girl, made the map, and used the Grandfather of the corrigador to help him find the landmarks.

Homar

Hello Homar: Some very interesting comments It is possible but that's the problem many scenarios can be possible It could also be that they was using the gringo to find the treasure. However the mispelling was perhaps all mine as their names I copied in poor light was rather quickly written down. So many interpretations can be made from them.

I was hoping for Hardluck to remember the name of the Brother that worked with me. But alas he he shrugged do You think I have the memory of an elephant? There is too many missing pieces.Too many assumptions made from too little information from half a Map. We need evidence to link these events together or we are in danger of making false links with out evidence.

I have not been able to find the consular records of Ecuador from that date. This might give a better indication my the letter from the brother fell on death ears?



Another thing ya might find interesting is I did find another story of what was happening in Zaruma two years after the Alta California Newspaper story about Everett C Dougherty?

To be continued.... Crow

 

[Culinary Caveman]

I can't read the article as its really blurry. I'm waiting with baited breath for whatever else you found though as this is an intriguing mystery.

 

[doc-d]

Senor Crow, bienvenidos, a warm welcome back to your roost…….
CC and Corazon de oro, great posts, thanks….
Interesting for sure……living, coming and going as a ghost was much easier in the 1800's…….not so easy in the police state of today……
Hard to figure out the status…….marriage was a matter of religion and not the state until the 1900's…..being a Catholic country, any marriage records would be in the church, assuming they still exist…….heck, marriages, births deaths were simply recorded in the family bibles for many years….

As for his time in prison……money, wealth drives many to do some bad things…….and certainly some time in a foreign prison may have helped to adjust his thoughts…….
Interesting story for sure…...

 

[doc-d]

Now it was our resident Crow who mentioned a certain Fr Crespe on one of these threads……he is worthy of his own thread it would seem……more history that is hidden from us and he is not alone in speaking of long tunnels across SA……..
Perhaps it is too much coffee supplement, but I cannot recall exactly which church property, most likely in Cuenca, where a priest had collected many ancient artifacts including precious metals..I saw but a small number……..and I do not recall the name of the priest who was deceased already……guess when I return I need to seek this out again…….

Here is a quick google on Fr Crespi……Perhaps our feathered friend and curious crow will shed some light on this topic……


The Crespi Collection

Many may not be familiar with what we call the Crespi Collection, but it was/is one of the more amazing collection of artifacts from South & Central America that has every been brought together.

Father Carlos Crespi was a Silesian-monk who lived in Ecuador. He did missionary work among the Indian population in remote valleys during his lifetime.

Crespi received or bought many artifacts from the indigenous people in Ecuador.

When questioned, they told him they had found them in subterranean cave systems in the jungles. As time progressed, many of these relics were brought together and kept in the courtyard of the church Maria Auxiliadora.

Unfortunately, many of the artifacts were destroyed in a fire in 1962 or later when the church was restored. Also, many were lost or wound up with treasure hunters. After Father Crespi passed away, the remaining artifacts of the original collection were removed and made inaccessible to the public. Some may still be stored in the cellar archive of the church Maria Auxiliadora.

The age and origin of these items is still unknown today. Father Crespi never tried to classify them. The picture motifs are strange, their meaning not understood. These objects show the pictures of an unknown culture.
Were they left by unknown civilizations?
The most well known pieces are tablets made of silver, gold foil or other alloys with unknown letters and mysterious symbols.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Which unknown Andean fold can hide the secret legendary Paititi Inca city? It is one of the most important archaeological enigmas of South American continent which we are maybe just about to penetrate.



According to old time chronicles and local traditions, Paititi would have been a huge city of the Inca empire which would be buried somewhere in the Peruvian southeast Amazonian forest. People have been looking for it for centuries in all South America. But the searches have focused for about fifty years on a particular region squeezed between Peru, Brazil and Bolivia.
220px-Francisco-Pizarro-um1540

Francisco Pizarro, photo-Wikipedia commons



Was this city the dark side of the Empire or a secret for the Incas? Nobody knows it because nobody has discovered this mysterious city yet. After Pizarro executed in 1533 the last Inca emperor Atawalpa, the treasures of the Tawantinsuyu Empire would have been urgently hidden in this city. Tons of gold and magnificent precious objects coming from the Inca capital Cusco would have been passed in transit hurriedly towards the jungle. Spanish contemporary columnists wrote that twenty thousand gold loaded lamas were taken to an unknown eastern destination by the wife of the Inca emperor (the Coya). As it can be seen the Paititi legend is linked to ransom and gold stories. It is the reason why its search has been always full of dramas. Most of people that are still looking for it focus generally only on this damned gold for which men and women died during past centuries.

I have been dedicating my research on the permanent presence of Incas in Amazonian forest and on the quest for Paititi for the last twelve years. I organized several expeditions on the tracks of mysterious “pyramids” localized by satellite in December 1975. I studied also petroglyphs in the amazing site of Pusharo. After numerous search campaigns in the jungle of Manú, I have the feeling that I have never been closer to discover the secret city of the Incas than during my last 2011 – 2013 expeditions. My team brought up to date about thirty amazing archeological sites in a lost valley located on the border of the departments of Cusco and Madre de Dios: a magnificent Inca fortress, several agrarian cities, a ceremonial center in relation with a necropolis and especially several full cities composed by hundreds of buildings, small streets and squares, like real Amazonian Pompeii!

During one of these expeditions the team followed the Qhapaq Ñan old Inca road to the forest. Each day we did amazing discoveries in a lost valley named the “valley of Lacco” which means “the labyrinth” or “the place where we get lost” in Quechua, the Inca language. This name would come from the Spanish invasion period when an important part of Inca aristocracy would have taken refuge in the jungle on the road to Paititi. A lot of Quechua farmers who still live nowadays in this valley as modestly as in the Inca period recall a mysterious exodus: the one of aristocrats coming from Cusco before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the imperial city.

The Lacco valley including the Lares and Yanatile districts has been a vast garden since the Inca period. Its cultivated terraces fed the Cusco city at these old times. Several agrarian communities are distributed along its ninety kilometer long territory situated in the northern part of Cusco department, on the border of Peruvian Amazonian forest. Nowadays these communities are called Umapata, Hualla, Suyo, Quinuay, Juy Huay, Choroyoc, Mendosayoc, Mesapata, San Antonio, Ccorimayoc, Naranjayoc and Sacramento…

Five centuries later it is not easy even today to reach Cusco from the Valley of Lacco. An asphalted road leaves the regional capital city and leads to Calca which is the provincial town. Then a dirt road winds through the Andes to the northern direction and as far as Quebrada Honda village after going through Lares and Amparaes villages. It is a real rodeo in the Andes! The track ends some kilometers farther at the Lacco valley entrance. To continue on the famous Qhapaq Ñan path it is then necessary to walk and to use mules which are the only way to carry the load.

At the beginning of 2011 my team and I had learned by natives of the existence of numerous archaeological ruins in the Umapata[1]sector located just at the Lacco valley entrance. So we decided to organize a campaign in 2011 to verify this information.

We effectively discovered there an archaeological heritage divided into two main zones:

The current village built around a small colonial church called “Virgen Auxiliadora”, itself built on the foundations of an old ceremonial platform (usno) dating from Inca period; we found there a lot of archeological evidences,
An important center, far from the village by about hundred meters, at the top of a hill which dominates the rio Mapacho; we discovered there valuable material like ceramics and lithic objects.

The colonial church was built on an Inca platform which certainly corresponded to a pyramid fitted out with several steps. Spanish built the church on the pyramid foundations as they had decided to erase any evidence of paganism and idolatry in these conquest times. The church front wall is decorated with friezes and figures dated 1906. The building is surrounded by an approximately quadrangular wall of 0.80 meter height. Many niches appear in this wall.

When we came up to this area we met a first building whose cultural filiation is evident. It indicates the entrance to the current religious space but also to the initial Inca temple. The building had two floors and two doors to get into it. One of these doors is on the western side of the construction and the other one on its eastern side. Four trapezoidal niches can be seen in the internal part of the wall. An outside niche is fitted out on the right side of the western door. The little church is at twenty meters from there. We noticed in the surroundings the presence of low walls and terraces (andenes).

A second edifice was built at approximately ten meters from the church in the eastern direction. It overhangs the rio Mapacho which flows five hundred meters lower. This building is 8 meters long and 5 meters wide. It includes eight trapezoidal niches of different sizes. Walls are 2.20 meters high.

Behind the church we discovered a third construction which is 8 meters long and 3 meters wide. Four internal niches decorate the walls of this house overgrown with vegetation like both previous ones. We noticed the presence of an outside cavity on the left side of the central door at 1.40 meters height from the ground.

Seventy meters farther we located a fourth building of 9 meters by 4 meters. Walls are decorated with nine trapezoidal niches. An outside niche is still visible on one of the walls. These four buildings had to be linked to the ceremonial function of the area.

The archaeological heart of the Umapata complex is located in Tintinniyoc area located at six hundred meters from the previous area. Two natives were in charge of leading us to it.

After climbing up a path with a moderate slop during about twenty minutes, we arrived finally in front of a first block of houses. They are located in the farm (chakra) of an Umapata inhabitant who cultivates his means of subsistence among these ruins. A first building is 8.40 meters by 7.20 meters. A 0.90 meter wide door is facing north. Two trapezoidal niches decorate the internal walls.

We noticed the presence of a lot of ceramic fragments. There are thousands of them! The ground is often turned over by the owner, so many ceremonial and usual object fragments are moved every day. We deplore that an incomparable archaeological heritage disappears by this way little by little definitively. We brought up to date local rustic ceramic without any motif or trace of dye, but we found fragments with typical geometrical motifs from the culture “lucre”. We found finally an important quantity of quite thin fragments coming from the Cusco Inca culture. They are collars of aryballes, handles of dishes (cuencos, ollas) and lithic objects such as mortars with hand (mus’ka) and grindstones (tunawa).

A second building is in front of the previous one, distant from it by eight meters. It is 7.80 meters long and 7.40 meters wide. It contains an internal niche and a 0.90 meters wide door facing north. Between both edifices we discovered a small room of 5 meters length and 4.80 meters width. It was apparently initially linked to the first building and belongs to the same complex. Unfortunately it is bad-preserved. The access door is facing east and looks onto a patio close to the first building.

The more we progressed the more we became aware of the importance of Umapata. It is a real small Inca citadel constituted of hundred buildings clustered around small squares or esplanades. Each group communicates with the others by means of narrow lanes and small passages.

Vestiges cover the totality of the mountain. Natives indicated to us that there are other small urban areas of Inca origin in the direction of rio Mapacho. They certainly belong to the same archaeological complex. They are probably buildings, andenes, chullpas, etc…

Some ten meters farther we met another group of houses consisting of seven buildings clustered around a rectangular square. Farther again we discovered another serie of lined up buildings among which the chacra owner cultivates nowadays his vegetables.

Then we progressed among ruins and approached a sector not affected by the farmer. Buildings are swallowed up by luxuriant vegetation with trees, ferns and creeping plants. A building composed by two rooms is particularly good-looking. Each of these rooms has a door to get inside. Another door between both rooms is particularly stylized. It is a “portada” whose walls are decorated with niches and trapezoidal windows. This door opens to north. The main room is 5.60 meters by 5 meters. Its external door opens to east. The second room seems to be a kind of hallway. It is 5 meters long and 3 meters wide.

A few later and some ten meters farther we came to the top of the hill. We discovered there the main building: a temple! It is 10 meters long and 5 meters wide. It contains two main entrances facing east. They look onto a small clear square which opens onto the river. The main wall is decorated with about twenty niches arranged on two rows. Two meters farther and to the South we found another building which is 5 meters long and 4 meters wide. We noticed the presence of a niche and nail-stones on the four internal walls at 1 meter height from the ground. These nail-stones were maybe used to fix the roof.

A small triangular passage leads to a clear square which is three meters raised and located behind the temple. It is the highest point of the city. In the center of it we noticed a quadrangular shape of 2 meters height and 3 meters side, completely covered by vegetation. Its base is constituted by a low wall of 0.60 meters height. It has a vague pyramidal shape. It looks like an artificial or ceremonial platform (usno). The Incas realized offerings and maybe sacrifices on it. From this privileged point we had a fantastic view over the surrounding valleys. It had to be also an ideal lookout to control any raid in the valley of Lacco for miles around.

The Umapata site appears like a relatively important archaeological center. Its current poor condition needs urgent protective measures. It is indeed threatened to disappear at middle-term or long-term because some natives do not hesitate to pull down its edifices to build their own houses with the stones of the ancestral buildings.

ump

A few kilometers away from Umapata we discovered the monumental complex of Hualla Mocco. Like Umapata this site is totally unknown from the modern archaeology. My team and I were accompanied by a “supervisor” of the Peruvian Culture Ministry to put on the cadastral register each architectural component. The complex is composed by three sectors: a religious sector, a sector with private habitations and a military sector.

Imposing buildings are built on the top of a crest which overlooks the entrance of the valley. It is not a matter of chance as this place was particularly strategic. The site is constituted by large rooms fitted with wide trapezoidal niches of one meter height by 0.50 meter width on their base. The architecture is imperial and of military type. Not far from a temple with impressive proportions we discovered a magnificent mirador from which we had a panoramic vision on the valley. On the right side of it a quadrangular building has the shape of a small tower. It is 3 meters wide and has large outside niches. It looks like a prison. Some meters farther there is a rock with singular outlines which reproduce the silhouette of the mountains behind it. This type of rock had generally an astronomical function to perform time measurements for instance. There are rocks like that at the citadel of Machu Picchu. Hualla was doubtless a fortress controlling the access to the valley of Lacco towards Paititi.

The next archeological site, Torre Mocco[2], is also situated at the top of a crest, from which we had a 360° panoramic vision. Initially occupied by the Killke people it was during the Inca period a small agrarian center of approximately thirty houses. Tens of perfectly preserved cultivated terraces are close to it. The following site which is only just two kilometers far from Torre Mocco had the same function. Lucma Cancha[3] was a small village of about twenty houses and streets. Although it probably dates from pre-Inca times it was occupied later by Quechua farmers during the imperial period. We indeed found on the ground an extensive archaeological material dating back to the Tawantinsuyu classic age or Late Horizon.

Lucma Cancha was linked to Torre Mocco and to the following city we reached after. And what a city! We have been told by natives from Lacco since 2009 that a major archeological site was situated at the top of the mountain close to the site we were. Guided by some of them we went in search of these vestiges. We discovered the complex is composed by two sectors: a lower sector called Patanmarca and an upper one called Llactapata. Patan means crest or high in Quechua language and marca means area. And Llactapata mean the “village in the mountain”.

The monumental and well-preserved architectural style struck us immediately. It is no more an agrarian site but vestiges whose proportions look like those of Choquequiraw or Machu Picchu. We saw everywhere carefully built walls with impressive architecture. Sometimes small alleys lead to buildings. It is probably a particularly strategic military city, offering a panoramic vision towards Lucma Cancha, Torre Mocco and Hualla, but also controlling the access towards the Manú forest which is located at the East and Megantoni forest located at the North. We noticed most of buildings are covered by a bright yellow dye which confers to them a quite singular personality. This color comes probably from a microscopic mushroom of lichens family which gives to the stone this wonderful natural paint aspect.

We spent several hours among the ruins and finally cleared a magnificent temple whose roof is partially preserved. Its walls are also completely covered by the yellow paint. The main room has impressive dimensions (15 meters length by 6 meters wide) and includes about fifty rectangular niches on two rows. Some square buildings are close to the temple and may constitute the religious sector of the city. Finally, just close to the temple, a mirador offered to us an amazing view onto the entire valley.

According to our calculations this city included not less than hundred buildings. However, other massive constructions, situated at several hundreds of meters from it along the old Inca road, seem to be linked to this city. There impressive support walls were built by the Incas to strengthen in places their famous royal road. One of these walls is actually 5 meters high and 50 meters long. It has protected the steps of the travelers walking on the Qhapaq Ñan for more than five centuries. Where do these roads lead to? Some old natives will answer you that they lead up to the “main city”, somewhere lost in the forest just behind the valley where they live. True or not, this belief is passed down from generation to generation.

Everywhere andenes and Inca walls belonging to old cities whose names have been forgotten appear from mountains covered by forests. Also in the valley of Lacco some natives showed us the way to significant terraces and “circular cavities” some of which have an internal masonry. We discovered then the ceremonial complex of Puccro linked to a necropolis constituted by tens of graves of Inca origin and funeral towers (chullpas) which are perfectly preserved. In front of Puccro and on the other bank of rio Mapacho, we discovered a second necropolis named Rimac Pampa which means “pampa which speaks”. It is composed by tens of monumental graves. We wonder who these particularly elaborate graves were devoted to. Was it to the nobility of Cusco? Certainly not. Was it to ancient time farmers of Lacco? Even less. Several graves were opened and plundered a long time ago. Other ones however are still intact and contain without doubt fardos, kinds of fabric linen sarcophagi wrapping a mummy.

A few days later and still in the valley of Lacco, the Inca road leads to a kind of street which is lined on both sides with many walls sections partially hidden by luxuriant vegetation. We counted there tens of square or rectangular buildings. We were in another lost city also named Llactapata.

Some of these walls are eroded by the intrusive vegetation and collapsed. But many buildings remain intact, revealing 2 meters high walls, fitted out with magnificent trapezoidal niches and decorated sometimes with double jamb windows or with Inca architecture typical portadas. We also found there many ceramic fragments strewn on the ground. Some of them are decorated with geometrical motifs or with animal drawings. Other ones have even kept traces of paint.

cr

Several groups of buildings are separated by streets crossing each other at right angles. Llactapata is a complete city totally unknown from the modern archaeology like all the sites my team and I investigated in this region. We counted approximately hundred and fifty buildings which are clustered around two squares and separated by thirteen streets disposed along six horizontal lines and seven vertical lines. This city had doubtless an administrative function within the framework of exchanges between the Andean high plateaus and the Antisuyo forest. Cultivations with monumental terraces stretch not far from the city. It is really an important archeological site probably located on the road to Paititi.

To our great surprise, the valley of Lacco proves to be a new Sacred Valley of the Incas. There are ruins everywhere. We discovered during the next weeks a lot of new sites. They are entire cities! They are named by natives Cochapata, Hatun Monte, Chaupicchullo, Apucatina or Pantipayana. Later, in a nearby valley named Chunchusmayo, walking to the National park of Manú, we brought up to date the sites of Tambo Ccasa, Inca Tambo and Monte Puncu.

mp

“Inkari 2011″ campaign aimed mainly at checking several testimonies coming from Matsiguengas natives living in Megantoni forest. According to them important archaeological remains would be hidden somewhere between rio Ticumpinia source and rio Timpía source, in the province of La Convención, in the northern part of Cusco department. It is a matter of cyclopean walls constituted by big size stones delicately assembled like at Sacsayhuaman fortress, as well as house foundations, stony stairs and Inca roads.

On the way to Megantoni our team stopped off at Piña Mayo which is an area located in the northern part of valley of Lacco, not far from Esmeralda and Sacramento districts. We found there several tens of habitations of Inca origin among which some are quite well-preserved. The grouping has many walls and is quite similar to Inca citadels of Lacco and Chunchusmayo. It seems it leads inexorably northward to the National Sanctuary of Megantoni which is the cradle of Matsiguengas civilization, located only few kilometers far from where we were.

Our team sank with difficulty into the wet and impenetrable sanctuary forest. After having progressed for two weeks we reached the rio Cusirini (or Taperachi) bank. It is an affluent of rio Ticumpinia which flows into rio Urubamba five kilometers northward far from the pongo of Mainique which is the natural entry towards the Antisuyo. There, in full forest, we revealed some parts of the famous Inca road. We succeeded in following it along several hundreds of meters. It goes northward and seems still well-visible by places, sometimes lined with small support walls. It is 1.1 meters wide and partially stone paved. It looks like those we previously saw at Lacco and at Chunchusmayo. According to Matsiguenga natives who guided us, it continues along up to rio Timpía sources where it gets lost then. It crosses rio Cusirini and then rio Ticumpinia whose sources constituted our exact 2011 campaign final destination.

A little farther we discovered many surprising cultivation terraces. It seems that the entire Cusirini valley was cultivated in Inca times for the needs of an important center of population which unfortunately we could not locate. Exhausted by weeks of a difficult walking and by a lack of food, our team was obliged to turn back and to come back to Cusco before reaching our initial objective.

In any case a general rule can be deduced from our recent discoveries: the Incas built always their important cities at an altitude between 1 800 and 2 500 meters. All the cities we met are indeed included in this geologic altitude range. It is also the case of Machu Picchu, Pisac and so many other Inca cities. The zone straddling the Cusco and Madre de Dios Peruvian departments seems ideal to provide a habitat to a big capital like Paititi. Discoveries of Waris graves in Vilcabamba area were officialized in January 2011. They could shed new light on the cultural filiation of this Amazonian lost city. Would it be possible Paititi has a Wari culture origin? Nevertheless the forest reveals little by little its secrets.

In 2013, our campaign of exploration realized around the National Sanctuary of Megantoni, confirms us the presence of a major site at the top of a strange square mountain. The Native de Megantoni, Matsiguengas, asserts us that here hide the ruins of the lost city. The archeological sites of Lacco lead directly towards this mountain and few satellite photos, realized for us by the European company Astrium, confirm the existence of important structures at the top of this mountain. Paititi is there, there is no doubt!

Our 2014 campaign should, I hope so, bring new evidence elements and new important documents to the never closed dossier of the legendary Paititi city…

Thierry Jamin

tj

 

[Crow]

Hello All

Some interesting posts but sadly today I have get ready to haul ass and will be away on a trip from tomorrow be back posting early September.

So I apologize because my rushed comments will not do your wonderful posts justice.

One thing I can guarantee you about South America is there as many treasures waiting be found whole legions of people making fake artifacts for sale to Tourists. Many have even ended up in the most prestigious museums of the world. The industry is in fact MUCH bigger than the illegal antiquities industry. Spotting fake from real is becoming more and more difficult.

Don Amigo Patti story is of course very interesting. In which indeed like the father Crispi story really do need their own topics.

I look forward to your posts....


Cheers Crow

 

[doc-d]

The fake artifacts is a very real problem…….yet it is the artifacts you find that are certain.
Reminds me of one of my hunts finding considerable pottery pieces from some very large objects……I still need to return for a more detailed search of this area…….
I agree with our feathered traveler who is abandoning us for a few weeks that there is much to be found in SA.

Buen viaje mi amigo Senor Cuervo (good trip my friend Mr Crow)…...