Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(by Wolfy Becker)

Centuries ago the mysterious people of the Chachapoya fought together with the Spanish conquistadores against the Incas, before they were destroyed by epidemic diseases such as the measles and smallpox. A new discovery of ancient ruins could disclose the secret of the "cloud warriors".

Only little is known about the Chachapoya. The first worldwide publication came from the American scientist Gene Savoy in 1965 when he discovered one of their city ruins. The Chachapoya are a civilization that flourished in the upper Amazon, between its Huallaga and the Marañón tributaries, from about the ninth to the fifteenth century AD.

They resisted the Incas and after the arrival of the Spaniards they fought side by side with the colonial rulers against their joint rival. Because the Chachapoya lived in the misty rain forest of present day Peru, they are now referred to as the "cloud people" or "fog warriors" - according to the name's origin which derives from Quechua, Peru's second official language spoken mainly by the indigenous population.

The latest discovery in the middle of the jungle promises new revelations about the mysterious Chachapoya civilization. While on a hunting trip last year, family members Octavio, Merlin and Edison Añazco literally bumped into something extraordinary: an enormous ruin including a ceremonial platform (approximately 100 ft. x 200 ft. x 24 ft.) overlooking a football field-sized plaza, a watch tower, as well as numerous rectangular and circular buildings.

Keith Muscutt, an independent researcher from the University of California at Santa Cruz, heard about the find and recently explored the eastern Andes site. He said yesterday, Thursday, that the previously unknown pre-Columbian ruin named Huaca La Penitenciaría de la Meseta - nicknamed "The Penitentiary" because of its impregnable appearance - is "extremely unusual" and of particular interest because of its unprecedented form, size, and the remoteness of the area in which it was found.

The unfortified site, which was presumably used for ceremonies and ritual, is located approximately 900 miles north of Lima, Peru's capital. Up to now this region, inhabited in general by black faced spider monkeys, was considered on the far outskirts of Chachapoya settlements.

"The find shows that we still don't know exactly how large the Chachapoya territory was," says Muscutt. Scientists believed that the area was perceived as a buffer zone between the "cloud people's" settlements and rivaling cultures of the Amazon basin. "From what I saw this is definitely not a fortress", the scientist added. "Either the Chachapoya lived further East from what we originally thought, or these people have actually cooperated with their neighbors instead of fighting them."

Muscutt emphasized that there is still a lot of exploration work to do, before someone knows exactly that this is really a Chachapoya site. Several details, including the typical drywall structures, indicate that the ruins were once used by the "cloud people".

"The walls are slightly arched similar to a barrel". Muscutt thinks this was actually not intended by the constructors but it turned out to become a typical design feature. The ruins were abandoned approximately 400 years ago. "This is a very exciting archaeological time capsule", he remarked.

A few days ago, a new exhibition opened in Lima that shows several Chachapoya mummies which were discovered in various caves in 1996. This sensational find allowed archaeologists to extend their knowledge about the death rituals of the mysterious "fog warriors".

More than 200 mummies, tied up and in a typical crouched position, were recovered and due to the ideal micro climate inside the caves they are all very well preserved.

- related articles and websites -
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	Kuelap: A Mystery in the Clouds (by LIP, Jan. 15, 2007)
	Ancient cemetery cave of Peru's Chachapoyas culture vandalized (by LIP, Oct. 3, 2006)
	Pre-Columbian Ruin Discovered In Peru (by Sciencedaily.com, Jan. 18, 2007)
	Keith Muscutt's hompage
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