Archaeologists have discovered in the Peruvian Andes a lost city, carved right into the rocks by the mysterious Chachapoya tribe. According to the Daily Telegraph, the settlement is about 5 hectares on a high mountainside in the remote Jamalka region of Utkubamba province in the Amazonian jungle of northern Peru
The buildings found at the summit of Mount Pachallama are in surprisingly good condition, although they are more than 1,000 years old. And they represent traditional round stone houses, which were built by the Chachapoya tribe - "People of the cloud forests".
The entire space around the city was completely captured by the jungle, which now covers a significant part of the settlement itself, but the researchers managed to find walls of buildings and rock paintings on the edge of the mountain.
The fact that this place is located at a considerable distance from human settlements saved it from the invasion of robbers, for this the archelogues managed to find the remains of ceramics and not plundered burials.
“The Citaldel rises on the edge of an abyss,” says archaeologist Benedikto Perez Goygochia. "We suspect that its ancient inhabitants used it as a vantage point from which they could spot a potential enemy."
Initially, the ruins of the city were discovered by local residents, who, traveling through the jungle, came to the city being pulled by the sound of a waterfall. “They used their machetes to cut their way, and when they went out into the open, a beautiful panorama opened up to their eyes, with many flowers and representatives of fauna, and a 500-meter waterfall towered over all this splendor,” says Jamalka Mayor Ricardo Cabrera Bravo …
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Initial research has shown similarities to the newly discovered super-fortress of the "cloud people" Kuelap in the province of Utkubamba. This fortress surpasses the famous Inca Machu Picchu in size and age, but unlike it, it has not been fully explored and restored.
Little is known about the ancient Chachapoya tribe that lived in the north of modern Peru from about 1000 to 1460 AD, the newspaper Izvestia writes. The last citadel of the "people of clouds" - Cuelap - fell under the onslaught of the Incas, after four days of fierce fighting. The Incas themselves described the Chachapoya as "tall fair-skinned and fair-haired warriors." They were also credited with an indomitable fighting spirit - the chachapoya, according to the testimony of the Inca Indians, fought to their last breath and mummified their dead.
Forty mummies belonging to the Chachapoyas culture were discovered in the fortress city. According to the project manager for the restoration and preservation of this cultural and historical monument, Alfredo Narvaez, the remains of men and women of different age groups were found during the removal of tons of stones and rubble that covered the fortress ensemble known as the Inkwell. Traces left by fire were found on all mummies. The scientist believes that the new findings will provide rich food for the work of researchers.
In 1553, the Spanish conquistadors found in the person of the remaining representatives of the "people of the clouds" loyal allies in the struggle against the Incas. However, the alliance with the Europeans played a disservice to them: all the Chachapoyas died from various diseases brought from overseas.
