Indiana Jones was a fictional character in the cult series Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who assembled the hero image from prototypes of real people. However, the main hero of the story was the scientist Hiram Bingham, who discovered the lost cities of the Incas, and his British colleague Mike Hedges found the mysterious Atlantean skull.
He, too, was born in Hawaii to Protestant missionaries 100 years earlier than the show. The young man was not interested in religion, so he decided to devote his life to science and went to study at the American Academy of Massachusetts. After that, over the course of several years, Bingham managed to obtain a doctorate at Harvard, but the scientist preferred to travel the world, working together in dusty offices with books. In 1906, he lectured to students at Yale University, but at the first opportunity, he quickly shed his teacher's robe and attended a Chilean convention. Then the hero of our story, after crossing the Andes, decided to visit the territory of Peru, where he met a local colleague, having gone with him to the ruins of Choquequirao. A small city in ancient times was the golden cradle of the civilization of the Indians and is located in the mountains,but immediately struck the American with the unique monuments of the Inca architecture preserved on the terraces. After returning, he immediately released a book devoted to his discoveries, which interested the scientific world.
After the first furor, Hyrum managed to convince the university council to raise funds for a scientific expedition, which was to search for the lost cities of the first inhabitants of the country. Then the professor received permission from the local authorities and took several specialists with him. The expedition climbed to the top of Mount Korupuna, which is considered a shrine to the Incas. They believed that a god lives in the mouth of the volcano, giving blessings to the daredevils who ascended to great heights. Bingham took advantage of the mountaineering skills acquired in his youth, so the hike was successful. The Spaniards, during their conquests of the territory, for a long time searched for the lost capital of the tribe, but could not find it in the vicinity of Cuzco. When the group settled in the parking lot, one local resident told the Americans about the impassable trails of the selva, in the depths of which ancient structures are hidden. Having received a decent payment for his message, he took the scientist to this place, after which the man was shocked by the sight he saw. Before his eyes was the legendary Machu Picchu, and nearby were the ruins of Vilcabamba, where the last members of the family of the country's rulers were hiding from enemies. The remains of palaces and temples of the last capital of Vitkos were also discovered, but then the scientist did not pay attention to such an archaeological highlight.
He was only interested in the first object, after which detailed maps were made for excavations. The man had no doubt that he would visit the site of the sensational discovery several more times, which happened later. In addition to the old road of the tribe, while exploring the caves, the scientist found many valuable artifacts dating back to the Bronze Age. The real Indiana Jones was also a fortunate person during the treasure hunt, because he brought 40,000 rarities from Peru along with mummies and ceramics. The country's authorities were able to return their relics back only in 2011, but for now the professor dreamed of new discoveries. It was only in 1917 that travel funding ceased, so he had to describe his adventures in books that became bestsellers.
Briton Mike Hedges came from a stockbroker family, but at the age of 16 he was already traveling in Norway, and then the young man decided to visit Canada and the entire territory of South America. This was not an ordinary walk for him, because the traveler dreamed of finding traces of the lost Atlantis. He was not afraid to wander through the jungle or study the depths of the ocean using a special device. The man devoted his scientific work to huge deep-sea fish, but real fame came to him in the 20s. Then the scientist was the head of the expedition on the territory of modern Belize and looked for traces of the Maya, burning the impenetrable jungle along the way. When the smoke cleared, huge pyramids with stone steps appeared before the eyes of the second hero, near which were the ruins of houses and an amphitheater. Lubaantung was the ancient city of a lost civilization,so the excavation continued for several years. During the next trip, the adopted heiress Anna noticed a strange sparkling artifact lying on the remains of the altar. The quartz skull did not have even the slightest scratch, only it lacked a jaw, which was later found and attached to the object.
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Local residents said that the god Viracocha gave it to people, and after analyzing the rarity 35,000 years ago, scientists concluded that it could belong to the Atlanteans. At that time, there were no crystal deposits in the vicinity, and the Mayans arrived here much later than the above time. Many ill-wishers called the skull a fake due to the lack of documents describing the findings of the expedition. After such a discovery, the scientist was able to continue his research, and the ancient relic still pleases tourists in the hall of the New York Museum of Indians.
Reshetnikova Irina
