The lost Inca treasure Huanuco Viejo

[Crow]

Hello

Legends and dreams of fortune and glory is no modern phenomenon in South America from the day the conquistadors arrived people have been dreaming of fortune and glory ever since.


Stories of such wealth has abound in such journals. The following story in one such story.


RUINS OF PERU.

(From an American Paper.)



PIZARRO.-The following communication read before the Academy of Natural Sciences Philadelphia, on the 14th ultimo, by J, Quinby, corresponding member claims



'' It was reported in Chili that the Inca the Temple of the Sun, which, at the time of the conquest of Peru, the natives had concealed from the Spaniards, have lately been recovered near the Cerrio de Pasco, in Peru The value of them has been calculated about 180,000,000 dollars."



The palace of the Inca and the Temple of the Sun, here referred to, we presume to la Huanuco Viejo, which is situated on the top side of the Andes, twenty leagues north of the Cerrio de Pasco, and on the right bank of the river Chucabainbn, one of the life branches of the Amazons (Maranon), atitude elevation of 14,000 feet above the level of the ocean, in latitude 108 south, and longitude 74 degrees west, nearly. It is known when Pizarro, now more than three centuries ago, took the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco which is some twelve degrees south of that Huanuco Viejo, and despoiled the Inca of immense treasures of gold, and, finally, with threats could extort no more, put him treacherously to death, the Inca of Huamti Viejo, advised of what had taken place in Cuzco, secreted the jewels of the temple and the gold of his palaces in the fastnesses of the Andes and the neighbouring rivers and lakes.


Avarice and ambition have made these hidden treasures objects of continued search from the days of Pizarro to the present time." But as yet no clue has been found to this Eldorado?

unless the above announcement is well founded, which we are inclined to doubt.


The writer has been five different times to these magnificent ruins, and always found persons employed in their vicinity, searching for the hidden treasure of the Incas. The whole of the river Chucabamba, for a number of leagues above and below the Temple of the Sun, is auriferous, and the inhabitants of the province of Huamelies, through which it passes, obtain by washing the sand and by means of sheep skins, 200,000 or 300,000 dollars annually. The wool on the skin is shrunk until it is about half an inch in length. The skins are then anchored down with the wool side up, by means of loose stones placed ti them, in and below the various falls and pools in which position they are suffered to remain from six to twenty-four hours. They are then carefully raised out of the water turned wool side downwards into a bucket or (tub) of water, and thoroughly washed,* gold falling from the wool of the skin, and is finally collected from the bottom of the. Sheep were unknown to the Inca. and us they had obtained an immense amount of gold from this Peruvian stream, it is presumed that they used the skins of the Lama and alpacas.


When we reflect on the fact that the Incas and Spaniards have obtained by Hand washings on this river during two or more centuries 100,000 dollars, 200,000 dollars, 300,000 dollars of gold annually recorded by the Spanish alone, and that might have not probably secured the one-hundred, pall of the Amount that has passed through the current of the stream, we may form an imperfect idea of the exhaust-less source of this perennial supply. The stupendous Andes are alone capable of furnishing such countless riches.


We shall not attempt a description of the magnificent Temple of the Sun at Huanuco Viejo, its powerful Inca fortress, and the ruins of the great city which they overlook. When and by whom they were built neither history nor tradition informs us. The Incas had_ no written language, and we are left to conjecture. But their great magnitude and massive walls, composed of huge blocks of square, oblong, and elegantly wrought marble, green . stone, and green stone porphyry, weighing many tons, bear mute but eloquent testimony to the untiring industry of the Incas, and their advances in the arts of civilization. The ravages and earthquakes of centuries have left' these monuments almost as perfect as they were when Pizarro conquered Peru. Even the great earthquake which destroyed the city of Callao, built by the Spaniards, with its 30,000 inhabitants, did not throw down the massive walls of the Temple of the Sun ; and the writer can testify that they withstood, with slight injury, the great earthquake of March 30, 1828. The Seraglio and its various compartments, with the exception of the roof, and the voluptuous baths for a numerous train of wives, cut out of massive rocks, arc almost as entire as they were on the landing of Pizarro.

Early illustration of Inca Sun temple site Huanuco Viejo




Early 1842 newspaper story.



Today the site is still rather intact all be it a little run down with age.





Is there any truth to the alleged 1842 discovery? Does the river still provide a golden bounty? And is there somewhere around the hills and lakes of this mysterious Inca site a vast Inca treasure still awaiting discovery?



Crow

 

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[Crow]

It is interesting to note this alleged discovery was 17 years after the Spanish had been Kicked out of South America and perhaps Incas now believing freedom was at hand revealed some of the hiding places of treasure to the new republican government? A nice thought but the everyday reality was very different. The Peruvian Mesitos had taken charge in power vaccuum and the Old Inca guard was not there and once again the natives became slaves to new ruler.

Today the ruins seem a little lost and forgotten as Cuzco steals all the thunder as a Inca tourist destination.



Form the picture you can see the quality of the high Inca stonework shows at least this city was important and perhaps just a wealth as the temple of the sun in Cuzco? below you can see the stone bath and the irrigation slot in the stone where watere was channel down from the mountains in the temple.



The quality of the stone builds below suggest the importance of this site in some respects could have rivaled Cuzco itself?



The most magical thing of all from a distance this Inca ruins blends into the landscape so well You almost do not notice it.



Like a mirage that seduces the eye, Peru and the lost Inca world will continue to taunt us with tales of lost fortunes. Just as it has always have done since the day the first conquistador set foot in the land of the Incas.

Crow

 

[Interested Party in UK]

It might be worth bearing in mind that even when removing treasures so that the conquistadors could not get their hands on it, the Incas never went that far. Due to logistics, timeframes, locality, supervision and the ability to try and outwit the enemy, it was kept relatively local. Even in that final picture, you could be unintentionally looking at a secret site of Inca gold....

IPUK

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Britlander, correct, I might add that I simply cannot believe that with the no of personnel involved in such a venture. atleast one, l ike me, would talk while drunk, under drugs, or like our CRow getting my neck and back scratched. Females are famous for ferreting out such information.cause guys like me need to brag. It / they couldn't have been kept secret for long. They had to be all killed;\.

Twas wae an they were expendable.

Back ro my quipus, some salted for Crow. others boile in Olive oil for Jose el lost oirsh guy.

 

[Crow]

Hello don Jose

When I have been tortured its not because I didn't talk it was they wanted me to shut up.

Seriously IPIU and you have made some excellent points. Its is hardly worth the effort burying the treasure if one of them reveals the treasure under torture. We also have understand waves of small pox hit the Inca Empire at the same time so perhaps many of the original Incas involved in burying treasure was infected and died quite rapidly as they had no immunity to the disease.

Crow

 

[Interested Party in UK]

Also Gents, the Spanish would mostly torture the headmen/nobles/chiefs who were in such positions for a reason. They knew the best way to get back at their tormenters was to not reveal any secrets, as they would be most likely murdered afterwards anyway and they withstood horrendous methods. Regarding what Don Tayopa says about the fairer race being more liberal with the truth, that was most definitely the case for a much used and abused daughter of the great Inca Huayna Capac after the conquest. She gave up information and details of several caches to the conquistadors and was still taken advantage of horrendously by the conquistadors. It was one of the reasons as to why the formerly complicit puppet Inca, Manco, rebelled and fled Cuzco to wage war on the Spanish. He himself was abused and also gave up several treasures to them. But they always wanted more and more and then some more.

I did some research for some folks regarding the Llanganatis treasure/Valverde's Deroterro/Atahualpa's ransom, and tried to explain that after the defeat of the Incas, the barely subjugated tribes in present-day Ecuador, saw it as their moment to get revenge and assisted the Spanish in any way that they could. This included scouting, auxiliaries, supplies etc., and as they knew they would be in favour for revealing any large treasure, they would have known about any large treasure being hidden in those particular mountains. They were partially the reason why Benalcazar was so successful in defeating Ruminhui and Zope-Zapahua and the remnants of the northern Inca army and capturing Quito. If there really was a treasure that was taken out of Quito, it was sent much further north past present-day Cayambe and Otavalo, as those particular lands were loyal to Atahualpa's paternal tribe of Shyris and did not fully come under Spanish control until much, much later.

I discovered a small passage in an old book in the course of my research which was written well before Richard Spruce's work which brought the Llanganatis story into the headlines, and it covered a testimony by an old native who was cajoled by a Catholic priest to make a last confession. He stated that after Atahualpa's murder, his body was brought back from Cajamarca to his northern homeland by his loyal warriors who destroyed much in their path which was associated with the Spanish who were now on their way to Cuzco. There was great lamentations about the tragedy that had befallen the Inca. The retinue then proceeded north and collected all that was to be buried with the Inca (including his gold), into the land of the Shyris who he had great blood and friendship bonds with. He was buried in secret according to rites, and the nobles and warriors tragically spoken of the ill-fate that had come to destroy their way of life and then simply dispersed to their villages, as they had been away from their homes for many years due to the civil war with Huascar of the southern Incas, and now it was all over. Getting back to this native Indian, he said that his particular family had been watching over the tomb of the "Last Great Sapa Inca" and had never revealed what was buried near their village. The priest urged him to relieve his burden - no doubt to get a greater 'blessing' after the treasure had been recovered by the priest and his people - but the Indian replied that even though he had been a Christian for a long time, he had been an Indian for a lot longer and would keep his solemn promise to his Lord Inca and his tribe. Many attempts were made try and discover the site to no avail.

IPUK

 

[Crow]

Hello IPUK

Some very interesting comments here. The story about the native Indian is familiar as several stories seem to follow the same theme. There is also story about Chan Chan and the Chimu culture of northern Peru. However that perhaps deserve another post as it slightly defers away from the topic of Inca treasure.

Crow

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

hi Brit-lander & the depraved crow, etc. .

Two things on The Incas etc. S

1) The Spanish used a modernized version of the Famous old Roman Square. it was formed of several ranks in a square formation.

If one side had 100 men wide / long only that many Indians could attack them at any one time on each side, and veyet because of the Indian way of war- captives for sacrifice - they got in each others' way while the Spanish carefully worked out a slicing and thrusting space for each of their man,

In other words ,for the Spanish, basically it was similar to cutting a row of corn down.

They were really tough men, to them an arrow in the side was an inconvenience rather than a serious wound.

2) The other factor was in their construction. The massive blocks of stone in many cases had multiple contacts and angles. There is no known, practical way to do this, But, I once read a copy in which Col. Fawcet complained that when he had walked through a cert type of vegetation, his spurs were partially dissolved.


Also that a certain bird makes its' nest in solid Granite. It has been observed carrying a bit of some type of vegetation in its' beak and rubbing it against the Granite. The Granite was observed to soften since the birds were seen to be picking at the Granite and removing pieces until the hole was to their liking.

Now, was this vegetation capable of disolving the Silica binding agent in Granite?? If so, and the Inca were observant, this may be how they worked the irregular blocks into impossible fitting. They might have just softened the contact layers of the Granite to a jelly like substance,then simply allowed them to assume the proper contact until the effect of the agent in the plant wore off \ or was neutralized, voila, we have a perfcct fitted block of multiple varying angles.


This is not so improbable as it seems, as many plants do live exclusively in Granite, one of natures way of breaking the rock down ??

If you haven't read it, I would suggest "The River runs East" by Leonard Clark. fascinating.. He mentions many Indian secrets of medicine, including a special concoction used to soften bone for reshaping, than a counter technique to reharden the bone. to its original strength..

Sigh, sooo many things to learn and so little time, course treasure stories take prescience.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Crow]

Hello Don Jose

There is still much debate for a stone shaping plant among academics about if it was a fact or just fiction?

There is one theory that the identity of plant used for stone shaping was called Phyllanthus niruri is a widespread Tropical plant commonly found in coastal areas, called stone breaker by the Spanish. Its is an excellent herb to break down kidney stones. It has been theorized that the plant was proceseesed by heat and extarcting the acidic oils extracted and reprocessing several times over. The Block of stone is crudely shaped into the basic stone shape and the acidol oil is left to soak into the outer surface of stone for final scraping and smoothing. this method was believed to be only used for blocks of stone refered to as high Inca stone work namely on very important temples.

I first heard of it when I was in South America pharmaceutical company's wanted to get their hands of it as a pill in small doses it could dissolve kidney stones.

Crow

 

[Corporate Investigations]

Hello Crow

It has been a very interesting theory. However it has not been proven as such either way. However perhaps there is an amazing discovery awaiting the diligent researcher?

Amy

 

[Interested Party in UK]

It is also worth bearing in mind that, the Incas believed that the great tragedy that had befallen them - the invasion by the conquistadors - was a cycle that would have its end, when?, they knew not, but believed it would happen. The jewels and treasures would only have been dumped in a lake or river as a last resort. They (the Incas), hoped to one day recover their immense wealth and were more partial to burying or caching it in caves or mountain locations and then covering it up. Rivers and lakes would have only happened when someone was on their tail or they were in danger of imminent discovery. There is no logic for them to have done so. Those folk that dug up the temples and sanctuaries really did expend effort and resources fruitlessly, these places were only abandoned after they had been emptied and not before.

IPUK

 

[Corporate Investigations]

IPUK

Good point another factor to consider is the epidemic of small pox decimated Inca populations and they must of truly believed the gods had actually deserted them as the Empire collapsed around them. Even the heavens changed above in the sky. The position of the milky way shifted because of a small polar shift around 1533. As the Earth moved Inca astronomers saw the changes of positing in the night sky and say that the end of their world. The Incas has 3 worlds of existence, the underworld, the above ground and the world of the sky above. To them all of their planes of existence was in great turmoil.

Amy

 

[Interested Party in UK]

Hello CI

Valid and knowledgeable observations.

It might sound very cheesy and clichéd, but to get any sort of idea or 'insider' modus operandi of the regal Incas (sorry, I really have been captivated by this great people and their way of living and governance since first reading about them in my childhood), you really do need to take time out, try and take yourself back five centuries, attempt to fathom a world that was very different in terms of culture, environment, well-being, political, religious and aspirational choices, and then - extremely slowly - you might get a slow inkling of why 'great' treasures are never where they're supposed to be.......

Many treasure hunters assume that the Incas were naïve, simple, 'uncivilised' folk and did not know the value of what they had; that is to fool one's self into a very false sense of security that will ultimately lead to failure and negativity on many different levels, not to mention futility, and you will probably never get to see a single object. Most of the so-called 'treasure-hunters' are no more than tomb raiders (I will not make any partisan judgments ), and are never considered to be on the trail of a real "biggie". It is mostly pure guesswork and chance by finding mounds or old graveyards and simply despoiling them for any small valuable items.

I am a firm believer that there was many great treasures from temples, shrines and storehouses that were secreted in those turbulent times after the Spanish conquest, that are still more than likely hidden. Not as many as most would like to believe - Paititi/Eldorado, Llanganatis/Valverde and the like, but there is ample evidence that some serious amounts was cached to stop the conquistadors getting their mitts on them. If any have been found or will be in the future, it will happen after much research, trawling through archives, indexes, documents, wills and testaments, birth and death records etc., and it will be confirmed there in a library or local records office as oppose to simply hearing a rumour or two and turning up with a team of labourers and their tools on a mountain in a desolate spot somewhere.

In reality you need megabucks before starting any treasure hunt and to be successful, you have to accept that it could take many, many years or even then it might not happen at all.

So many have focused on Peru due to its location being part of the heartlands of the mighty Incas, but to any serious interested parties, I would suggest looking at the peripheral countries such as Chile, Bolivia and Argentina where some decent finds have taken place.

Good to see that you are back on the scene so lets get everyone discussing and debating again which will enhance all of our levels of learning, knowledge and appreciation.

IPUK

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

IPUK: Fresh Limeade?? To answer your elegant post --> "The best laid plans of men & mice often go astray" This applies to both sides of the question.

Soo many treasures have been found by plain luck in the end, the various docuents turning up in the Dead sea area tend to enforce this idea.

One can have detailed data on the location of a treasure, but in the end miss it by a few inches, say one shovel full that way--->

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Corporate Investigations]

The fate of the remaining lost treasure of the Incas are in the hands of those in this iconic photo below...



Amy

 

[Interested Party in UK]

IPUK: Fresh Limeade?? To answer your elegant post --> "The best laid plans of men & mice often go astray" This applies to both sides of the question.

Soo many treasures have been found by plain luck in the end, the various docuents turning up in the Dead sea area tend to enforce this idea.

One can have detailed data on the location of a treasure, but in the end miss it by a few inches, say one shovel full that way--->

Don Jose de La Mancha

Hey Don Tayopa

You're right - an element of luck is always a part of the equation.

IPUK

 

[Corporate Investigations]

Anyone interested in reading about the Incas. I suggest the following book.

Peru Before Pizarro by George Bankes isbn0714817856.

It gives a good insight into the every lives of Incas on family structures laws and thier general way of life before the conquest.

Amy