- May 20, 2004
- 1,721
- 151
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Excal 1000
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
By Tommy Vawter
My interest in the Legend of Ciudad Blanca, or "The White City" began several years ago as we made plans to launch an expedition to the Central American county of Honduras, and last year we spent 3 months exploring Honduras and the many legends of Pirate treasure on the Island of Roatan and also the legendary city said to be located in the Mosquitia.
The Rio Platano Biosphere was declared World Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is located in the departments of Olancho, Gracias a Dios and Colón , with an area of 815 000 hectares, which borders the Bosawás, in Nicaragua.
Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés reported hearing legends of a region with towns and villages of extreme wealth in Honduras, but never located them. By the 1930s, there were rumors of a place in Honduras called the "City of the Monkey God" and in 1940 adventurer Theodore Morde claimed to have found it. However, he never provided a precise location for the site, one that later sources equated with Ciudad Blanca. Morde died before returning to the region to undertake further exploration.
Coincidently, while we were on the ground in Honduras in May 2012, A press releases issued by a team led by documentary film maker Steve Elkins and by the Honduran government about remote sensing exploration using LiDAR technology, claiming that Ciudad Blanca had been found. The announcement was quickly criticized by archeologist Rosemary Joyce as "hype" to market the LiDAR technology, and whenever academic archaeologists like Joyce try to dismiss the reports as hype, I immediately stop to think what information is it that she may be trying to hide.
Earlier this year additional press releases explained how additional LiDAR analysis had identified large architectural features under the forest canopy of yet a second lost city located very near the ruins first located last year. As a result, assertions that Ciudad Blanca had been found appeared yet again in the media and on many blogs on the internet.
On March 12, 2013, the Government of Honduras reported that it signed an agreement with the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology at Colorado State University to work with national archaeologists searching for the White City. The project has is turn, with the collaboration of the World Heritage Foundation.
Archaeologists and anthropologists from the universities of Colorado, Houston and Honduras will launch their very first expedition later this month to explore the area around the Rio Platano, in three departments of Honduras. We are also hearing rumors of a second expedition to the Mosquitia set for some time in November, but we are not able to confirm this at this time.
Archaeologists will be accompanied by a Honduran military brigade that will be in charge of cleaning an area where the helicopters will land, and where trees tower nearly 200 feet high. The military will also serve as security for archaeologists and the archaeological sites.
Archaeologists believe that finding the legendary white city, called by the many of the native Indians the "City of the Monkey God", and would be a very important finding for the study of the Maya.
The precise location of the city is kept secret by the archaeologists to prevent potential looting.
http://treasureworks.com/news/39-wreckdivers-blog/998-entering-the-legend-of-ciudad-blanca
My interest in the Legend of Ciudad Blanca, or "The White City" began several years ago as we made plans to launch an expedition to the Central American county of Honduras, and last year we spent 3 months exploring Honduras and the many legends of Pirate treasure on the Island of Roatan and also the legendary city said to be located in the Mosquitia.
The Rio Platano Biosphere was declared World Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is located in the departments of Olancho, Gracias a Dios and Colón , with an area of 815 000 hectares, which borders the Bosawás, in Nicaragua.
Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés reported hearing legends of a region with towns and villages of extreme wealth in Honduras, but never located them. By the 1930s, there were rumors of a place in Honduras called the "City of the Monkey God" and in 1940 adventurer Theodore Morde claimed to have found it. However, he never provided a precise location for the site, one that later sources equated with Ciudad Blanca. Morde died before returning to the region to undertake further exploration.
Coincidently, while we were on the ground in Honduras in May 2012, A press releases issued by a team led by documentary film maker Steve Elkins and by the Honduran government about remote sensing exploration using LiDAR technology, claiming that Ciudad Blanca had been found. The announcement was quickly criticized by archeologist Rosemary Joyce as "hype" to market the LiDAR technology, and whenever academic archaeologists like Joyce try to dismiss the reports as hype, I immediately stop to think what information is it that she may be trying to hide.
Earlier this year additional press releases explained how additional LiDAR analysis had identified large architectural features under the forest canopy of yet a second lost city located very near the ruins first located last year. As a result, assertions that Ciudad Blanca had been found appeared yet again in the media and on many blogs on the internet.
On March 12, 2013, the Government of Honduras reported that it signed an agreement with the Faculty of Archaeology and Anthropology at Colorado State University to work with national archaeologists searching for the White City. The project has is turn, with the collaboration of the World Heritage Foundation.
Archaeologists and anthropologists from the universities of Colorado, Houston and Honduras will launch their very first expedition later this month to explore the area around the Rio Platano, in three departments of Honduras. We are also hearing rumors of a second expedition to the Mosquitia set for some time in November, but we are not able to confirm this at this time.
Archaeologists will be accompanied by a Honduran military brigade that will be in charge of cleaning an area where the helicopters will land, and where trees tower nearly 200 feet high. The military will also serve as security for archaeologists and the archaeological sites.
Archaeologists believe that finding the legendary white city, called by the many of the native Indians the "City of the Monkey God", and would be a very important finding for the study of the Maya.
The precise location of the city is kept secret by the archaeologists to prevent potential looting.
http://treasureworks.com/news/39-wreckdivers-blog/998-entering-the-legend-of-ciudad-blanca
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