The lost City of Yacubinay in El Pro province Ecuador

[Crow]

Ah it appears you can thank Culinary caveman for making old Crow tell the following yarn....

Hmm it seems I am not the only one that likes to fish?

So grab a beer, coffee and a bar stool get comfortably as the Sly devil threw me a curved ball. Such a strange and unusual request about a place 99% would not even know to exist? old Crow the curious old bedraggled bird I am is curious to know how ya know about such a little known site?


Before 1999 the site was just about open slaver many treasure hunters scoured the little known ruins for alleged gold artifacts interwoven with the local Indian population and the Incas. Many allegedly smuggled out of the country.

To the inhabitants of the ruins of Atahualpa yacuviñay have more of a story. Many say that the site is a place of mysteries, night cries, an ancient place of funerals and even claims of gold objects have been allegedly found in the grounds?

Teresa Castillo, Atahualpa resident for over 50 odd years, says that sites origins was of Yacuviñay people and not the Incas from the 16th century. Archaeologists have investigated its origins have another interpretation. Dr. Jaime Hidrovo, director of Andean Civilization, the entity that made ​​the first step of recovering the ruins foundation ensures Yacuviñay traits reveals the presence of the Incas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries between 1470 and 1530, time when the empire collapsed occurs. In this period the site served as Inca's camp was also used as a strategic point for communication with Aboriginal cultures in complex Canaris Pucara viewpoint and indigenous populations Saraguro in Loja. Hidrovo also confirms that even his name is Inca origin: Yacu meaning "water or river" and Vinay "forever", ie Yacuviñay is the representation of eternal water and this confirms that the sector has several hydrological vertices.

Ah here is where it gets interesting..

The extensive archaeological complex has a special detail in the most elevated area of ​​the ruins there is a deep cave where, according to the beliefs of the people, are the remains of people, pottery and metal. Perhaps even hidden gold ?

There archaeologists have not yet done any exploration, however native industry reaffirm his testimony by showing the objects found as clay figures and parts of human skeletons. In the visible region, divided the Yacuviñay complex into 5 distinct areas

1) El Mirador
2) Cruciform structures
3) Residential space
4) Uzhnu
5) Temple Catequila


There are also sub lagoon as ninety feet in diameter located on the right side of the complex claerly used for irrigation, two bodies of terrace, large and five small square.

According to Dr. Jaime Hidrovo, large residential complexes used them chiefs and bureaucrats, while small were recreation space Inca popular class. Another peculiar feature is the existence of two bathrooms with natural spring, for public use small and large, with a length of one meter in diameter and three meters high, this was exclusively used by the Inca elite.

So in essence they site was originally a site of the Yacuviñay people some time before the conquest was transformed into a Inca military site.









Could this cave have a fortune in treasure awaiting discovery? Such is the lure of lost cities and the lure of hidden gold.

Crow

 

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[Culinary Caveman]

Thank you my fine feathered friend. I knew I could count on you. Sometimes I start reading and I just can't stop. You know how one thing leads to another and before you know it coffee time has suddenly become cocktail hour. Such was the case with this site. When I read the first part of the name "Jacub" it brought to mind our coffee swilling friend Don't Jose's questions about an early Jewish link to the America's so my curiosity got piqued.

Thanks again for your work on this. This is the kind of place I dream about. Lonely, desolate and largely unexplored. My gut tells me that this place has more secrets to reveal. There's just something gnawing at me about its location. That sort of something that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Kind of a tingling feeling in the stomach like before a fight or a big game. Know what I mean?

 

[Crow]

Thank you my fine feathered friend. I knew I could count on you. Sometimes I start reading and I just can't stop. You know how one thing leads to another and before you know it coffee time has suddenly become cocktail hour. Such was the case with this site. When I read the first part of the name "Jacub" it brought to mind our coffee swilling friend Don't Jose's questions about an early Jewish link to the America's so my curiosity got piqued.

Thanks again for your work on this. This is the kind of place I dream about. Lonely, desolate and largely unexplored. My gut tells me that this place has more secrets to reveal. There's just something gnawing at me about its location. That sort of something that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Kind of a tingling feeling in the stomach like before a fight or a big game. Know what I mean?

This one ya perhaps a little too late for but there are others not even archeologists know about.

Still a interesting site to visit. Walking around these old ruins one always wonder if those walls could speak? What would they tells us? I have been very fortunate as I had the privilege to visit many ruins all around the world some have not had a visitors for generations. Just visiting the site is treasure to me. But I can tell you when ya find some thing that has not had been seen for hundreds or thousands of years ya feel real privileged. Every artifact tells a story. Even ya old square cut nails you found tells a story my friend.

I have a Moche drinking vase in my office and the quaint thing about it has the thumb print if the person who made it from hundreds of years ago. Ironic is it not that kings and Queens came and went but some humble worker immortalized himself by a mere thumbprint.

So perhaps this alleged cave need to be looking into further?

I can post a few other locations in Ecuador if anyone is interested? These are not so much connected to more famous legends.... But for me that's the ones I personally prefer...

Its late and out of jungle Juice and this old bird has to roost....

Crow

 

[doc-d]

Thank you black feathered one……….
Not sure of the province in Ecuador, there is no Pro…there is an El Oro.
Found this article below……


Ecuador 'locates final resting place of last Inca emperor's tomb'
It has been sought for centuries but remained a mystery, still out of reach. Now an expert has pinpointed a site that could be Atahualpa's resting place: the last Inca emperor's tomb.
Atawallpa 1497-1533 Last sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu or the Inca Empire
Atawallpa 1497-1533 Last sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu or the Inca Empire Photo: Alamy
7:42AM GMT 29 Feb 2012
"This is an absolutely important find for the history of Ecuador's archeology and for the (Andean) region," said Patrimony Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa, speaking of the ruins found by Ecuadoran historian Tamara Estupinan.
The Inca empire, in the 1400s and early 1500s, spanned much of South America's Andean region, over 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), from modern-day Bolivia and Peru to Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Colombia. It included dozens of ethnic groups with different languages, cities, temples, farming terraces and fortresses.
Atahualpa was the last of his dynasty. During the Spanish conquest he was taken captive in what is now Cajamarca, Peru.
He had been pressed to convert to Christianity and then the Spanish executed him by strangulation, then after his death in 1533, the empire began to fall apart.
This year Ecuador's state Cultural Patrimony Institute will start work on a promising archeological site, and Estupinan will be front and center to raise the curtain on a massive complex sprawling over a ridge at 1,020 meters.

It was back in June 2010 that Estupinan, now a researcher with the French Institute for Andean Studies (IFEA), found what she describes as an "Inca archeological site" high on the Andes' eastern flank amid plunging canyons. Nearby are a small local farm and a facility for raising fighting cocks.
But in the area called Sigchos, about 45 miles south of Quito, up on a hill dotted with brush, there is more - much more: she found a complex of walls, aqueducts and stonework that lie inside the Machay rural retreat. Machay means burial in the Quechua language.
"This is a late imperial design Inca monument that leads to several rectangular rooms that were built with cut polished stone set around a trapezoidal plaza," Estupinan explained to AFP.
Archeologist Tamara Bray, of Wayne State University in Michigan, and a colleague of Estupinan, confirmed that the site boasts "an Inca edifice that is phenomenally well preserved and quite important scientifically."
Inside the facility, a walled walkway starts at the Machay River and one can see the shape of an "ushno", essentially stairs that form a pyramid believed to be the (capac's) emperor's throne. Meanwhile a tiny cut channel of water would spout out a small waterfall nicknamed "the Inca's bath".
The director at the Lima-based IFEA, Georges Lomne, said the find appears to confirm that the Incas were active and present in a lowland area well outside what their best-known area of operations were: Andean highlands.
"Malqui-Machay is part of a broader complex that also would have included the Quilotoa lagoon and the area called Pujili (Cotopaxi)," he explained.
"All of this belonged to Atahualpa. It was his personal fiefdom in the way that French (and other) kings had royal domains," Lomne added.
Bray also stressed that "very few such Inca sites have been found in this type of tropical lowland. I think that the Incas used it as a sort of getaway."
Estupinan has some more specific ideas.
She believes Malqui-Machay is Atahualpa's final resting place. The tomb of the last capac (emperor) of Tahuantinsuyo, the trans-Andean empire.
While many experts have other theories, Estupinan believes that when Atahualpa was killed his remains could have been brought by his most loyal man, Ruminahui, to Sigchos for burial, to a place where Ruminahui based his fight for survival against the European intruders.

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Please do share some more , Crow. The lesser known are more interesting to me also. That thumb print is really awesome. A tangible link to the people of the past.

Great story, Doc. It'll be interesting to see what happens with this locality. My personal belief is that there's still plenty of Inca sites to be discovered at lower altitudes. After all, all of that gold and silver had to come from somewhere. I've never known of many royals past or present who wanted to get dirty workin' so my bets are on the lower sites of the laborers. Just my $.02

 

[doc-d]

Culinary Caveman, there are many sites not discovered…….the jungle growth hides them well, but it is possible to figure at least some out by their shape as was one recently in Ecuador……….
There is so much not written down anywhere…….just memories and stories passed down and the only way you get it is by speaking with the natives and before they open up you need to find them, then get their trust…….and make sure they are not just trying to sell a story for personal gain……

Just from my little exploring, it is fun to just be out looking and experiencing different areas……..
Certainly some caution would be needed in certain areas such as both Columbia and Peru borders with Ecuador……

Beautiful country and beautiful people, not to mention great food and some hot women…….

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Thanks, Doc. I've been reading quite a bit about Ecuador the last couple of days. You're last sentence is not something I've seen yet but it makes it sound even better. Lol.

I'll be putting together my grub stake and doin' a lot of reading in hopes that I'll be ready for another adventure by next summer.
Thanks again for the info Doc. I appreciate it.

 

[gollum]

Not just the border areas my friend! In the Jungles of Peru and Ecuador you will find the "Shining Path" Guerrillas. They are communist rebels that fund their fight with drug money, kidnappings, and anything else they can think of to raise money. You get closer to Columbia, and you will run into FARC. Just know that neither The Shining Path nor FARC like Americans, and they are all well armed.

Mike

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Mike, Thanks for the info. Sounds like a lot of other places in the world. There's a boatload of anti American sentiment out there. The Filipinos surprise me the most, seems like 1942 - 1945 was to long ago for some to remember.

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Oops.

 

[Crow]

Hello Doc-D

Thank you black feathered one……….
Not sure of the province in Ecuador, there is no Pro…there is an El Oro.
Found this article below……

Indeed you are correct that way a typo on the Topic Title.... See what happens Crow when he runs out of jungle juice. I have a T-shirt if found please return to bar

The Shining path are is crap state at the movement.As for the Farc they have run out of steam also as most of em have made a deal with government. While they still exist in small groups they do not act organized and not particularly liked by the people either. I have met hundreds of foreigners even some Americans... Two I met were riding push bikes around Ecuador and Peru they had a few small trouble like you get anywhere in the world but mainly no real problem at all. In the mountain jungle areas where Cocoa Crops are grown. If fact I spent a couple of days with various Coca growing families and was well treated. Why The American are so disliked... They say this... Why do we grow Coca plants? They would grow other food crops and other various crops if the United States would buy these crops. The Only Crop that makes money is the Coca Plant fed by demand from the United states. So the CIA and various agencies come in destroy the Coca crops they fly off into the sunset feeling all good about themselves. Then drop leaflets saying we love ya after torching your only crop that makes money and your home burnt down. Not rocket science

The war on drugs has and will always be a complete failure...Even if ya stop Cocaine production over night people will switch to another Drug. Just as in Australia did they Cracked down on Marijuana so hard that most went onto ice and speed which was even worse results. Their policies are a failure as well as Americas and a few other western countries. It seems my friend they have not learned from 1920's prohibition era. If they legalized it the value of the drug would crash overnight the gangsters would go broke.. why it will never be legalized as too many of establishment have their dirty fingers in the pie.

When they legalized pot in Holland the use of Drug it fell.....

It is a bit of a joke when our governments go on this morally high horse? if they were so morally correct why are they not doing the same with alcohol or gambling? Those drugs have destroyed many a marriage. The Cause of many Domestic violence, loss of home and all manner of things and of course that is an electoral acceptable drug. In stead of treating the root causes behind drug abuse. Mental heath issues, poverty and peer pressure and poor education outcomes.

People themselves have to be accountable and accept responsibility for their own actions...not blame a drug whatever the drug or addiction may be. Everyone chooses their path in life if ya stuff up ya got nobody to blame but ya self. Enough said.

Most Americans I met in my Travel was been wonderful people. That said it is the same with all races and culture. It takes only one or SOB to give a negative impression of a culture. If you keep to main areas and take the time to connect with people you will will meet nice people. One thing I found in South America if you take the time to say hello and acknowledge peoples existence and bring a few plastic toys for kids in the villages... Hire a few porters or guides..Learn the culture. You can get into places

If you turn up looking like are going to rape, loot and pillage... They yeah you won't be welcome....Golden rule never ever portray your openly as a treasure hunter....That said ya just cant go anywhere you please Just as their is restrictions in the States as all other western Countries. How would you feel If saw some one digging up your property?

Doc-d and Gollum has given good advice just remember common sense can go a long way keeping out of trouble.

Have fun.

 

[gollum]

CC,

Not to worry too much about the Philippines. For the greatest part, the PI is an awesome place to visit. The only issues they have are the Muslims Rebels in the Southern Islands. Also, if you plan a trip, don't get involved with the Yama$hita Treasure Hunting, because most of it is a scam, run by gangs that will definitely rob (maybe kill or kidnap) you when you are away from civilization.

Mike

 

[Crow]

Oh Culinary caveman

While ya mention the Filipino's like with many countries they are their own worst enemies.

While America can be blamed for many things also they forget many good things have came from American culture also? However it becomes all too convenient to hide their own failings by blaming the American gringo.
And Gollum makes a good point about the Philippines it is truly a beautiful country....The Irony is there treasure to find but most them lose themselves in legends. When they do get undone they blame America.


Crow

 

[doc-d]

The names of locations more often than not, provide clues…….for example the El Oro province of Ecuador……..el Oro (the gold).
As our wise old feathered friend reminds us, how you are treated, is mostly a function of yourself.
Sure there are criminals, gangs, narco demons running about……but you can lower your risk by being aware of current activity and how you look going about……
If you wear expensive jewelry, watches, and flash expensive phones, cameras…….you become a target…….
From my perspective, it is essential to go with some natives for they alone know who in any given area are problems, things to avoid, things that help….

As for the drug war……a joke, a pathetic failure…….Crow is spot on……and yet the people in power are aware of this and have maintained the drug war, importing drugs themselves, profiting vastly from all aspects including the prison population………who has the most per capita in prisons in the world but the land of the free itself…..
Coca has long been used in South America and still can be purchased legally in at least some countries there…….nothing better for those high altitude locations.

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Some good points made by all. I agree with you about the war on drugs, utter buffoonery. So long as there's a demand there will always be a supply.
When I travel, well whenever I'm out really, I try to maintain situational awareness. An old friend of mine had a saying, "stay alert, stay alive." Over the years it has proven to be correct.
Doc, the name of the province and its history of gold production is partly what drew me into the tales of this area.
It seems that nearly all of the interest is in palace and royal ruins. I can find very little info about ancient processing locations. Things like smelters, evidence of casting, stamping tools, etc. As I mentioned earlier these things must be around somewhere particularly in an area of historic gold production.
The Jacuvinay area in particular seems interesting in itself not only for gold production but also for its location at the southern edge of the old northern kingdom. I just have a gut feeling that something is out there just waiting to be rediscovered. If not then it still seems like a good place to see new country, meet new people and try new food. Sounds like a win, win situation to me.

 

[Crow]

Hello Doc-d

I cannot agree more about wearing expensive jewelry, watches, and flash expensive phones, cameras…….you become a target. I try to look as poor as possible.

Yes many a time I have chewed Coca leaves. For altitude sickness and another thing it does suppress hunger as well. once ya get over the bitterness Better to chew or pack it in your gums it than brew it in a tea. Just did not cut it for me as a tea, I am an old Celyon man when it comes to tea. Another thing sharing a bag of Coca leaves is a social thing...When we arrived at various places we would meet people interested in the locals stike up conversations about their history in my bad Spanish in which they would laugh at. No one speaks like the Spanish in Spain. They have their local slang words...But its amazing what people will tell you if they give them the time and interest.

And old saying and great tip in life was to by an old Texan Geologist when I was over there... His gave analogy of an Old Bull and young bull. I will sanitize it for sake of this family frendly website...

The old bull and the Old Bull was in a field. The Young bull spied some cows down at the over end of the field as said to the Old Bull "Lets run Down to the Cows and make love to one?" The old Bull smiled and said "No lets walk down to the cows and make love to them all!"

Good things take time like a fine wine...lesson can well and truly be learned even when chasing elusive treasure legends. I Do have another treasure yarn from this provinvce. I only obtained it but the same principle of taking the time to talk to the locals.

As for El Oro Province the name says it all

Crow

 

[Culinary Caveman]

Do tell this other tale.

 

[Crow]

Hello Culinary Caveman

I think you will find most of raw gold with impurities flowed from this area to Northern Peru with the local culture was masters of metal working. The Incas when they first defeated that culture they themselves moved into the province as the rivers where flowing with gold and various other metals. The evidence of that is the Ruins mentioned above. Most caught the gold with Llama skins stretched over wooden frames at strategic points in streams When the Spanish arrived it did not take them long to understand where the source of gold was coming from. Hence the name El Oro Province.

Crow

 

[Crow]

Hello Culinary Caveman you and Doc-d are merciless.....

I have post in another topic as it deserves its own topic...

Just have power up on beer...

Cheers Crow

 

[doc-d]

There is much gold in some of the rivers in Ecuador even now………
China just signed a contract to extract gold somewhere in the Amazon also.
It is true Peru has much gold also, but Ecuador also has it's own sources.

Culinary Caveman, great question about the processing areas……something to think about and research.

While much has been written, there is still much to know…..boots on the ground, taking time to talks with the natives in areas that still are producing gold would be a good way to start.
And yes, it is a beautiful country with wonderful people, great food, beautiful women………

The country has laws against exporting historic artifacts and treasures however……….how well these are enforced seems to vary, but it is better to stay on the right side of the law as much as possible there.