Posted on 01/05/2008 7:42:15 PM PST by blam
Clues from the mists of time
Liliana Nieto del Rio / For The Times
This is the where the “cloud warriors” of ancient Peru once lived. Known from colonial chronicles as tall and fierce warriors who long resisted the Inca, the Chachapoya were also far-ranging merchants and powerful shamans. Recent digs at this majestic site have turned up scores of skeletons and thousands of artifacts, shedding new light on these myth-shrouded early Americans.
Peru's ancient 'cloud warriors' put their dead in towering walls. The Chachapoya gave way to the Inca and Spanish, but first they flourished.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer January 5, 2008
Kuelap, Peru
The broken skeletons were scattered like random pottery shards, rediscovered where they had fallen centuries ago.
Were these ancient people cut down in some long-forgotten battle? Did European-introduced diseases cause their demise? Were they casualties of some apocalyptic reckoning at this great walled citadel?
The "cloud warriors" of ancient Peru are slowly offering up their secrets -- and more questions. Recent digs at this majestic site, once a stronghold of the Chachapoya civilization, have turned up scores of skeletons and thousands of artifacts, shedding new light on these myth-shrouded early Americans and one of the most remarkable, if least understood, of Peru's pre-Columbian cultures.
Among the arresting findings: the practice of incorporating the dead into defensive walls; the use of stone missiles to repel invaders; the discovery of gargoyle-like stone carvings; and the civilization's sudden collapse, possibly in a final, purifying conflagration.
Though almost everyone knows about the Inca and Machu Picchu, relatively few have heard of the Chachapoya or visited their domain, a vast swath of Amazon headlands and breathtaking cloud forests on the slopes of the Andes. This walled settlement, among the largest
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
History ain’t.
bump for later
Photo below: Realm of the "Cloud Warriors". Reminds me of Scotland's Highlands, where dwelt my ancestors,who were called, "Children of the Mists." Clan MacGregor.
I would say this land is filled with magic.
Cheers!
bump for later
"White, blonde haired people" and tall - other Nat'l Geo articles:
"It is odd that a building of this extraordinarily large size would be located on their territorial frontier and that it would not be fortified,"
etc etc - ( shhh- another description that fits the light skinned Nephi people from the Book of Mormon? God always knew where ALL His children/lands were?
I like the scenery.
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Lima Museum.
I see nothing 'crude' about 'ancient brain surgery' the patient obviously survived the operation. What fascinates me is the evidence of several types of skull deformities. Perhaps the deformities were NOT cosmetic as we have been led to believe. We may be looking at a pathology?
Excerpt:The most common operation for which there is evidence in the past is trepanation - the removal of a section of skull. Thousands of examples are known. The operation was especially common in the Neolithic in Europe but it has a worldwide distribution dating from all periods. The evidence for survival is the healing and remodelling of bone around the operation site, and the high survival rate from this high-risk operation attests to the skill of prehistoric surgeons. One Peruvian skull had been trepanned no few than seven times.
The purpose of the operation, however, is unclear, although a superstitious mind might have seen it as a cure for schizophrenia, epilepsy or migraine. Its one modern clinical use is for relieving pressure in the skull following head injury, and ancient trepanned skulls have been found showing evidence of prior head injury. It may, therefore, in some cases have been genuinely effective.
“shhh- another description that fits the light skinned Nephi people from the Book of Mormon? God always knew where ALL His children/lands were?”
A stopped clock is right twice a day, too.
I seem to recall that a lot of South American cultures liked attaching boards and other flat items to their babies’ heads to purposefully manipulate the shape...seems to me thats where some of the deformations come from...
I think the legend of Madoc has more to do with it...or some similar immigrations...
Whoa!
those are some mighty varied skull shapes. I’d like the see the interpretations from a forensic artist - makes one wonder about just where they DID come from...
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