Replies

Scientist: Legendary City of El Dorado Exists
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

Feb. 25 — El Dorado, the fabled city of gold, did exist and was even evangelized by Jesuit missionaries, according to the findings of a Lima University archaeologist.

Called "Paititi" by the Incas and "El Dorado" by the Spaniards, the mythical city is thought to have been the last place of refuge for the Incas when they fled with their treasures ahead of the advancing Spanish conquerors in 1532.

Mario Polia, an Italian archaeologist who teaches at Lima's Pontifical Catholic University, discovered an ancient document that describes a city with walls covered in gold leaf.

"Paititi is not a myth, it really existed. It was discovered at the end of the 16th century by missionaries of the Society of Jesus, who converted the king and his court," Polia wrote in the latest issue of the archaeological review Archeo.
The "report of a miracle that took place in the Kingdom of Paititi for God's mercy" is part of a collection called "Peruana Historia" (Peruvian history), kept in the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus.

It tells of the extraordinary encounter of Father Andrea Lopez with the inhabitants of Paititi, "a very wealthy city adorned with gold, silver and precious stones."

According to the report, the order's Father General informed the Pope of the discovery, asking and obtaining permission to evangelize the area. Polia believes that the Vatican never revealed Paititi's location, fearing a gold rush and mass hysteria.

El Dorado has lured many explorer over the past five centuries: among them famed British army surveyor Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, who left in search of Paititi in 1925, and more recently, a 1972 Franco- American expedition led by Bob Nichols, and the 1997 exploration of Norwegian anthropologist Lars Hafksjold.

The latest explorer to set off in search of the legend is Jacek Palkiewicz, best known for discovering the real source of the Amazon river in 1996. Palkiewicz left last week for a reconnaissance trip into the inaccessible jungles of the Madre de Dios River basin. He will then begin a systematic search in June with the help of state-of-the art technology.

"I have been working on this project for two years. I even pinpointed a waterfall and a square lake which, according to legend, lead to Paititi. There are extremely good chances I will find El Dorado," Palkiewicz told Discovery News.

But Polia is skeptical. "This sounds like another groundless claim. I know for sure Paititi is not in the Madre de Dios area, namely where everybody has been looking," he said.

Brian S. Bauer, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and one of the leading authorities on the Inca, is also skeptical.

"All this only shows that the dream of finding a lost city of gold is as strong for us today as it was for the Spaniards in the 17th century, " he said.

Seems Palkiewicz's critics have a little egg on their faces.

"All this only shows that the dream of finding a lost city of gold is as strong for us today as it was for the Spaniards in the 17th century, " he said.

I never tried it, but I bet gold doesn't taste as good as hogs, cows, sheep or goats.

What was the fixiation, (is that a word?) with gold back then?

I thought wealth was how many cattle and tents you had. Maybe how many fields you had.

When did gold happen?