Photo. Stone constructions (illustration).
According to National Geographic 19 January 2007 (source: www.nationalgeographic.com), the Chachapoya are known for building mountaintop citadels and leaving behind well-preserved mummies. Examples include cliff tombs near Peru's Lake of the Condors and Huayabamba Lake.
The discovered ceremonial stone structure, was likely built by the Chachapoya Indians, a stone- and metalworking culture that thrived in Amazonian cloud forests from the 9th to the 15th century A.D.
These Indians had a reputation for fighting hard against the Inca, but it`s believed that the Inca took over the Chachapoya site shortly before the Spanish explorers arrived in Peru in the 16th century.
For more information about the discovery, read National Geographic`s newsarticle 19 January 2007: Vast "Cloud Warrior" Ruin Found in Amazon.
Stein Morten Lund, 17 February 2009
Additional information
The ancient Chachapoya - the home page of Keith Muscutt, author and photographer of Warriors of the Clouds: A Lost Civilization in the Upper Amazon of Peru. Website: www.chachapoyas.com
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