To our surprise we were told that none was required, apart from a verbal permission from the indigenous owner of the land. Their advice could not have been further from the truth.įriday, 18 th September: Ignoring the advice of the above mentioned ‘experts’, a small team of us from Ancient Origins – Ioannis Syrigos, co-founder, and staff members Gary Manners and Christian Aguilar – started on our journey from Cuenca to North West Ecuador, near the city of Macas.Īrriving in Macas, a small town close to the Tayos caves, we contacted government officials to obtain the necessary permits to enter Shuar territory. We were disappointed that such organizations represented the Shuar people as ‘savages’ and warned that our lives would be in danger if we went without their guidance. In planning our trip, we were presented with offers from a small number of tourist offices and ‘experts’ who said they could organize such a trip at a high price. At least 40,000 Shuar people remain in Ecuador. The Shuar people are members of the Jivaroan peoples, who are Amazon tribes living between the upper mountains of the Andes, and the tropical rainforests and savannas of the Amazonian lowlands, in Ecuador extending to Peru. Very little information is available about the caves, and the Ecuadorian government does not get involved, since the caves lie within Shuar territory. Organizing an expedition to Tayos was difficult. Some features, such as straight edges and geometric shapes, suggest human intervention ( Wikipedia) Preparing for the expedition The Shuar people stated they had investigated the wrong cave, and the location of the treasures was secret. Numerous archaeological items of ancient origin were recovered in the caves, but nothing that matched the description of the treasures of von Däniken’s book. In 1976, the largest and most expensive exploration of Tayos cave was launched, led by Stan Hall, and involving over a hundred people, including British and Ecuadorian military personnel, expert cavers, as well as Neil Armstrong. The caves sit within Shuar territory and is one of the reasons why it has rarely been explored – the Shuar decide who is allowed access to their sacred land. Written references to the Tayos caves go back as far as 1860, but it has been known to the indigenous Shuar people for much longer. The truth behind the Tayos caves has remained out-of-reach, so last month Ancient Origins carried out an expedition to the caves to see just what lay within this enigmatic subterranean world. Tayos was also mentioned as the location of Father Crespi’s collection of mysterious golden artifacts, given to him by the indigenous people of Ecuador. The Tayos caves (Cueva de los Tayos) reached worldwide attention in 1973 when Erich von Däniken released his bestselling and controversial book The Gold of the Gods, in which he claimed that Argentinian-Hungarian entrepreneur Juan Moricz discovered gold, unusual sculptures, and a library of metal tablets in a series of artificial tunnels within the caves. The Tayos caves of Ecuador are a legendary vast natural underground network of caves spanning many kilometres, very little of which has been officially explored.
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