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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Photo: Vast "Cloud Warrior" Ruin Found in Amazon


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Explorer Keith Muscutt poses at Peru's newfound Chachapoya Indian structure, Penitentiary Ruin. The structure's vast size and location at what was once thought to be the edge of the Chachapoya range have shed new light on the Andes mountain culture.

Below, a diagram depicts what the ruin may have looked like in its heyday—complete with a football-field-size plaza (a rarity among Chachapoya complexes).

Photograph and illustration courtesy Keith Muscutt