Peru's "Lost City" Is a Natural Formation, Experts Rule

Kelly Hearn in Buenos Aires, Argentina
for National Geographic News

February 25, 2008

Stone structures in Peru that were recently suggested to be the ruins of an ancient "lost city" are actually the result of natural forces, not Inca handiwork, officials say.

The announcement comes from archaeologists with Peru's culture ministry and clouds the prospects of one local politician to turn the site into a tourist attraction.

On January 10, Peruvian state media reported that a stone fortress had been discovered on the heavily forested eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains (see map). .

The story quoted the local mayor as saying the structures were discovered under heavy vegetation by villagers, who dubbed the site Manco Pata.

Guillermo Torres, the mayor of nearby Kimbiri, suggested that the complex could be the lost city of Paititi, described in local legend as a citadel built by the Inca hero Inkarri after the Spanish conquest.

After the initial report of the find, experts from the Peruvian government's Cusco-based National Institute of Culture (INC) arrived at the site and issued their findings in a February 12 report.

In the four-page report, the researchers deliver what one INC official described as "alarming news": Natural chemical and physical processes, including seismic activity, created the stone blocks found at the site, causing them to "appear to be walls or surfaces made by hand," the report states.

The team found "no evidence of archaeological structures or buildings … that could suggest a human presence," it adds.

"Too Good to Be True"

Geological analysis identified the formations as sandstone, the report says.

"The stones do not show signs of wear or of intervention from the hands of men from the act of cutting stone," it states.

Scientists also found no mortar on the corners or sides of the stone blocks.

"Additionally no evidence exists that in any moment the sector in question could have been used as a stone-working site for the preparation of stone elements," it says.

The team, which notes that similar naturally occurring structures have been found in Machu Picchu, also found no construction foundation for the walls.

In January, experts interviewed by National Geographic News expressed doubts about the Paititi claim, stating that historical records put the probable location of the legendary city in another part of the Amazon.

Nonetheless, based on photographs of Manco Pata, some remained optimistic that the site would prove to be an important artifact of Inca or perhaps pre-Inca culture.

"The claims of it being such an extensive site seemed, as well, too good to be true," said Gregory Deyermenjian, a Massachusetts-based psychologist and explorer who has led expeditions to investigate the Paititi legend.

Tourism Hopes?

Days after Torres, the local mayor, announced the discovery of the find to the press, he met with INC officials, who in turn announced that Manco Pata would be declared a national heritage site.

As scientists headed to the site to determine its origins, rumors surfaced that Torres owned a local tourism company, and that villagers had known about Manco Pata for years.

Alex Lizaraso, an aide to Torres, confirmed in an interview that some locals had known of the site's existence for some years but kept its location quiet.

He also said Torres owned a small company that provides recreational space and a swimming pool to schoolchildren in a nearby town, but he did not expect to gain profits from tourism related to Manco Pata.

"Personally, I considered it an exaggeration to think the mayor would promote Manco Pata for personal ends," Lizaraso said.

Torres's office did not comment on the new INC report.

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