A "Lost City" Revisited

By Natalie Angier.

Every year the haunting stone ruins on the steep eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes are pummeled by up to 230 in. of rain. Getting to the site, 300 miles north of Lima, requires a five-day trudge through some of the highest tropical jungle in South America, a haven for jaguars, spectacled bears and giant anteaters.

Last week a University of Colorado scientist announced that he had recently led an expedition on that grueling trek. Reason: to launch a new study of what could be one of the magnificent "Lost Cities" of the Andes. The remarkably well-preserved complex, known as Gran Pajaten, is thought to have been built by an advanced pre-Incan civilization almost 1,500 years ago. Archaeologist Thomas Lennon, head of the expedition, believes that once excavated, the ancient site may rival even Machu Picchu, one of the grandest Incan ruins.

Gran Pajaten had long been the subject of legend when, in the 1960s, a group of archaeologists managed to locate and partly explore it. The 8,600-ft.-high site was eventually abandoned, however, in favor of more accessible and hospitable digs. That decision may now prove a boon to the University of Colorado; the school has reached an exclusive five-year agreement with Peru to excavate the ruins and study the surrounding area. And because Gran Pajaten's remote location has been a deterrent to looters as well as scientists, most of the artifacts are expected to be in place.

Peering through the vines and branches that enshroud the ruins, the Colorado team was awed by the handiwork of the ancient craftsmen. Slate-roofed towers jut from the mountainside, the possible burial sites of the elite. Below them are 16 round multistoried buildings constructed of slate, wood and mudlike mortar; many of the structures are decorated with stone carvings of birds, animals, geometric designs and human stick figures capped by feather headdresses. Colorful paint survives on some walls, and large swatches of fabric were found scattered among the burial sites. Terraced fields sculpted into the slope indicate sophisticated agricultural techniques. Perhaps most amazing, says Lennon, 3-ft.-high wood carvings on some building eaves have weathered the humid climate so well that their "assertively male" forms can still be seen. Marvels Anthropologist Jane Wheeler, co-leader of the study: "We have no idea why the carvings would be so perfectly preserved--but there they are."

The researchers hope to learn much about the civilization of Gran Pajaten, which Lennon describes as "unique" and "totally distinct from the Incas'." He and others suspect that the people were dominated by the more powerful Incas some 500 years ago and then disappeared in the collapse of the empire in 1533, soon after the Spanish conquistadors arrived. Why the Incan culture declined so quickly remains unknown; many authorities blame European-borne diseases like smallpox, against which the natives had no defenses.

That puzzle could be partly resolved next summer, when the investigators begin prying open tombs. Says Lennon: "We think there's a good chance we'll find mummies, and they may tell us whether there were epidemics that swept through the area." He would also like to understand why anybody would have lived in such a godforsaken area. Indeed, Gran Pajaten seems more like a place to put a prison than a great city.

With reporting by Sam Maddox/Boulder