[UA] A cliomancer's wet dream

[David M Jacobs]

Hey, all,

This was taken from http://www.smh.com.au/news/0203/20/world/world6.html

"FOUND: INCA CIVILISATION'S LAST MOUNTAIN HIDEOUT
By Guy Gugliotta and Lucien Chauvin

"In 1536 Spaniards drove the Incas from Cuzco, sending their chieftain 
Manco Capac and thousands of his soldiers fleeing north-east towards Machu 
Picchu and into the vast wilderness of Vilcabamba.

"There, for 36 years, the Incas organised their final resistance. They 
battled the Spaniards from their stronghold until they were defeated in 
1572, and their last king, Tupac Amaru, decapitated.
At a news conference in the Peruvian capital Lima on Monday, the National 
Geographic Society announced the discovery in Vilcabamba of an extensive 
village of Inca ruins, high in the eastern Andes of Peru, about 35km south 
of Machu Picchu.

"The expedition leader, Peter Frost, said the site, covering six square 
kilometres and apparently comprising more than 100 structures, was the 
largest found since 1964, when an American explorer, Gene Savoy, discovered 
the capital of the empire's jungle refuge.

"The structures include three ceremonial platforms, the highest of which 
was constructed in a non-Inca style.

"'We are wondering if there was a local ethnic group cohabiting with the 
Incas at the time,' Mr Frost told reporters in Lima. 'We have also found 
traces of an early Inca style of pottery, which makes us wonder if the 
Incas were in Vilcabamba earlier than is generally believed.'

"Mr Frost said he first spotted the site, perched high on a hill called 
Cerro Victoria, during a 1999 trek. He returned with an archaeological team 
last year.

"'We believe that this was some sort of administrative centre for the 
Inca,' Mr Frost said. The ruins included circular dwellings, storehouses, 
the platforms, cemeteries, a dam and a pyramid. Tombs had been looted, 
though human remains were found.

"Mr Frost believes the Incas, who worshipped snowcapped mountain peaks, 
settled there because of the spectacular views of surrounding ranges.

"'Few, if any, Spanish conquistadors ever reached the southern part of 
Vilcabamba,' Mr Frost said. 'This site may ultimately yield a record of 
Inca civilisation from the very beginning to the very end, undisturbed by 
European contact - an unparalleled opportunity.'"



David M Jacobs
dmjacobs at zipworld.com.au
http://www.zipworld.com.au/~dmjacobs/
ICQ UIN: 17027598

"'Kevin,' David interrupted, 'what the Germans should have done
was show the Russians a dead cat and ask them to explain it.'

"'That would have stopped the Soviet offensive right there,' I said.
"Zhukov would still be trying to account for the cat's death.'"

— from Valis, by Philip K Dick


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