# Warriors of the Clouds.



## Rosemary (Jan 20, 2007)

*Article from Associated Press*. 

  A farmer working in Peru’s Amazonian rainforest high in the Andes has found something that has astounded archaeologists.

  The discovery was of a cave complex, stretching 27m and containing a burial vault with 12 mummies, who were all of the Chachapoyas tribe.

  The Chachapoyas – or Warriors of the Clouds – were tall, fair-haird, light-skinned race that some believe may have come from Europe.

  The mummies are all at least 600 years old.  Also found were ceramics, textiles and wall paintings.

  Little is known about this race, except they were one of the more advanced civilizations in the area.  They were adept warrior, and commanded a kingdom which stretched across the Andes from 800 to 1500 when they were conquered by the Incas.

  Virtually all records of the tribe was lost, however they did leave behind a spectacular citadel, called Kuelap, 3000m up in the Andes.   It has more than 4000 buildings and defensive towers, many with decorated walls, cornices and friezes.


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## Rane Longfox (Jan 20, 2007)

How strange. But yes, it's likely that a mostly aryan-looking race was originally from europe. A group of rogue (and very early) conquistadors, or something. Traders who got lost on their way around the Cape of Good Hope...


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## Mouse (Jan 21, 2007)

Oh yeah! I heard about this! Saw it on the news and I was glued. They showed the mummies and everything, including a baby that had been mummified. Very interesting!


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## j d worthington (Jan 22, 2007)

Thanks, Rosie... another very interesting article. I'll have to look and see what else I can find on this; and if you spot anything, please post it, would you?


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## littlemissattitude (Jan 22, 2007)

Thank you so much for the heads-up, Rosie.  I love mummies.  Yeah, I know...but ever since I saw _The Mummy_ the first time when I was 5 years old I've been entranced.  And then I saw a real-live Native American mummy of a baby when I was 7 and visiting a national park in Arizona, and a couple of years later I saw an Egyptian mummy on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.  I was even more fascinated each time, and I've never lost my interest.  If you haven't read a very good book called _The Mummy Congress: Science, Obsession and the Everlasting Dead_, by Heather Pringle, you should.  Fascinating introduction to the study of mummies.


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