"Archaeologists have begun excavations at a mysterious site on Honduras' Caribbean coast that may be the legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca or White City.
So far about five dozen stone and ceramic fragments and other artifacts have been unearthed in the jungle-covered Mosquito region, according to local officials.
Among the artifacts that have been discovered are a stunning vessel with vulture-shaped handles, a tray with a jaguar's head made from clay and a stone-made throne carved with another jaguar.
Five dozen stone and ceramic fragments and other artifacts unearthed •Jars and bowls were possibly part of a ceremonial temple •Ruins, dated between 1,000 and 1,500 AD, do not appear to be Mayan •City's name derives from white limestone rock in the area •First reference was made by conquistador Hernando Cortes in 1526 •Theodore Morde in 1940 suggested the city was known as the White City of the Monkey God
The ruins, which appear to date to between 1,000 and 1,500 AD, do not appear to be Mayan, the culture that dominated other sites in the region. 'It is a new culture, or a different culture,' Virgilio Paredes, the director of the Honduras' Institute of Anthropology and Colorado, said.
The city's name is believed to be derived from the white limestone rock in the area and after ancient texts described ivory temples filled with treasures. Western explorers first made reference to it from conquistador Hernando Cortes to King Charles V of Spain in 1526.
One adventurer, Theodore Morde, suggested in 1940 that the city was in fact known as the White City of the Monkey God, and saw an ancient civilization worship a giant simian deity, symbolised by a statue.
The area is inhabited by the Pech and Payas indigenous groups, who long spoke of such a site. The first written reference came in 1544, in a document written by Spanish Bishop Cristobal de Pedraza.
The rumored site had supposedly been located and lost between the 1500s and the 1800s. Researchers detected the current excavation site in 2012.
The site was found last year by a National Geographic team, who unearthed the mounds of white rubble in the shape of a monkey's skull that experts believe to be thousands of years old."
"Legendary White City ruins excavation in Honduras underway"
The secrets of the long-rumoured legendary White City (La Cuidad Blanca), speculated since the 16th century to have untold riches, may be on the verge of being unearthed, Honduran officials said on Friday, when they announced that excavations had begun on Wednesday.
Also known as the City of the Monkey Gods, in 1520 Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is believed to have received “trustworthy reports of very extensive and rich provinces, and of powerful chiefs ruling over them.”
The reports were never fully confirmed, but the rumour triggered a quest that spanned several centuries for the gold-laden cities and Eden-style paradises of ancient Central America and Mexico.
The ruins of an ancient civilization, which nobody had known about, were first spotted in 2012 when an airplane flew over an area of jungle at La Mosquita.
According to the President Hernández, this civilization was neither Maya, Aztec, nor Inca.
Virgilio Paredes, Director of the Institute, said of the White City culture: “It is a new culture, or a different culture.”
The bowls and jars that have been unearthed so far are adorned with drawings and sculptures of what appear to be birds, lizards, buzzards, humans and jaguars. Archaeologists estimate they were made between 1000 and 1500 AD, Prof. Paredes said.
The dig team members say the most striking find so far appears to be a ceremonial throne or seat made of stone, carved with the figure of a jaguar.
We know a lot about the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas, but absolutely nothing about the civilization that lived in White City. They definitely existed long before Christopher Columbus set foot in the New World.
Theodore Morde (1911-1954), an eccentric American explorer, adventurer, journalist, ‘spy’, and TV news producer, mounted the best-known expedition in 1940. It was sponsored by the Museum of the American Indian, which has since become part of the Smithsonian Institution.
He came back to the US with thousands of artefacts and insisted they were all from the White City. Locals had told him it contained the buried statue of the Giant Monkey God.
Mr. Morde kept the location of the site secret, claiming he feared it might be looted. He was found hanging at his parent’s home in Dartmouth, Massachusetts in 1954.
According to the medical examiner, it was death by suicide. So, the site’s location, if he really did know where it was, went with him to the grave. Conspiracy theorists are convinced his death was deliberate, carried out by ‘sinister forces’.
[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 05-23-2019).]
I have always been fascinated by precolombian civilizations. They literally haunt my dreams. It is interesting that not a single one of the more advanced civilizations survived. They never figured out the wheel.
This is only about 100 miles north of me. The people disappeared over 500 years ago.
Love archeology! Also love seeing instructive, thought-provoking stuff get posted. It’s a lot more interesting then the never-ending valueless stream of negativity some here place so much value on.
Does anyone really care about all the things someone else hates?
I like the show Expedition Unknown. It exposes me to all these lost cities and ancient ruins that I otherwise would not have known about. The host is a little sarcastic, and keeps it entertaining.
Considering the very very lengthy timeline, there is probably more un-found and 'yet to be discovered' ancient things than there are 'already found things'. Much, of antiquity has been lost to the winds, tides, dust and sand...
The entire pre-post Columbian period is littered with some VERY strange stuff regarding abandoned cities and dissipated populations all over North America. There is still lots left to find hidden under hundreds of years of growth and hubris.
Considering the very very lengthy timeline, there is probably more un-found and 'yet to be discovered' ancient things than there are 'already found things'. Much, of antiquity has been lost to the winds, tides, dust and sand...
I often wonder: if humans disappeared tomorrow, how long would it be before there was no longer a trace of our existence?
I often wonder: if humans disappeared tomorrow, how long would it be before there was no longer a trace of our existence?
Several centuries at most for concrete and steel. Perhaps 1,000 years for visual keys. Stone artwork and such would last forever until weathering or continental drift ate them up.
We have been a "Goldilocks" planet for much longer than man has walked the Earth. Love this kind of thing. I hope that it will be protected and preserved. History only happens once.
Originally posted by Tony Kania: Several centuries at most for concrete and steel. Perhaps 1,000 years for visual keys. Stone artwork and such would last forever until weathering or continental drift ate them up.
We have been a "Goldilocks" planet for much longer than man has walked the Earth. Love this kind of thing. I hope that it will be protected and preserved. History only happens once.
Archaeologists have found stone age tools that are over 2,600,000 years old, so it would be at least that long.
Originally posted by [REDACTED] In this day and age isnt it amazing we still find... people that still think Obama was the best president ever.
Hey, hey, hey! What is this? Politicization of a forum Topic that is not checkbox-marked as "Politics"..? Why, yes, I think that's what it is. Unless this Topic is checkbox-marked as "Politics"..? I just checked. And it's not. This Topic is not checked as "Politics", by its owner, which must be whoever it was that started this Topic, which is "2.5".
Took me several minutes to figure out how to do that, as I seldom pay any mind to the Checkbox system, except that I think it is fair to say that I have become very careful myself to use the Politics checkbox when I start a Topic and I want it to be known as "Politics." Or even if I think there is a good chance that someone else is going to interject one or more political remarks. And there's usually a good chance. But this was a surprise.
It's not like I'm "outraged" by this. Not at all. But I have seen a definite and in some cases, a "spectacular' hypocrisy from certain member(s) who have trampled all over the Posting Guidelines themselves, and when challenged on it, have responded by pointing at some far less "weighty" or significant Guidelines violation that they can find or argue for, against the forum member that is calling them out for Guidelines violations of a magnitude that are on par with the way that a quasar at the center of a galaxy emits more light energy than all the other hundreds of millions (if not billions) of stars combined, in that same galaxy.
It would be refreshing for forum member [REDACTED] or [REDACTED], but especially for [REDACTED] to demonstrate the (political) impartiality of their Posting Guidelines vigilance, by joining me in my "pro forma" objection to this clear-cut PGV or Posting Guidelines Violation. So, I just reviewed who has appeared in this Topic, And forum member [REDACTED] has not appeared, so maybe they are just unaware that this obvious PGV has been committed.
When I say "Posting Guidelines", I am referring to the sticky Topic "Posting Rules" at the very front (or top) of this Totally O/T or Off Topic forum section.
And I just reviewed these Posting Rules, and guess what? There is no explicit reference to the Checkbox system. Unless I overlooked it. I don't think that I overlooked it. Maybe I should call the POLC (Pennock's Office of Legal Counsel) to evaluate whether or not there is any actual legal basis for charging this "Obama" reference as a Posting Guidelines Violation.
Whobody knows?
[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 05-24-2019).]
I often wonder: if humans disappeared tomorrow, how long would it be before there was no longer a trace of our existence?
There was a pretty good TV show that covered this. I think it was called Life After Humans.
Anyway, baring total destruction such as from a meteor... we'll have tons of evidence of human life that, quite frankly, will never go away. We still find dinosaur bones millions of years later, which means that our bones will likely also remain millions of years later. Especially because we've preserved so many of our bodies in graveyards. Furthermore, our massive infrastructure, while mostly destroyed after a couple 1,000 years... will still be discernable to their purpose.
Like someone else on here said... continental shift and the re-integration into the magma underneath, is likely the only way that our evidence will be completely obliterated.
Even still, I'd like to think we spread through the galaxy like cockroaches before anything ever happens to this planet! haha...
Going to be feeding an 8 year old this evening. Some random kid I suppose. This will be the subject of talk during dinner. We will be viewing the videos in this thread.
Hey, hey, hey! What is this? Politicization of a forum Topic that is not checkbox-marked as "Politics"..? Why, yes, I think that's what it is. Unless this Topic is checkbox-marked as "Politics"..? I just checked. And it's not. This Topic is not checked as "Politics", by its owner, which must be whoever it was that started this Topic, which is "2.5".
Took me several minutes to figure out how to do that, as I seldom pay any mind to the Checkbox system, except that I think it is fair to say that I have become very careful myself to use the Politics checkbox when I start a Topic and I want it to be known as "Politics." Or even if I think there is a good chance that someone else is going to interject one or more political remarks. And there's usually a good chance. But this was a surprise.
It's not like I'm "outraged" by this. Not at all. But I have seen a definite and in some cases, a "spectacular' hypocrisy from certain member(s) who have trampled all over the Posting Guidelines themselves, and when challenged on it, have responded by pointing at some far less "weighty" or significant Guidelines violation that they can find or argue for, against the forum member that is calling them out for Guidelines violations of a magnitude that are on par with the way that a quasar at the center of a galaxy emits more light energy than all the other hundreds of millions (if not billions) of stars combined, in that same galaxy.
It would be refreshing for forum member [REDACTED] or [REDACTED], but especially for [REDACTED] to demonstrate the (political) impartiality of their Posting Guidelines vigilance, by joining me in my "pro forma" objection to this clear-cut PGV or Posting Guidelines Violation. So, I just reviewed who has appeared in this Topic, And forum member [REDACTED] has not appeared, so maybe they are just unaware that this obvious PGV has been committed.
When I say "Posting Guidelines", I am referring to the sticky Topic "Posting Rules" at the very front (or top) of this Totally O/T or Off Topic forum section.
And I just reviewed these Posting Rules, and guess what? There is no explicit reference to the Checkbox system. Unless I overlooked it. I don't think that I overlooked it. Maybe I should call the POLC (Pennock's Office of Legal Counsel) to evaluate whether or not there is any actual legal basis for charging this "Obama" reference as a Posting Guidelines Violation.
I have always been fascinated by precolombian civilizations. They literally haunt my dreams. It is interesting that not a single one of the more advanced civilizations survived. They never figured out the wheel.
This is only about 100 miles north of me. The people disappeared over 500 years ago.
I visited almost every National Park from Santa Fe down through Flagstaff, and back to San Antonio. I got to see a LOT of cave and cliff dwellings. I'm pretty sure I saw that one too. It was pretty fascinating! It's amazing they had conceived of buildings that looked so similar to midevil buildings in Europe, but lacked some of the other technological advancements.
I have always been fascinated by precolombian civilizations. They literally haunt my dreams. It is interesting that not a single one of the more advanced civilizations survived. They never figured out the wheel.
I guess they didn't need the wheel, as horses didn't arrive in to the Americas until well after those civilizations were already long gone. The mystery of no chair tho...different story. Sitting on your haunches around the campfire every evening with your testicles hanging out a loincloth into the dirt couldn't have been much fun..
When I was a kid I really wanted to be Indiana Jones.
Me too. While gold mining on the Klondike, I have unearthed Wolly Mammoth bones. I even used to have a pyramid-shaped tooth about the size of a football.
When you found the bones while mining, you are supposed to stop digging immediately and notify the proper authorities. They would come in and shut your mining site down for an indeterminate amount of time.
With only a 4 month window for mining, it meant you were done for that season, and maybe with that site entirely. And if you got caught at the border with any artifacts what so ever, not only was it a pretty steep fine & jail, your rights to mine or even enter the Yukon Territory of Canada were revoked forever.
So, as you can imagine, most miners just re-buried the bones and pretended they never saw a thing.
