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<< Our Photo Pages >> Ciudad Perdida - Ancient Village or Settlement in Colombia

Submitted by bat400 on Saturday, 12 January 2013  Page Views: 10905

Multi-periodSite Name: Ciudad Perdida Alternative Name: The Lost City, Teyuna (Sierra Nevada)
Country: Colombia
NOTE: This site is 283.081 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Santa Marta
Latitude: 11.037800N  Longitude: 73.9251W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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I have visited· I would like to visit

ModernExplorers visited on 18th May 2005 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 1 This site is an absolute gem and a must see for anyone interested in ancient sites. It is quite difficult to get to and I would say impossible without a guide but it is easy to find guides and travel agencies selling tours to the lost city. I visited the site back in 2005 as part of a 6 day trek through the jungle. It takes 2 days (or 3 - depending on which villages you visit along the way) serious hiking through the Colombian jungle so you should have a decent level of fitness. The city is based on a hill and to enter the site you must climb 1200 steps which lead from the river bed up to the city itself. The engineers were very skilled in building on hills; there are features in place that guide the water run-off down the hill without causing damage to the structures and there stone tiers throughout the city. There are markings on some of the rocks that look like some form of ancient map and there are circular stone structures. A beautiful site set in a beautiful location, just don't forget your insect repellant. For further details on my trip in Colombia please follow the link: http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Colombia/blog-490421.html

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : View over the 'lost city'. (Vote or comment on this photo)
The Lost City is considered to be the central settlement and trading hub of the Tairona (Tayrona) culture. The first construction has been dated to 800 AD, but the population dispersed and the town was abandoned around 1600, following the Spanish conquest.

The buildings have long since decayed, but what remains are a series of ridge top stone platforms forming circular terraces. These are linked by stone steps. The remains of field terracing can be found up and down the mountainous area. Only the highest, central platforms have been excavated and cleared of trees and undergrowth. The rest of the site is still covered by dense, 400-year-old forest.

The modern indigenous peoples of the Arhuaco, Koguis, and Arsario groups claim the site as the product of their own ancestors. They continued to inhabit the general area since the abandonment of settlement there. In the 1970's the site was discovered by treasure hunters, and became known to the authorities after a murder occurred among the looters.

In the past, tourists have been taken and held hostage by paramilitary groups while visiting the area. Now, the only access now is with a limited number of outfitters and guides, and the regular military provides security in the area. You can take a 5-6 day trek to visit the site, through insect-ridden forest, wading chest high rivers and negotiating mountain paths, so only the hardy are likely to visit.

Note: Archaeologists Explore Colombia's Lost City
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Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : View over the city with one of our indigenous guides posing. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : Getting close to the top. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : A map, which the guide said was of the local region but impossible to tell. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : Circular structures. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : A close up of the map.

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : Steps to go between the many layers.

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : More evidence of water usage.

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : The builders created a path to walk on and a path for water running off.

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : The view as we climb up the steps.

Ciudad Perdida
Ciudad Perdida submitted by ModernExplorers : There were quite a lot of steps from the river bed up to the ruins.

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"Ciudad Perdida" | Login/Create an Account | 3 News and Comments
  
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Searching for lost kingdoms by Sunny100 on Saturday, 12 January 2013
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The jungles, high plains and mountains of South America and the search for the ancient civilisations BBC 4 January 14th. Watch the video at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20975815
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    Re: Searching for lost kingdoms by Sunny100 on Wednesday, 16 January 2013
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    Yes was a very interesting programme. Enjoyed the part where that bloke was climbing up (and down) to look at the burial tombs hollowed out from the sheer cliff face. Extraordinary.
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Archaeologists Explore Colombia's Lost City by davidmorgan on Thursday, 03 January 2013
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A team of archaeologists are uncovering remains of an ancient city that, until recently, had been unknown to most of the outside world for centiuries. Known today as Ciudad Perdida (or Teyuna), Spanish for "Lost City", it is one of Colombia's most spectacular heritage sites, despite the fact that relatively few of the world's travelers have even known of its existence. Inhabited by the Tayrona people until the end of the 16th century and tucked away within the lush jungles of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta not far from the Colombian coastline, it is made up of hundreds of stone terraces and rings, which archaeologists believe were used as foundations for temples, dwellings and plazas. Although the Tayrona built more than 250 towns across a 2,000 square mile area, few are as large or as impressive as Ciudad Perdida, which is believed to have been a regional center of political, social and economic power, home to around 3,000 people.

Now, a team of scientists, students and volunteers will be surveying and investigating a number of locations within the 2,000 square mile Teyuna region, exploring potential ancient residential and other settlement sites that will help fill in the picture of a civilization that today only exists in ruins and oral stories and recollections handed down from generation to generation among the current indigenous people who still live near or among the ruins.

Dr. Santiago Giraldo, who has led efforts to investigate and restore the site and who will also be directing the upcoming surveys, shows the jungle-shrouded region from his smartphone tablet to a news correspondent. "What we're going to be doing in the next few field seasons is explore all this area right here that you see as forest cover." he says, "because we've been finding that the structures keep on going down toward the river, and that area hasn't been surveyed. So we're trying to understand to what extent this city actually extends down to the river and what would be its limits."

In 2013, Giraldo's team will focus on surveying three poorly understood sites located a short distance from the core area of Ciudad Perdida to, in part, determine the relationship of these sites to the larger city. They intend to map the already-discovered flagstone path that connects them to the core, including the surrounding topography and structures located at the sites. They will also be investigating the presence (or absence) of buried settlements dated to the earlier Neguanje period (AD 200-1,000) to better understand the origins of the sites. Moreover, they will conduct conservation work at collapsed structures in collaboration with an archaeological conservation team led by Catalina Bateman.

There is more to Ciudad Perdida than archaeology, however. Looters have pillaged the site for artifacts to sell on the illicit antiquities market. However, this has been arrested, and now the focus is on preservation. But even this will be a challenge, given the increase in tourism and the adverse effects that can have on site preservation. Following the discovery of the city, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH) began a program of study and conservation at the site. In partnership with the Global Heritage Fund (GFHF), ICANH is stabilizing the site and saving it for posterity, protecting the site from threats that include destructive vegetation growth and erosion, in addition to the already-mentioned effects of tourism. The indigenous inhabitants of the area will be intimately involved.

Says Dr. Dan Thompson, Director of Global Projects and the Global Heritage Network at the GHF: "Seeking to minimize the impact on the environment and the indigenous cultures is central to management planning, and this concern is being addressed through consultation with the indigenous Kogi people.........Where the future of the site was once dim, hope has returned, and through the efforts of all those involved the site will once again enjoy its former glory, taking its rightful plac

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