Billions in Bullion: A New Search for the Lost Gold of Atahualpa
The lost treasure of Inca Emperor Atahualpa is considered among the most important and valuable in history. And now a new team have ventured into the Ecuadorian Andes to try, once again, to find it.
The story, reported in Greek Reporter, hinges on the discovery of an ancient Incan road in the remote Llanganates region south of Quito, leading to an isolated lagoon. The team, led by photographer Jorge Juan Anhalzer, believe this is where the gold is hidden.
The story is one of murder, ransom and greed. Atahualpa was the last Incan Emperor, victor in a civil war that saw his people divided between the new lands around Quito and the Incan heartlands and capital of Cuzco, in the high Andes to the south.
Atahualpa won the civil war only to fall victim to the new power in the region: European conquistadors. Ambushed at Cajamarca in Peru by a small Spanish force under Francisco Pizarro, Atahualpa was captured, his army scattered and his court and government put to the sword. The Incan Empire would never recover from this last, mortal blow.
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Atahualpa himself was not killed in the ambush however, but instead put to ransom, promising to fill a room with gold and another with silver to secure his freedom. The ransom was gathered from Atahualpa’s strongholds to the north and the Incan general Rumiñahui was charged with bringing it south to Pizarro.
Rumiñahui was said to have been transporting this enormous ransom south when news reached him in the vicinity of Quito that Pizarro had not waited, and instead had killed his master. The general hid the literal king’s ransom he was transporting somewhere in the region, but it was never clear where.
The landscape in this part of Ecuador can be extremely challenging. The passes between the coast and the interior across the spine of the Andes are precipitous and infrequent, and much of the mountain range here is a series of switchbacks, inaccessible peaks and hidden forested valleys.
Anhalzer and his team drew on the local rumor and stories about the lost treasure which built up down the centuries. Part of it was said to have been thrown into a lake to hide it, for example.
Perhaps the most important clue for this expedition however was the so-called “Map of Valverde.” That is correct, this is story with a literal treasure map. The Incan road and the lagoon at its end match the map, and it is this that leads the team to believe that they have found the treasure.
This expedition did not have the finances to search the lake, but it is hoped that a follow-up expedition may be able to confirm their belief. Is the lost treasure of Atahualpa, golden idols and billions in bullion, found at last?
Maybe.
Original Piece: https://greekreporter.com/2024/12/21/new-search-inca-emperor-atahualpa-gold-treasure-ecuador/.
Header Image: A new expedition into the Ecuadorian Andes believes it has found Atahualpa’s gold. Source: Brooklyn Museum / Public Domain
