Artifact Treasure Hunting in PeruWhat could be better in the jungles of Peru? Since 1992, Global Research & Discovery Network has been engaged in archeological research using the latest state-of-the-art detectors. Along the way, Global and its members have made significant discoveries in many countries and been credited with a number of discoveries. Many of our finds are displayed today in museums throughout the world. Perhaps Global's most significant discovery to date is the location of the City of Khan Batu in Russia. The grandson of Genghis Khan and the head of the "Golden Hordes," Khan Batu were credited with conquering Russia and many European countries. His gold Tamgha (seal) which was found is now displayed in a museum in Russia. More recently, I traveled to Peru, where the location and recovery of metal artifacts presents greater challenges than I've have encountered in elsewhere. For that reason, prior to my trip I consulted Chris Fisher, head of sales for Accurate Locators. Having been to Peru on several previous trips, I explained to Chris that the country's difficult topography makes metal detecting a special challenge. What's more, the most valuable and sought-after objects tend to be hidden deep in the jungle, buried under heavy cover of dead leaves and foliage. He suggested that the Pulse Penetrator SSP, with its various-size loops (the largest being a square meter) has ability to penetrate to great depths, would be best-suited to Peru's terrain. I placed the order and, with a mix of hope and anxiety, left for Peru to join the archeological team of Dr. Theo Paredes, a prominent anthropologist, who, together with his archeology group has made many important discoveries. Theo has also served as the Governor of the Inca region. It was good to reconnect with old friends in Cusco. Theo had discovered what looked to be an ancient city in the jungle, but we would need cutting-edge equipment to confirm it. We discussed the expedition route and, later in the evening, attended a Shaman ceremony for ensuring good fortunes and appeasement of the spirits. I left with a bad headache, having imbibed far too much of the Shaman's potion, and retired to my quarters, where I started preparing the equipment for this long-awaited expedition. We spent the next two days making local contacts, getting travel approvals and researching private land holdings where the owners had discovered artifacts in the past. In addition, accompanied by two former mayors of Inca towns, we visited Inca farmers who received us most graciously. One told us that on their sites, there are Inca walls and perhaps even mounds; thus, an investigation around the mounds and along the walls seemed to make sense. While I assembled the machine, I explained to the gathering crowd how it worked and what it was supposed to do. As soon as it was tuned, I approached an iron shovel and at a distance of more than four feet, the strong signal from the machine met with expressions of great astonishment; the people couldn't believe what they saw.
Theo suggested - with good reason - that if we dig we go no deeper than 20 cm down, and that further digging, with small tools and brushes, be left to professionals. The reason was that the earth was extremely hard and the use of picks risked destroying any buried artifacts. The amount of buried trash even in the JUNGLE was unbelievable. Despite their dependence on the earth for all their farming needs, the local farmers had been in the practice of throwing out everything. The jungle cover was thick so we decided to use the 18" coil without any discrimination the machine emitted signal after signal, we decided to dig all the responses being afraid of missing any valuable finds, but all we dug out so far was surface trash, However, one signal was different from the others offering a much fainter signal, indicating a deep true target, we hope! We started to dig, but after 20 cm the ground was hard and in place, a good sign. We had to leave the spot to be dug later by the professionals. Our next digging focused on the property of the former mayor of the town. He told us that there was a huge cave on his property and that, according to legend, following the conquest of Peru, a holy man with the ability to astrologically project himself into other places and dimensions had "visited" both this cave and an adjourning one and seen a number of life-sized gold statues. He added that, in the late 1800s, villagers had looted the adjourning cave (which isn't on his property) and found a few gold statues. They argued over how to divide the loot; when one farmer felt he wasn't getting his share, he reported the matter to the police. You can guess the outcome. The next day, upon my arrival at his farm, a great party was prepared in my honor. Guinea pigs were roasted in huge outdoor ovens and Pisco sour (the national alcoholic drink of Peru) was available in abundance. I tried to avoid drinking too much alcohol as the heat was unbearable. Following the festivities, we went to the cave only to find the entrance blocked by several tons of boulders. Obviously, we had no intention of trying to remove the stones. Rather, our objective was to check the area for artifacts that would indicate that there was movement to the cave. As before, the vegetation was chin-high, requiring the macheteros to do their work. It was clear that the area had been the site of many mud slides in the past, adding a significant amount of depth to the ground and necessitating the use of largest loop available. I assembled the square-meter loop and started detecting the "clear" patches. We searched for hours and, again, we needed to bring in the support team to clear the area. It was grueling work in the heat, and the excessive humidity, caused by the proliferating vegetation, made it difficult to breathe. But the team kept at it, and I finally picked up a faint signal, indicating a very deep object. We marked the place and called it a day. Now it really was time to cool off. We drove to Cuzco for dinner, washed down with ample quantities of Pisco Sour, lingering at the restaurant till well after midnight. I have no recollection of how I got back to my hotel.
It takes tremendous stamina to climb in Peru, where the mountains can easily soar to 20,000 feet and more. To make the going easier, we chewed coca leaves, which dilate the arteries, thus increasing blood-flow and sending more oxygen to the brain. Again, we found an incredible amount of vegetation covering everything. We cleared a few patches, but found nothing. Over the next few days we visited other tracts of land, marked a few places and left. The most interesting day was when we entered the jungle. A native had told us about a huge black stone that is constantly hit by lightning, perhaps indicating the presence of large amounts of metals below. Getting there wasn't easy. Walking through the jungle is a unique experience by itself. Luckily, the natives are natural navigators and, better yet, seemed to have an uncanny ability to alert me to impending danger. "Gus, freeze," one shouted I stopped dead in my tracks. "Look up in the tree in front of you," he commanded. I looked and saw nothing.. I took out my binoculars and scanned the tree but nothing attracted my eye. "Don't you see the snake in the branches?" said the guide. He was right: There it was. Worse, these snakes are very poisonous and have the tendency to throw themselves down on people. Since it was impossible to circumvent the place, the natives started to throw branches at the snake to make it move. Without warning, the snake fell from the tree and headed directly for me. "Why me" I wondered; weren't there others ahead of me? Luckily a native with a stick intervened. "It makes a very good dinner," he said, admiring his prey. Later at dinner, the natives pressed me to try the cooked snake; I refused. "But it's a delicacy," they insisted.
We continued our trip but eventually came to a dead end. Due to recent torrential rains, our path was covered and impossible to cross. We would need a large support team to open the path. So we shifted into reverse and started walking back.
After remaining in Lima a few days, I returned home to New Jersey, where I rushed to develop the pictures. Much to my astonishment, the photographs of the artifacts came out blurry, as if the pictures were burned. I am an experienced photographer, and had focused properly on the objects. The interesting thing is that the pictures following the object came out good. I consulted Theo on the issue and he explained me that the team had neglected to conduct proper ceremonies prior to digging the objects, thus angering the spirits. I requested him to send me new pictures of the objects. (Coming soon) And about the SSP I must state that the machine:
All in all, I enjoyed working with the user friendly SSP and the rare finds are evidence of the machine capabilities. |
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