Ecuadorian legends tell of ancient cities of giants, abandoned by their inhabitants long ago, slowly being reclaimed by nature. But discoveries such as this one show giants were undoubtedly real.
As a matter of fact, tribes from all over the Amazonian basin recollect the existence of an ancient race of giants that built thriving cities long before ‘regular-sized’ humans arrived in the area.
In 2012, one such legend led a team of researchers to a remote area in the rain forests of Ecuador. Several tribes had been using the place as a traditional meeting place since time immemorial and they believed it was inhabited by powerful spirits.
The place was sacred for the locals and they talked about its builders’ place with a mixture of fear and respect. The reason behind their attitude became visible once the team noticed the presence of ancient megalithic structures on site.
The largest structure was a 260 foot tall by a 260-foot wide pyramid with an inclination too high to be natural. It had been built using hundreds of large, irregularly-shaped boulders, each one weighing approximately 2 tonnes. At the top they found a flat area that could have been used as a ceremonial or sacrificial platform.
It looks like a paved wall, an ancient street or plaza with a 60 degrees angle, perhaps the roof of a larger structure,” said French-American archaeologist Benoit Duverneuil. “Many of the stones were perfectly aligned, have sharp edges and seem to have been sculpted by human hands.”
The protective layer of earth had preserved the smooth surface of the stones. It also revealed the presence of a cement-like substance used to keep the boulders together. Judging by the apparent age of the ruins, this could be the earliest example of concrete being used in America. It would seem the builders of this ancient citadel possessed engineering knowledge far ahead of their time.
But the most interesting discovery came in the form of tools. Oversized and ancient, they littered the forest floor. Their purpose is unknown but the team suspects they were used in metalworking. One thing is certain, though: their size would have made it very difficult for a normal size human to wield them.
Writer and researcher Bruce Fenton was part of the team that discovered this lost city of giants and he believes the tools speak for themselves:
What really strongly points towards this habitation having housed the same race of giants is the presence of extremely oversized hammers, or at least the stone hammerheads. Assuming these were attached to hard wood handles they would be of both incredible size and weight, making their use as tools impractical for a typical Inca or indigenous Indian, these being generally slight built people of around five feet or so.”
It is interesting to note that previous expeditions in the rain forests of Ecuador produced results that support the fact that giants were once present. Bones much larger than those of an average sized human were discovered in caves all over the Americas. Evidence keeps mounting, suggesting our own history might require some footnotes. Giant ones.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this amazing discovery was willfully ignored by the authorities. In 2013, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Culture sent one of their teams to inspect the finding but concluded it was nothing more than a natural formation.
Fenton and his team disagree. The size and shape of the blocks, the precision and technique with which they were cut, polished and assembled seem to point to an artificial origin. Furthermore, it looks like more structures are waiting to be discovered.
Several other large mounds have yet to be excavated. Although covered in mud and vegetation, their shape suggests pyramids are buried beneath them. This would suggest the city houses more than just one pyramid — it is home to an entire pyramid complex. And history taught us that such complexes are built around a central pyramid, one that usually contains the remains of a great leader.
If this was a city of giants, who could have been their leader?
Does this scenario explain why the authorities called the place a “natural formation”? Were they planning on quietly removing any anomalous relics that would have supported the ancient giant theory? It wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened.
Unfortunately, Fenton reports that many of the artifacts have already been stolen, making it even more difficult to piece together the puzzling details of this story.
