A team of archeologists from the National Institute of Culture, INC, has reportedly dismissed claims an alleged archaeological fortress buried beneath thick, jungle vegetation was a mythical lost city. Instead the INC found the stone structures at the site were formed by natural forces, not Inca stone work, National Geographic reported.
An expedition uncovered the site after finding it in late December close to the remote district of Kimbiri, in Cusco Department. Kimbiri’s mayor, Guillermo Torres, told Agencia Andina the expedition found perfectly carved stones forming the base of immense walls that covered an area of 40,000-square meters.
Torres named the site the Manco Pata fortress and speculated it may be Paititi, a mythical city where Inkarri, a cultural hero and the founder of the Inca capital of Cusco, reportedly retired after the Spanish conquest. Torres said Manco Pata would be declared a cultural heritage site with prospects of turning it into part of a tourist circuit.
However, a four-page report issued by the INC on Feb. 12 found “no evidence of archaeological structures or buildings … that could suggest a human presence.” Instead, the stone blocks at the site were formed by natural chemical and physical processes, including seismic activity.
National Geographic cited the report saying, “the stones do not show signs of wear or of intervention from the hands of men from the act of cutting stone.”
“Additionally, no evidence exists that in any moment the sector in question could have been used as a stone-working site for the preparation of stone elements.”
