The Incas The Children of the Sun
Manoa: the story of a fantastic discovery (2 Volumes)
This two-volume book, with its discoveries, is destined to change our knowledge of yesterday's world, of pre-Columbian history and of that extraordinary Inca empire whose vicissitudes are still largely shrouded in the mists of history. But it promises, above all, to have a profound impact on today's world and, perhaps, on the economic, social, and political fate of entire regions of South America.
Volume I:
The Archaeological
El Dorado
Volume II:
The Mining
El Dorado
BRIEF SUMMARY VOLUME I: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EL DORADO Everything revolves — as incredible as it might seem — around El Dorado. A place, according to legend, overflowing with gold and immeasurable treasures. Starting from the discovery of the New World, it has been the cause of obsession and delirium for entire generations of adventurers and explorers, who pursued the “golden dream” exploring the Andes mountains inch by inch, travelled the immense Amazonian plains and went up rivers throughout South America. A legend that has remained — precisely — a legend, due to the failure of all the expeditions that have followed one another over the years. Today, after five centuries, this legend is replaced by an unimaginable reality, which far surpasses any fantasy. A truth that Vittorio Binda is ready to reveal with precise and indisputable data and details in this sensational book: the real city of El Dorado actually existed. It was called Manoa and it was the capital of the Kingdom of Guyana, founded by the Incas between the southern part of Venezuela (Bolívar State) and the north-western part of Brazil (Roraima State). This lost city is located deep in the Venezuelan jungle, not far from the border with Brazil: a wild and inhospitable land that, according to the Author, represents one of the richest territories in the world for gold and diamonds, a real mining El Dorado that the Incas had identified and begun to exploit. The discovery is not the result of a vivid imagination, as it would be easy to think: instead, it is the result of a research work that the Author has carried out taking almost an entire lifetime. He accompanies us in his words, recounting and explaining how he came to the location of the ruins of Manoa, the capital of El Dorado. Starting from a profound knowledge of the history of the Incas, the Author looked for a place featuring three fundamental elements for this Andean people: the presence of mountains and, at the same time, of caves, considered sacred and an object of veneration (huacas), and the existence of rich deposits of gold, a metal that had a very high symbolic and religious value for the Incas. A place with such characteristics exists: it is a gigantic plateau, crossed by a vast system of tunnels and natural caves, rising in an area exceptionally rich in gold and diamond deposits. It exists, and it is in the heart of the tropical jungle of Venezuelan Guyana. This deductive reasoning obviously needed confirmation, which gradually arrived thanks also to very precious and fundamental information provided to the Author by various natives, who know — like no one else in the world — the stories of those places forgotten over the centuries and buried by the action of an implacable nature. We too meet those natives, as if we were present at the discussions and listened to their revelations. For example, those by an elderly Missayuq Kuna or Paqo (Pako) Kuna, priest of the Quero people, the only Andean community to preserve intact the ancient culture of the Incas. The words of João Caçador, one of the very few survivors of the Makú ethnic group. And above all, the tales by a Yekuana indio, Vicente Rodrigues Yurawana, whose words lead us, with great precision, to a vast tepuy, a plateau hidden in the hell of the tropical jungle of Venezuelan Guyana, which allegedly contains in its belly an immense labyrinth of tunnels and caves and is located within a territory extraordinarily rich in gold and diamonds. A place protected, according to the Yekuana, by fierce guardians, indigenous people of small stature who move through the jungle with impressive agility and speed, who speak a language unknown (Quechua?) to the other indios of the region, who kill with lethal curare arrows and who, according to some, are the keepers of the secrets of the Incas. Through passionate and exciting tales, we also learn the stories of men who in the recent past may have known the exact location of Manoa, the capital of El Dorado, some without even realising that this was indeed the lost city of the Incas. The French anthropologist Marcel Homet: near Maracá Island he met a Makú chief who revealed to him a path leading to mysterious ruins in the middle of the jungle. An enigmatic German doctor from Hamburg who organised an expedition in the tropical forest on the border between Brazil and Venezuela in the 1920s: his expedition clashed with a tribe of pygmies defending stone houses that had fallen into ruin. James Crawford “Jimmie” Angel — an American aviator and explorer who gave his name to the Salto Angel, the tallest waterfall in the world, which he discovered in Venezuela in 1933 — and the pilot Rogério Prunes de Abreu — one of the pioneers of Brazilian aviation in the Amazonian region: both claimed to have seen ancient relics covered in gold from above, in the middle of the forest. Lucas Fernández Peña, Venezuelan explorer and founder of the small town of Santa Elena de Uairén, Venezuela: he encountered a large wall in the middle of the jungle, but was immediately chased away by natives guarding that surprising building. Adolpho Brasil, prefect of Boa Vista, capital of the Brazilian State of Roraima: Apolinário, a Yekuana pajé (“sorcerer”) and a great friend of his, took him to visit the ruins of a large stone city, which he called Manoa, located not far from Sierra Parima. The Brazilian fazendeiro Luis Pereira da Silva, known as “Luisão”: confirmed to the Author, in detail, the location of the ancient remains of El Dorado and the path necessary to reach them. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the European expeditions, that failed in their search for El Dorado, did not have enough men and means to enter that almost inaccessible territory. Nowadays, the environmental situation is essentially the same as it was four or five centuries ago, but unlike the past, today technological and scientific means are available to overcome the adversity of the territory. Bringing El Dorado to light is physically possible, since the Author knows its exact location, accompanied by precise GPS coordinates, and is perhaps the only person in the region to know the language and traditions of the alleged mysterious guardians of Manoa. The discovery of its ruins would represent one of the greatest archaeological findings of all time, although organising an expedition involves many logistical problems due to the difficult political, social, and economic situation in Venezuela. Furthermore, it is difficult for the Venezuelan government to give permission to access the area where this archaeological site is located, as it is considered sacred and is protected by all the caciques of the region, first and foremost the Yekuana. There would be a risk of a popular uprising among the indigenous people. I point out that the Inca stone road, which leads from the jungle to the ruins of Manoa, is interrupted at the point where it runs alongside the mountain. The Yekuana communities of Venezuela destroyed it long ago to prevent access. The Author — a profound connoisseur of both those places and the stories that have been hidden there for centuries — leads us into two more mysteries to be solved. The first concerns the possible existence of primates totally unknown to official zoology, the anthropomorphic “Supay” monkeys, which the great German naturalist and geographer Alexander von Humboldt heard about during his trip to Venezuela in 1799-1800. Over time, and even recently, there have been many sightings and there are many stories, spread among the Yekuana and Sanumá indios, which would attest to the existence of these apes, described as very intelligent but extremely dangerous. According to numerous testimonies, which await a definitive verification that would be sensational, the “Supay” monkeys live inside a mountain full of caves, located within the ancient Incas Kingdom of Guyana, right in the El Dorado territories. An ancient Yekuana legend tells that these monkeys were domesticated by a people called Winao (the Incas) and would defend — both in the past and in the present — the inca gold contained in the caves of their mountain. Again, the Author knows their exact location, complete with precise GPS coordinates. Another incredible story leads us to the legend of the female warriors of the Amazon River. Their actual existence is said to have been attested by Gaspar de Carvajal, a Spanish Dominican missionary who witnessed the battle between the men of conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and a tribe of armed, brave, and prepared for battle women, whom he defined as Amazons (1541-1542). By following and piecing together the traces provided by historical data, explorers' accounts, legends of the local tribes, tales of the elder Yekuana indio Vicente, and linguistic evidence, the Author leads us to the heart of the mystery: most likely, it is the actual story of the Virgins of the Sun (Yuraq Aklla), the highest ranking Inca women, consecrated exclusively to religious worship and considered as the brides of the Sun God. In order to escape the violence and extermination of the Spanish invaders, they ventured — in an exodus full of difficulties and dangers — into the dense tropical jungle until they reached first Roraima, then Venezuela, and finally Serra do Tumucumaque, a mountain range between the present Brazilian State of Amapá and French Guyana. In order to survive, they gradually learnt to fight and face their enemies, thus becoming experienced and brave warriors. A small community of indigenous people, of the Wajãpi ethnic group, estimated at around two thousand individuals (twelve hundred in French Guyana and eight hundred in Brazil, near Serra do Tumucumaque), almost unknown to the world, could represent what has survived today of the glorious Virgins of the Sun of the Inca people
BRIEF SUMMARY VOLUME II: THE MINING EL DORADO However, this book goes even further, because the search for El Dorado does not stop at archaeological and historical data. That territory, the ancient Kingdom of Guyana, was the mining centre of the Inca empire because it was very rich in gold and precious stones. As revealed page after page in the second volume, in addition to the archaeological El Dorado, the region between the Yanomani reserve in the Brazilian State of Roraima and Venezuelan Guyana represents a real mining El Dorado. In the 1980s, the Yanomani reserve was already the protagonist of a gold rush comparable, if not even superior, to the most famous gold rushes in history, such as those that took place in California and Klondike in the 19th century. It was banned by the Brazilian government in 1990 and gold mining has continued clandestinely ever since. As an internationally renowned gemologist, one of the world's leading experts on gold, diamonds and precious stones placers, and a great connoisseur of those areas, the Author is able to reveal — for the first time ever and with impressive precision, by means of rigorous GPS coordinates — all the main primary and secondary gold and diamond deposits in the State of Roraima and Venezuelan Guyana, many unknown to official geology. He leads us to places where gold abounds, waiting to be mined, such as at the headwaters of the Uraricoera River, one of the main watercourses in the State of Roraima, and where one of the largest primary gold deposits in the world is probably located, without really being exploited as it should by the garimpeiros. According to the Author, the State of Roraima possesses gold reserves that can be estimated at a minimum of 10,000 tons (inferred), while for Venezuelan Guyana, even greater gold potential can be hypothesised, amounting to over 15,000 tons (inferred). The theoretical value of 15,000 tons of gold, at a nominal price of 50 euros per gram (average quotation in 2021), is equal to 750 billion euros, which represents the Nominal Gross Domestic Product — GDP of major countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Switzerland (International Monetary Fund - 2021). By putting together official data and geological and mining documents hitherto kept secret and in the Author's possession, as readers we are confronted with another incredible reality: the gold wealth of Venezuelan Guyana added to that of the State of Roraima would constitute more than 20% of the world gold mining reserves. Without a doubt, the richest region in gold on the whole planet. A mining El Dorado that the Incas, the gold civilisation par excellence, had begun to exploit and that could, in a short time, revive the fortunes of economically depressed regions with an extremely poor population. For example, Roraima, thanks to the extremely rich gold and diamond deposits in its territory, features all the potential to become a second California or a second South Africa, driving the Brazilian economy towards an unprecedented economic boom. The “Gold God” performed the miracle, transforming California, a lazy and sleepy Hispanic-Mexican territory, into one of the richest regions on Earth. An even greater miracle may occur in Roraima, as the mining potential of this Brazilian State is certainly greater than that of the “Golden State”, as California has been nicknamed. This book, therefore, represents a unique document of extraordinary relevance for the unprecedented effect it will have on history and archaeology, and for the impact it could have on the economic and social future of entire regions of South America. Regions that currently seem doomed to poverty and that — instead — are literally sitting on immense mountains of gold and diamonds.
Maracá Dossier
BRIEF SUMMARY This book is an unexpected journey to an island in the brazilian rainforest: Maracá Island, A place, unknown to most, which embodies ancient stories to rediscover, hidden treasures and mysteries to be revealed. In 1596, the English explorer Walter Raleigh — who frantically searched for El Dorado — published a book, "The Discovery of Guiana", in which he drew a map of the legendary Lake Parima, believed to be the site of Manoa, the mythical city of gold. On the map, in the lake, he draws an island located in front of the mouth of a river that seems to correspond to the Uraricoera, a current tributary of the Amazonian river Rio Branco. Everything suggests that such island is Maracá, one of the largest river islands in the world and a place featuring unique environmental characteristics. But why did one of the most famous seekers of El Dorado, the legendary city where immense quantities of gold and precious stones were to be found, coveted by generations of adventurers, draw the map of that area? What was he looking for? These questions can be answered by a modern-day explorer, Vittorio Binda, who has dedicated a large part of his life to discovering the real El Dorado and the enigmas and mysteries of the Inca empire. In this book, the Author leads us by the hand into the secrets of the island. He tells us how it was part of the Kingdom of Guyana, founded by the Incas, and right there an important furnace for the fusion of the gold, extracted from the rich deposits in the region, was in operation, as reported by Juan de Salas (1570), a lieutenant in the service of the Governor of the Venezuelan island of Margarita, in his account. In the centre of the island, near the headwaters of one of the streams that flow into the Furo Santa Rosa (a branch of the Uraricoera River that runs alongside the northern part of Maracá), there is a rich primary deposit whose location is indicated by a series of Inca petroglyphs present along the banks of both streams. These particular petroglyphs, which show the path to be followed in order to reach the enormous gold deposit, consist of a circular cavity, carved into the rock, with a small rounded relief in the centre. As this book reveals, the Inca presence in what used to be an important mining centre of the empire is also confirmed by several archaeological finds of great importance. In particular, stone and bronze macanas, war clubs used by Inca soldiers, were found near the island. The macana consisted of a thick star-shaped disc, made of stone or metal (copper or bronze), with a biconical perforation in the centre to fix it to a short stick of hard wood. It was the weapon of choice of the Andean people, who used it to bash the skulls of their enemies. They were brought to light in the 1980s and 1990s by Brazilian "garimpeiros", the clandestine gold and diamond seekers, and some by the Author himself. As revealed in the book, an archaeological treasure of immeasurable value — both material and historical — is hidden beneath the dense Amazonian vegetation. A treasure that can help broaden the knowledge of the true history of the Incas, in contrast to the limited and often incorrect narrative adopted by the official Western historiography. The Incas in the past, nowadays the clandestine gold diggers. For centuries, gold is what has made so attractive those lands buried by thick tropical vegetation and crossed by portentous rivers. Due to its geographical location and mining characteristics, Maracá Island has been and still is a witness to that history. What today appears, at first glance, simply a quiet seat of an ecological station, a place of scientific studies on the Amazonian ecosystem, is in reality a continuous, unstoppable destination for groups of "garimpeiros" who — defying prison and the jaguars of which the island is full — clandestinely extract gold in its mysterious and impenetrable forest. An old "garimpeiro", who knew this territory well, used to repeat a crude but effective expression to the Author: “Maracá Island is a huge gold deposit covered by a thick layer of tropical vegetation” Under that thick layer of vegetation, a small El Dorado would therefore be hidden. Binda, one of the world's leading experts on gold, diamonds, and precious stones placers, is now able to unveil the extraordinary gold riches of the island. He does so, in this book, providing much more than assumptions: he presents a metallogenic map of the area, drawn by him and hitherto unpublished, with precise GPS coordinates indicating the positions of the main primary and secondary gold deposits in and around this important Brazilian ecological station. Maracá, a place of precious, and hitherto unknown archaeological treasures that confirm the presence of the Incas in this territory of the Brazilian State of Roraima, thousands of kilometres away from the Andean area, in contrast to what is written in our pathetic and anachronistic pre-Columbian history books. At the same time, it is also a place hiding in its belly immense gold deposits, so far only minimally explored and exploited. Such, and more, are the revelations that make the "Maracá Dossier" a book destined to rewrite yesterday's history (the pre-Columbian one) and to shake up today's world, its economy and its politics.
The Pakasqa Codex
The Secret Writing
of the Incas
BRIEF SUMMARY The presence of a secret writing of the Incas, the Pakasqa Codex, is revealed to the world for the first time by Vittorio Binda, the last surviving amawt'a (amauta). Due to its implications, the dictionary compiled by the Author is destined to represent the most important archaeological event of all time and to revolutionize pre-Columbian history. History books tell us about an empire, the Inca one, without writing. A characteristic that official historiography has branded as an alleged sign of inferiority compared to the 'advanced' European civilisations of the time. We know of the quipus, a complex communication system, made up of strings and knots, that allowed for the storage of all kinds of data: administrative, temporal, genealogical, historical, religious, etc. The language (linguistic family) spoken by this population is known: Quechua, with its many regional variants. However, for half a millennium, there has been no awareness of one fact: the Incas had their own pictographic-ideographic written language. It was a writing composed of thousands of symbols engraved on rocks of great hardness and durability, such as granite, andesite, and diorite. Most were ideographic or semantic logographic, i.e. they expressed both a meaning (an idea or a concept) and its semantic area. These ideograms carved on the stones represent a very special type of rock art, destined to last for centuries, with completely different characteristics from other kinds of petroglyphs present in the world. Surprisingly, these specific petroglyphs are only found on three distinct continents: South America, North America, and Oceania. How is this possible? Who made them? And what was their function? After decades of research and sensational discoveries, Vittorio Binda is now able to answer all these questions. He managed to decipher the meaning of this writing system, listing hundreds of primary and secondary symbols in the Dictionary. This allows anyone to understand its basic functioning and learn the meaning of a considerable number of symbols. The author's recognition of the Pakasqa Codex's military function is central. The enormous amount of data engraved on thousands of rocks scattered throughout America and Oceania — this is his conclusion — should have provided the future Inca rulers with valid support for expanding the borders of the Tahuantinsuyo, i.e. of the empire. In fact, the Inca army, on arriving in a foreign country, would proceed to a thorough exploration of the territory and engrave a series of petroglyphs on the stones of the place, which were to be used for future potential military expeditions. The engraved symbols had the task of informing the troops in detail about the situation of the region in order to facilitate its possible conquest: the rocks contained information on the inhabitants of the place (number and degree of danger), on the possibilities of supplying food and materials, on the geographical, environmental, and climatic context, on the presence of water sources such as rivers and lakes, on the existence of safe places with natural defences such as plateaus on top of steep mountains, areas surrounded by rivers, valleys hidden among high mountains, etc. Accurate thematic maps of the explored place were thus created. Such maps were at the same time, physical, demographic, and geopolitical, and nowadays they are surprising in their accuracy. As mentioned above, Vittorio Binda's identification and interpretation of petroglyphs of inca origin in the Americas and Oceania shake the foundations of the historical knowledge acquired up to now and disseminated in schools, universities, literature, and filmography. Following the presence of the Inca petroglyphs, and thanks to their correct reading made possible by this Dictionary, it is possible to get with absolute certainty to some very important historical statements: the Inca empire was preparing — with military outposts (military mitimaes) founded in present-day Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras — for the invasion of Central America and the Aztec empire, a possibility that vanished only because of the unexpected and dramatic arrival of the Spanish conquistadores; well before the European navigators and explorers the true discoverer of the Oceanian lands was Túpac Inca Yupanqui, tenth Inca of Cusco and second emperor of Tahuantinsuyo; the Incas founded the Kingdom of Guyana, with capital city Manoa, the true and only El Dorado in the heart of the impenetrable Venezuelan jungle; exploratory expeditions reached North America and probably even Alaska. With this Dictionary, Vittorio Binda provides us with a unique scientific tool that helps put truth back at the centre of history. Moreover, he restores to us — in all its grandeur and splendour, — the epic of a great people, the “Children of the Sun”, the greatest civilisation in the New World and one of the most extraordinary ever to appear in the history of mankind.