ARCHEOLOGIST STUMBLES UPON SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS INSIDE AN UNDERWATER TEMPLE IN LAKE TITICACA

 

Lake Titicaca is known for being one of the largest lakes in South America and for being the highest diving site in the whole world. Lake Titicaca apart from all these feats is majorly known for the myths and the legends that surround that lake. But who would have thought that one day someone while diving would find something that would change the way the people look at that lake. Could the lake that had a variety of flora and fauna around it be hiding something more mysterious? Or was it hiding something mystical in its depths?

Beware, readers, you might be in for some serious Aquaman stuff.

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca lies on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The lake is known for its still and brightly reflective waters. Often called the ‘highest navigatable lake’, the Lake Titicaca has a surface elevation of 3812 meters. Spread across an area of 58,000 square km which makes it the largest lake in South America, although the claim of the highest navigatable lake is usually regarding the commercial craft that surfaces on it.

Myths And Legends

Not only is it the highest navigatable lake but is also famous for myths and legends related to it. The lake is also known for its natural beauty and for its mysterious nature. Due to its beauty, the Andeans call it the birthplace of the Sun. But no one would have fathomed the mystery this lake hid inside it.

Listen, Divers

Due to its high altitude, the diving procedures are completely different from other diving sites and the guides inform the divers about the procedure before they start exploring the lake. But who in the seven hells would have thought that an amateur diver is going to find something that is going to change the perception of people towards that lake!

An Unexpected Finding

It was in the late 1970s, 1977 to be precise when an amateur diver discovered something that he did not expect to. While exploring the lake the diver came across an amazing reef in the Lake Titicaca by the Island of Sun. But when he took a closer look, he did not expect that he was going to stumble across something that mysterious.

Shocked!

Upon inspection of the supposed to be a reef, the diver found that it was never a reef, to begin with. Instead, he found out that what he thought was thinking of as a reef was a bunch of artifacts. Everyone thought of them to be some normal artifacts but they had no idea how the next few events were going to unfold the mysteries that were related to those artifacts.

Archeologists Assemble!

But the discovering of artifacts brought archeologists into play. Archeologists believed that there was more than that met the eye. They started studying the artifacts that were found but they were not able to decipher the mystery that was linked with those artifacts.

 Finding More Evidence

Since the archeologists were not able to find any clue as to whatsoever these artifacts were, so they started another underwater expedition. They needed more pieces of evidence to continue their research and find any sort of resemblance to any sort of history they were related to.

Shocking Revelation

The revelation as to what that bunch of artifacts was more shocking than the fact that there was a bunch of artifacts that lied at the bottom of the sea. The divers discovered a submerged island that used to be above the sea in the past and even though it sounds like the greatest mystery it was just a tip of the iceberg.

A Submerged Island

The island that sank was as shocking as the fact that it was visited by people in ancient times. Was it possible that people lived on this island or was it a normal place like any other before it got underwater or is it the habitat of Aquaman: Atlantis and there is some serious Aquaman stuff that has been going around and we humans might not even know anything about it?

Archeology And Legends

There are many legends and myths about there being an underwater citadel in ancient times, but archeology does not believe in legends and myths until and unless they have proof of the same. Was this the opening of the case that they needed?  And this was indeed one of the biggest helps the archeologists received in researching about the artifacts.

Finding A Solution

The archeologists started to find out ways to dive at this altitude. This was not an easy task but the prize at stake might be really big and all the archeologists understood this and therefore were determined to get an insight into what actually was that island was used for.

Myth Or Reality

The stories relating to Lake Titicaca suddenly seemed like more of a reality than myths. The shores of the lake were filled with remains of ancient civilizations. The ruins might have been left behind by the previous civilizations that might have inhabited the island, at least that is what the archeologists and all the people thought until now.

Remains

The shores had remains that were left behind by civilizations, like the Incas and many others like Andean, Tiwanaku and the Purakas. But little did people know that there is more than meets the eye and these artifacts were to tell us more than we already know.

Search Accelerated

But the years 1988, 1989 and 1992 were very crucial in the expedition. This is when this expedition was on full throttle, the divers were determined to find out all about the artifacts and the island that had been submerged years ago and what more secrets that island hid within itself.

How Many Of Them?

400 artifacts!

This is the number of artifacts that the divers had found during the search period, but they were still missing one and the most significant piece of the puzzle that was to uncover one of most intriguing fact about the Titicaca Lake and the lands that are surrounding it.

The Crucial Year

The year 2000 was the most important year for the discovery that was about to take place. In the year 2000, the divers found something underwater that was almost the size of a football ground. They could not believe their eyes when they came across that underwater architecture.

An Underwater Temple

The divers found an ancient ruin of a temple underwater which was so huge that the archeologists were relentless to find more about it. They were pretty sure that the temple might have many artifacts hidden inside it because of the ruins that were left behind. 

Mission Aborted

But due to the enormous size of the ruins, the divers were not able to recover anything from the bottom of the sea. The divers along with the archeologists tried a lot to get the artifacts out of the sea but they were unable to do the same and after many tries, they aborted the mission because they could not find what they were wishing to find and because the resources had started getting exhausted.

Christophe Delaere

Christophe Delaere, an archeologist from the Free University of Belgium on knowing about this discovery wanted to conduct an expedition to find out what lies in the depths of that shimmering lake but due to lack of resources could not start an expedition to find out the secrets that were to be uncovered yet.

Kept On Trying

But Delaere was not ready to give up that easily. Although the only thing that mattered was that he did not have enough resources to carry out his research but he really wanted to get to the bottom of the mystery he believed that was related to those artifacts, and he wasn’t wrong even a bit.

The Last Effort

At last, after a lot of effort that ended up to nothing but a waste of time, Christophe Delaere was almost ready to give up on his research, but even he did not even expect what was gonna happen next. Delaere thought of giving it one last chance as he really believed that something was to be found related to those artifacts.

Gathering The Team

He gathered a team of divers and he restarted the expedition but the team of divers was not enough as they had no experience in the area of diving at such a high altitude, therefore, he had to take help of the locals in his search operation.

Helping Locals

As soon as Delaere reeled in the locals for his help he started to know things that he did not know before, the myths, the legends, and the myths that were related to the lake. According to the local tales and myths the Lake was touted to have mystical powers and the native Aymara people of the Andes had a belief that the lake had a spirit and it was to receive offerings from time to time.

Mystical Powers

Due to the belief that the lake needed offerings, the Aymara people were known for filling the lake with different sorts of things. At this point, Delaere realized that this job would not be as easy as he had expected it to be. Finding out what lay at the bottom of the sea was an even greater concern than before now.

Realization

By that time the researchers and all of the divers had realized that the lake must be full of treasures due to such rituals that were followed in the ancient times. And then while searching in the stones the divers found pieces of gold and several different figurines.

Studying The Artifacts

Upon discovering such artifacts and on the instructions of Delaere, the divers took the finds onto the surface to study more and analyze and find more about the findings and learn more about their past. The results were quite astonishing and surprising.

Ceremony

In La Paz during a ceremony, Delaere who was also the Belgian co-director of the Huinaimarca Project claimed that he alongside his team had found a total of 24 archeological sites that were underwater and at those archeological sites he had found ‘2000 fragments and objects’.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French Naval officer and an explorer too who was well known for studying the sea and various life forms that reside in it. And almost 50 years ago this guy fueled a legend in the Lake Titicaca which was one of the reasons for conducting this expedition.

The Pot Of Gold

According to Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the Lake Titicaca contained within its depth ‘The Pot of Gold’. Almost 50 years ago he found out that there might be ancient civilizations that resided near the Lake Titicaca and it might have been one of the reasons that the pot of gold might be hidden there. It looks like he wasn’t wrong after all.

A 50-Year-Old Legend

The archeologists had really found proof of the claims that Jacques-Yves Cousteau had made even when he had no resources or had not carried out an expedition. And the temple that has been found by Delaere would soon be a tourist attraction and most of the credit goes to Bolivian culture minister.

Ancient Artifacts

Delaere and his team claimed that they had found submerged artifacts that are over 7 meters which is about 20 feet just off the submerged island or The Island of Sun and the artifacts are claimed to be almost 500 to 800 years ago.

Many More To Be Revealed

But then the team came across something that was much older than those artifacts. According to Delaere, the artifacts were just the recent ones and there are many other artifacts that are lying in the depth of sea that might be older than the ones they have found now.

1500-Year-Old

The search operation team then came across stone vessels, incense containers and animal figurines like pumas that were not less than 1500 years old and Delaere still claim that they are just the beginning and there might be many other things lying in the depth of the sea waiting to be discovered.

Wilma Alanoca Mamani

But the Bolivian culture minister has some really different plans for all the other artifacts that are lying in the depth of the sea waiting to be discovered. Bolivia’s Culture and Tourism Minister Wilma Alanoca Mamani explained that “We found more than 10,000 pieces like vessels, gold pieces, ceramic”.

An Ongoing Debate

The archeologists conducted a search and debated on the fact that whether the lake helped the artifacts to remain in their original condition which was considered to be pretty great considering the fact that they were at least 1500 years old.

Conclusion

After coming to the conclusion that the lake was one of the major reasons that the artifacts were in such perfect condition the expedition team and Delaere decided to stop the search operation and they let the remaining artifacts where they belonged, under that lake.

Agreement With Authorities

They agreed on the fact that they will bring some of the artifacts above the ground to conduct research on them and study them and let the rest remain under the sea and that is what the authorities have agreed on too and the authorities had to devise a plan for the under-water artifacts.

Plan

The authorities wanted to devise a plan to conserve the artifacts and as well as keep the artifacts on the display while simultaneously keeping them for the researchers and the archeologists to study, but this was not an easy job as it required a lot of efforts as well as money.

A Difficult Task

This job was not an easy one but the Bolivian culture minister had a plan that could tackle almost each and every problem that they were facing, but the solution was no less than a problem in itself. The Bolivian culture minister had an idea of building an underground museum.

Studying The Remains

The researchers and scientists by that time started studying the ruins that were above the ground one of which was the Tiwanaku wall that had 32 carved human faces in stones. Each and every carved face represented a different human race.

An Underground Museum

Meanwhile, Wilma Alanoca has said that they want to convert the submerged temple into an underground museum and they want to fill the museum with the 10,000 artifacts that were found in its ruins. She said, “It will be both a tourist complex and a center for archeological, geological and biological research, which will make it the only one in the world.” 

Analysis

The analysis of some of those pieces brought into the light the fact that some of the artifacts were almost 2000 years old and it also helped in knowing that some of the pieces belonged to the Andean civilization. Alanoca further added, “Thanks to the investigations it was possible to determinate that they belong to Tiwanaku culture and pre-Inca civilizations.”

A Costly Project

This project is turning out to be quite costly then what the Bolivian government had thought. But due to this project, the government will be able to protect the artifacts and structures that are on land as well as the ones which are underwater.

Shortage Of Funds

But the main problem that the Bolivian government was facing was the shortage of funds. At a certain point in time, the project had to be stopped because of the lack of resources. At that time the Bolivian government received help and grants from the Belgian government and UNESCO too.

Helping Hands

After allotment of the funds to the project, the project is started and that too with a pace higher than the usual one. With the help received from the Belgian government and UNESCO, the project is back on track and it is estimated that it would be done by 2020.

Multipurpose Museum

The museum that is to be built is to be separated into two parts, one will be the one where the artifacts that are bought to the surface by the divers will be put on display while the submerged ones are going to have glass walls that are going to be easy for watching the underwater ruins.

Isla del Sol

According to Incan Mythology, Isla del Sol is the time when people were created by God Viracocha brought the great flood, and he rose from the waters and it was at that time when he made the sun, the moon, and the stars. After that, he created the first human beings in Tiahuanaco and named them Mallku Capac and Mama Ocllo.

Made Of Stone

Inca mythology says that the first Adam and Eve were brought to life by the God who made them both first from stone and then after bringing them to life told them to populate the world. And now Titicaca is touted to be the place where the first of Incas were born, and it is also supposed to be the place where their spirits will return after their death.

An Ancient Civilization

Now once the underwater museum will get opened, it will be possible for people to visit it and have a look at those artifacts and side by side it will be a place where it would be possible for the archeologists in the future to study the artifacts. And it would also provide the locals with a source of employment by offering new jobs and the people don’t have to leave their homes.