Old Faces, Lost Faces, Faces of the Gods
Ancient Origins Unleashed Debrief
Greetings the Unleashed!
Several years ago, just pre-pandemic, Ancient Origins and a small group of volunteers from around the world embarked on an expedition to find the ‘Lost Gods of Colombia’. We even made a movie about it with historian and presenter Ashley Cowie, if you’re tempted down that rabbit hole.
On that expedition, we were searching for cave entrances into the mountain (to find the legendary lost treasure, obviously), but primarily attempting to assess the likelihood that there had been faces carved into the rockface by the Muisca people in ancient times.
The legends surrounding the Peña de Juaica faces (a sacred mountain in Tabio, Colombia) had been brought to us by Ashley, who had first heard them from a Colombian university professor, who’s great-grand uncle, an archbishop, had told him that, due to the reverence held for this small mountain, the Muisca people had decorated it with three huge heads in ancient times. The story was backed up by others, including the mayor of the town.
Part of the Peña de Juaica cliff face.
So, was there any truth to these legends? Could evidence be found of carved heads in the cliff face?
Our group of about a dozen hiked up the mountain daily, hacked though bush, and over the course of a week, surveyed the cliff for faces from all sorts of angles.
Reaching the cliff face involved arduous machete work, and after all that effort, we came up with zero accessible deep cave entrances in our search. But we did have a collection of potential faces, of which several seemed real contenders to have been manmade features.
It was very difficult to establish just from looking from a distance whether they were actually sculpted, or just the result of natural erosion and pareidolia, the tendency to find meaningful shapes when really, it is a personal interpretation. And once up close to the cliff face, we found ourselves under-equipped and under-skilled to scale it safely.
Although I personally found the likeness of a gorilla, a monkey, a puma, and some heads, others struggled to see my finds.
We recorded the faces we’d found on camera and hope we found at least enough evidence to give better qualified professionals the desire to investigate further - although that hike to get there each day might put a few off!
There is more on all that little adventure in these articles:
Ashley’s initial investigation…
Discovered: The Lost Mountain Gods of Colombia
Peña de Juaica - Penis of Juaica - (pronounced: why-ka) is a remote and legendary mountain situated between the municipalities of Tabio and Tenjo at an altitude of 3,100 meters (10,170ft) above sea level. This dominant phallic sentinel which once guarded the rich agricultural territories of the pre-Colombian Muisca people who inhabited this territory. Known locally as La Puerto de Los Dioses - the Gateway of the Gods - this story recounts my recent discovery of the ancient gate-keepers.
The Ancient Origins expedition report…
Ancient Origins Explores the Sacred Mountain of the Muisca
The Muisca civilization flourished in ancient Colombia between 600 and 1600 BC. Their territory included what is the modern city of Bogotá and its surrounding area and they are renowned for being the origin of El Dorado, a legendary Golden City, that began as a Muisca tradition of ‘The Gilded Man’ or ‘The Golden One’. But maybe El Dorado isn’t what so many people believe it is? Ancient Origins gained a new insight into the legend while exploring a sacred Muisca region. And it wasn’t our only discovery.
Or you can see what the movie has to offer…
There are a few faces in the Editor’s choice this week…
Stone age face…
A 75,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Woman's Face Unveiled
The unveiling of a 75,000-year-old female Neanderthal's reconstructed face marks a significant breakthrough in our understanding of our closest extinct relatives. This discovery, emerging from the depths of Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan, is featured in the new documentary produced by BBC Studios Science Unit to be released on Netflix. The documentary, "Secrets of the Neanderthals” follows the team led by the universities of Cambridge and Liverpool John Moores as they return to Shanidar Cave to continue excavations.
In 2018, a team led by the University of Cambridge made a groundbreaking discovery inside Shanidar Cave—a site previously famed for its series of Neanderthal remains. This particular cave had not yielded new Neanderthal discoveries for over fifty years, making the unearthing of what was named Shanidar Z particularly significant. The excavation revealed not just any Neanderthal, but one whose preserved state provides a unique window into the life and times of these ancient beings.
The team meticulously extracted the remains, encapsulated in the cave's compacted sediments, and transported them back to Cambridge for detailed analysis. The skull, once flattened and now meticulously reconstructed, offers a new face to a species often misrepresented in historical narratives.
Rock face…
The Colossal Head of Decebalus, King of the Dacians
In the heart of Rome stands a 38-meter tall (124.67ft) tall column built in the 2nd century AD. Carved in low relief spiraling around the monument are over 2600 figures, representing the combatants of wars fought in a distant land. The column is known as Trajan’s Column, and its subject is the Dacian Wars.
One of the most important figures on the column is Decebalus, the leader of the Dacians, otherwise known as King Decebal. In one scene, he is shown committing suicide after being defeated by the Romans, preferring death over subjugation. Decebalus’ defeat and suicide marked the end of the Second Dacian War, and the absorption of Dacia into the Roman Empire.
The spirit of Decebalus, however, did not die, and has been revived in recent years in Romania, which was once part of the Dacian Kingdom. This is most ostentatiously seen, perhaps, in the colossal rock sculpture of Decebalus’ head.
The project of sculpting the colossal head of Decebalus was the brainchild of a wealthy Romanian businessman, Iosif Constantin Drăgan. In 1985, Drăgan chose the rock to be sculpted, an outcrop 128m (419.94 ft) in height located in the area of Iron Gorge. Perhaps one of the reasons Drăgan chose this site was due to the fact that the Tabula Traiana, a memorial to the Roman conquest of Dacia, was located on the opposite side of the river.
Work only began years later in 1993, after the mountain was purchased by Drăgan. The work must have been a challenge for the people involved with the project, who were under the direction of the Italian sculptor Mario Galeotti. Prior to the actual sculpting, numerous other tasks had to be undertaken, from taking samples to determine the quality of the rock to the production of initial sketches. The location of the sculpture also made access difficult, and boats were required to transport the necessary equipment to the workmen. Furthermore, the workmen had to climb from the rock base to the erected scaffolding before they could begin chipping the stone. This was a difficult and dangerous task and is reported to have consumed up to half an hour each day.
Big Snake face…
Titanoboa: The Monster Snake that Ruled Prehistoric Colombia
You may not want to read about this frightening creature if you suffer from ophidiophobia, or even if you are about to embark on a camping trip. Once the largest snake in the world, Titanoboa fossils discovered in Colombia reveal that it lived during the Paleocene epoch about 60 million years ago. Even though you’re safe from its bone-crushing grip today, the thought of the huge prehistoric snake slithering around South America is still a terrifying one.
So far, the South American nation of Colombia has the only known fossils of the huge serpent. It is through these scant remains that paleontologists were able to estimate the size of this prehistoric creature. This estimation was then used to create a life-size model of Titanoboa, which was exhibited in 2012 in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal as a promotion for the Smithsonian Channel documentary entitled Titanoboa: Monster Snake.
Titanoboa: The Titanic Boa of Antiquity
Titanoboa, meaning “gigantic snake,” perfectly suits this ancient serpent's colossal proportions. Known to have existed during the Paleocene, tens of millions of years after the extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs about 66 million years ago, it represents a fascinating chapter in the evolution of Earth's fauna.
Paleontologists estimate that Titanoboa could have reached lengths ranging between 42 and 49 feet (approximately 12.8 to 14.9 m)—as long as a school bus!—and weighed an astonishing 2500 pounds (1134 kg). Additionally, the thickest part of the snake's body is estimated to have had a diameter of 3 feet (approximately 0.9 meters).
By comparison, the anaconda, one of today's largest snakes, can exceed 20 feet (6.1 m) in length and weigh over 500 pounds (227 kg). Titanoboa was clearly a giant compared to the largest snakes of modern times. But it wasn’t the only giant snake in the world. A few million years later, about 40 to 38 million years ago, Gigantophis existed in what is now North Africa, reaching lengths of around 33 feet (about 10 m).
Lost faces…
New Excavation Might Reveal Fate of Lost Colony of Roanoke
Recent excavations on Roanoke Island, North Carolina have revealed new evidence that may help archaeologists and historians determine the ultimate fate of the now-famous “lost colony” of Roanoke. The island, site of the earliest efforts by the English to colonize North America, vanished without a trace more than four centuries ago.
It seems the Roanoke colonists had direct interactions with Algonquian peoples who lived on the island right beside them, either trading with them or possibly integrating with them once they realized they couldn’t survive on their own. And it is these Algonquian priests who may hold the key.
The evidence in question was unearthed during excavations carried out by the North Carolina-based First Colony Foundation. This coalition of historians and archaeologists is dedicated to finding ruins and artifacts connected with efforts by the famed Sir Walter Raleigh and other English explorers to settle the eastern coast of the Americas during the latter half of the 16th century.
The focus of this research has been Roanoke Island, which can be found just off the northeastern coastline of North Carolina. It is here that that what came to be known as the lost colony of Roanoke was established in 1587, by a group of about 100 English settlers led by Governor John White, who had been appointed to that position by Queen Elizabeth I.
Sir Walter Raleigh himself had attempted to start a colony on the island three years earlier, but his efforts were aborted in the face of resistance from local Native American peoples. But it was the later colony which went down in history for disappearing without trace.
Barefaced…
Ogham Script Not Only Found on Eurovision Contestants Bambie Thug
Bambie Thug have kicked up a storm for having a Palestinian protest message hidden in plain sight during their performances in the run up to the Eurovision final this Saturday. The messages were written in the little known early-medieval Irish script, ‘Ogham’, and to be fair it was a pretty smart disguise for the message.
Meanwhile, in the more tranquil setting of a Coventry garden, Graham Senior, a local geography teacher, has been celebrating a very rare Ogham stone find, made during what he thought would be a routine garden clean-up.
In two very different situations, the obscure early-medieval Ogham text has been brought to light.
Bambie Thug knew the rules of the Eurovision song contest prohibited any kind of political messaging, but they probably thought what with the profusion of symbolism in their act, including a satanic looking performance and even a witch’s pentagram projected on the floor (one of the duo is self-claimed witch), a few scribbles of a hard to read script would go unnoticed. But one eagle-eyed Reddit user deciphered it about a week ago, posting:
“The Ogham script on Bambie’s face spells out Ceasefire”
The Ogham Discovery Not in the Spotlight
Meanwhile, in a quite Coventry garden, when Mr Senior decided to clean up his garden, little did he know, he was about to unearth a piece of history that would link this old English city to early medieval Ireland.
According to the Guardian, Senior noted, “I was just clearing a flowerbed of weeds and stones when I saw this thing and thought, that’s not natural, that’s not scratching of an animal.”
These scratches were later identified as the Ogham script in question, an ancient form of writing used predominantly in Ireland around 1,600 years ago.
GOAT face…
Naram-Sin - The World’s First God-Emperor
During the second half of the third millennium BC the land of Sumer and in fact the entire Mesopotamian region came under the control of the Akkadians, a Semitic people who had lived for centuries among the Sumerians. When the Akkadian Emperors took control of the land, they established the very first world empire, with their rule and dominium stretching to the furthest corners of the ancient Middle East. In later times they were commemorated as the greatest of all those who had ever ruled over ancient Mesopotamia.
The Akkadian Emperors were not only regarded as scions of the gods, the greatest among them was even worshipped as one of the great gods of Sumer, and that during his own lifetime. The name of this very first God-Emperor who appeared on Earth was Naram-Sin, son or grandson of Sargon the Great of Akkad, founder of the Empire. The greatness of this god-man is visible in his rule over the four corners of the known world. In my opinion, he was the greatest ruler the ancient world had seen in all the ages leading up to the Roman Empire. Although other kings, such as Alexander the Great, conquered much larger areas and geographical regions, it must be remembered that the ancient world was much less integrated and much less accessible in the time of the Akkadian rulers than in later periods.
And a ‘cheeky’ little find….
Remarkable Ancient Wooden Structure Unearthed in Oxfordshire
The discovery of a well-preserved wooden structure (1200-700 BC), dating back to the Bronze Age in Oxfordshire, England, has been deemed remarkable. Wood typically doesn't survive well over such extended periods, and its accompanying structure – a well and its potential use for agricultural irrigation, shed light on the sophistication of ancient societies in managing resources and adapting to their environment.
A Lesson in Scientific Dismemberment
"Preservation of wooden structures from this period is rare and the remains have survived all this time, due to being buried in waterlogged ground. When investigating what appeared to be a standard pit for the site, the archaeological team started exposing the remains of a preserved wooden post driven vertically into the ground,” said John Boothroyd, senior project manager at heritage practice Oxford Archaeology, which conducted the excavations, in a press release.
He elucidated how fascinating it is to imagine how these early communities utilized such structures to sustain their settlements. The excavations unveiled that the posts constituted the uprights of a wattle structure bordering the pit, and their remarkable preservation was attributed to the waterlogged soil conditions. Subsequently, the timber structure underwent digital recording before undergoing a meticulous manual dismantling process for transportation to the Oxfordshire Museum Service.
Til next time… face your fears, and set yourself free…
Gary Manners - Senior Editor, Ancient Origins
HEY! A few years ago, I did the 3-day Inca trail, which ends in Machu Picchu. On the way, I also believed I saw carved walls and had the feeling that it was a gigantic Inca chief or god sitting. Our guide said that the mountains are sleeping giants. So I believe they may have carved a lot of things along the way. I believe it would be interesting to research the trail or scan with lidar. Grateful for the attention.