
The Chachapoyas were known as the Warriors of the Clouds. Image by Mystic Art Design on Pixabay.
We could continue our study of Ancient Civilizations indefinitely. There is so little known about these lost cultures that are just now surrendering their secrets to archeologists and scientists. In last week’s blog we visited Kuélap, located in northern Peru and home to an advanced culture of people who defied the laws of gravity.
The people of Kuélap have been associated with the Chachapoyas culture. Chachapoyas translates to The People of the Clouds and they are also referred to as the Warriors of the Clouds. Their culture encompassed a huge region extending into some of the most challenging and remote areas of South America. Because it is isolated, only a handful of archeologists have ventured into the Chachapoyas territory to study and explore this fascinating people.
According to Adriana Von Hagen, co-director of the Museo Leymebamba—a showcase of the Chachapoyas culture—these lost people were sorcerers who built their homes on mountain tops and used Amazonian esoteric knowledge of herbs and hallucinogenic drugs.
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Chachapoyas mummy
The Chachapoyas made their appearance on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains around 900 AD and ruled the mountains and the valleys that surrounded them. It is estimated that over half a million people lived in the Chachapoyas territory.
These people possessed their own symbolism and ideology that evolved quite differently than that of the Europeans. A significant mystery is their lack of architecture that would suggest a rigid hierarchy. No structure indicative of a ruler has ever been identified.

Remains of a once great culture. It surpassed in size all other ancient structures in the Americas.
No architecture of power it found among the remains of Kuélap or other Chachapoya settlements. Only circular structures—that are uniform in design—stand against time and echo a complex and cultured society that strived for over 600 years without being dominated by a single person, or family, or group.
Dr. Jago Cooper, an archeologist who specializes in the study of ancient South American cultures, offers three fascinating You Tube videos that give viewers a glimpse and some theories into these little known lost kingdoms.
In the first video, we scale the impossible cliffs where the Chachapoyas challenged the laws of gravity to bury the remains of their loved ones.

The knot record, Quipu, might unfold secrets to ancient civilizations. (Creative Commons image by Claus Ableiter nur hochgeladen aus enWiki – enWiki, hochgeladen von User Lyndsaruell; siehe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Inca_Quipu.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2986739)
Later in the video, Dr. Cooper explains the significance of quipu to the study of the Chachapoyas. Quipu are knots tied in string into patterns and believed to be used by the Andean cultures to keep records and communications. These record knots undoubtably hold secrets that—once deciphered—could give answers as to the hows and whys of its people.
The video is 54 minutes long and features interesting facts, amazing landscapes, brow-knitting theories, and beautiful music. But if you want to skip all that, go to minute marker 41 and you will experience Kuélap up close and personal. It is mesmerizing and mind blowing to think such an amazing culture existed hundreds of years ago and accomplished things we couldn’t manage today without all of our advancements.
The Probe’s Mission Statement
The Probe is a blog devoted to the exploration of the unexplainable, to finding the truth in occurrences that resemble science fiction, and to researching and reporting on topics that could be flung upon the wall of weird. New posts are featured every week.

Me and my jeep, Silver Bullet. Monsters, Inc. We ain’t afraid of no ghosts, or aliens, or monster. Much.
Let me know if you like me posting a You Tube video. I won’t do it often, but this particular video has much great information, I felt it warranted a place in my blog.
Summer is quickly approaching, and I’m finding my time is dissolving like sugar in hot water—too quickly to accomplish all my writer dreams this winter. (And I have a new grand baby arriving at the end of April who—I’m sure—will need tons of rocking.) However, Book 1 of my Young Adult series, The Other Kind, should be out before summer with Book 2 soon to follow. I want to release the two within a few weeks of each other.
Thanks again to all of you who have supported and encouraged me through my writing insanity: my family, my muse, Kip, Travis, Jaime, Karen, Rick, Jessica, 58, Myk, Jennifer L, and my readers.
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