I Found the Lost Inca Treasure: Tamara Estupiñán Viteri

Fascinating People Fascinating Places

Daniel Mainwaring

Documentary, Society & Culture:documentary, History, Society & Culture

5 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2024

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

500 years ago Spanish conquistadors invaded the Incan Empire and slew Atahualpa -- the unfortunate who would prove to be the last Emperor. Due to his vast wealth -- largely in the form of gold -- treasure hunters have spent centuries searching in vain for lost treasure of the Incas. Ecuadorian historian Tamara Estupiñán Viteri who among other things studied and then created a dictionary of the dialects spoken within the Incan Empire, also deciphered the ”secret language of the Incas.” This along with documents from the Spanish colonial period enabled her to piece together a treasure map of sorts. Following the leads she discovered Tamara made her way to a remote corner of Ecuador where she discovered the hitherto unknown Incan site at Malqui-Machay. It is here that Tamara explains that the greatest Inca ”treasure” now lies. Guest: Tamara Estupiñán Viteri is a professional historian with a degree in History from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. She also holds a master’s degree in history, with a specialisation in Andean history, from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences of Ecuador (FLACSO). Read more on Tamara: Academia.Edu Music: Pixabay This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet. I love the fact that they’re not a Wiki: Every article they publish is reviewed by their editorial team, not only for being accurate but also for being interesting to read. The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won’t be bombarded by annoying ads and it’s completely free. It’s a great site, and don’t just take my word for it they’ve been recommended by many academic institutions including Oxford University. Go check them out at WorldHistory.org or follow this link: World History Encyclopedia La historiadora ecuatoriana Tamara Estupiñán Viteri, quien entre otras cosas estudió y luego creó un diccionario de los dialectos hablados dentro del Imperio Inca, también descifró la ”lengua secreta de los Incas”. Esto, junto con documentos del período colonial español, le permitió reconstruir una especie de mapa del tesoro.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by World History Encyclopedia, one of the top history websites on the internet.
0:08.5	I love the fact they're not a wiki. Every article they publish is reviewed by the editorial team, not only for being accurate, but also for being interesting to read.
0:20.0	The website is run as a non-profit organization, so you won't be bombarded by annoying ads,
0:26.3	and it's completely free. It's a great site, and don't just take my word for it. They've been recommended by many academic institutions, including Oxford University.
0:39.0	Go check them out at world history.org.
0:43.0	Or follow the link in the episode description.
0:49.0	500 years ago, the vast and highly sophisticated Incan Empire was embroiled in a civil war between rival factions supporting Atahuapha and his half-brother, Waskar.
1:02.0	Both men were sons of the late emperor, but while this battle
1:06.5	unfolded, a much greater threat arrived in the form of Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro. The Spanish contingent
1:15.8	were small in number but they had certain advantages. The Incas had established
1:21.7	the vast network of roads and paths, the type of massive scale infrastructure Europeans hadn't built since Roman times.
1:30.0	The Spanish had horses, an animal not found in South America.
1:35.0	This meant they could move swiftly from one Incan outpost to the next.
1:40.0	But he also bought modern weapons, and perhaps most important of all.
1:45.0	They unwittingly expose the natives to foreign diseases such as smallpox that the Incas had no immunity to.
1:53.0	Fairly quickly, the Incan Empire fell,
1:56.0	and Atahalpa, the last emperor, was executed.
2:01.0	But for many people, this tragic event was just the start of a still ongoing mystery,
2:07.0	the search for the Incas hidden treasure.
2:11.0	In this episode I speak with Ecuadorian historian tomorrow Eustopinia Viteri who after 10 years of
2:18.7	extensive research discovered the whereabouts of the Inca's greatest treasure.
2:24.0	History has taught us through examples ranging from Genghis Khan to Tutun-Kaman that if you want to find a king's
	...

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