Cueva de los Tayos (Spanish, "Cave of the Oilbirds") is a cave located on the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains in the Morona-Santiago province of Ecuador. It owes its name to being the home of the native nocturnal birds called tayos (Steatornis caripensis), which live in numerous caves in the Andean jungles of South America.
The location became the focus of a popular myth perpetuated by Erich von Däniken about a hidden library of golden plates inscribed with hieroglyphs, variously ascribed to extraterrestrial beings or a lost human civilization. Despite numerous scientific and pseudoscientific expeditions, including one in 1976 that included American astronaut and engineer Neil Armstrong, the library has not been found. The consensus from the archeological community is that the “golden library” was a hoax.
Description
Cueva de los Tayos is located in the high rainforest, 2 kilometres (1.2mi) south of the Santiago River, and 800 metres (2,600ft) west of Coangos River. The entrance to the cave has a vertical void of 70 meters and local people were aware of this cave for centuries.[1] According to a GPS measurement in 2008, its altitude is 539 metres (1,768ft) above sea level. Located at an elevation of about 800 metres (2,600ft) within thinly-bedded limestone and shale, the principal entrance to Cueva de Los Tayos is within a rainforest at the bottom of a dry valley. The largest of three entrances is a 65 metres (213ft) deep shaft leading to 4.6 kilometres (2.9mi)[2] of spacious passages and a chamber measuring 90 by 240 metres (300 by 790ft). The cave has a vertical range of 201 metres (659ft) with its lowest point ending in a sump. It is currently (2023) the longest cave in Ecuador.
The cave is used by the native Shuar people who descend into the cave each spring using vine ladders and bamboo torches to collect fledgling oilbirds ("guácharos" or "tayos" in Spanish). Written references to the cave go back as far as 1860 and it was visited by gold-seekers and military personnel in the 1960s.[citation needed]
The cave is located inside the Sindical Center Coangos (formed by native people). The caves are not fully explored yet and local Shuar Indians have in-depth knowledge of the cave and they act as guides for cave explorers.[1]
Access to the cave is restricted. It is necessary to obtain permission (access and temporary visit) and pay a tax (designated to improve the communities) in Sucúa, Ecuador, at the Shuar Center Federation. (FICSH: Federación Interprovincial de Centros Shuar)
The “golden library” myth
Janos ‘Juan’ Móricz was a Hungarian explorer who first reportedly discovered a “golden library” in the caves sometime in the 1960s. He was interested in the Thule Society, a German occult group, and had possible connections to the Nazi pseudo-scientific organization, the Ahnenerbe. He believed that Magyars, ancient Hungarians, traveled from Eastern Europe and reached South America through the Pacific by use of the lost continent of Lemuria.
Móricz's essay, El Origen Americano de Pueblos Europeos (Spanish, "The American origin of European peoples") argues that the indigenous languages of South America share words with ancient Magyar and this supports his idea that South America is the cultural birthplace of humanity.[3] The Golden Library is the last remnant of this ancient Magyar society. He claims that one of the caverns in the cave contains a polished stone desk with large books made of gold. Móricz describes the books as having “engraved hieroglyphs” and would later assign the writing as Phoenician and cuneiform.[4] During this first encounter with the Golden Library, four aliens spoke telepathically to him congratulating for his 'wit' in getting into the cavern.[5] He never gave an exact location to the metallic library and demanded that anyone wanting to verify his claims give him money.
Móricz's evidence for his Magyar hyperdiffusion claim has been debunked by others and has been accepted as Móricz's search for a long-lost white race in the Americas.[6]
Jaramillo's account
Captain Petronio Jaramillo Abarca states that his childhood Shuar friend and their father had shown him the Golden Library. He states that the caves had a large number of carved stone animals and a large crystal coffin that stores a nine-foot-tall golden human skeleton.[7] Jaramillo describes the Golden Library as “shelves made of yellow metal [that had] hundreds of huge books made of a golden metal”.[8] The books resembled geometry books according to him. The descriptions of the Golden Library differ from each account. Jaramillo would later describe the Golden Library as having Magyar writings. Jaramillo's wife states that she never believed her husband. She says “I knew it wasn't true [...] it isn't true he grew up as a child with [the Shuar]”.[9]
The 1968 Mormon Expedition
A group of Mormons came to believe that the metal plates that Móricz claimed were in the cave were the same golden plates described in the book of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Mormons requested Móricz's guidance in the expedition, but he never took the Mormons to the supposed 'Golden Library'. According to Avril Jesperson, one of the people in the Mormon expedition, Móricz didn't know what he was doing, “It seemed this was the first trip Móricz took to the area”.[10] Jesperson reiterates his claim years later, believing that Móricz had never been to the caves and had never seen the supposed Golden Library.
The Gold of the Gods
A 1969 expedition to the cave is described in Pino Turolla's 1970 book Beyond the Andes. Erich von Däniken wrote in his 1973 book The Gold of the Gods that János Juan Móricz (1923–1991) had claimed to have explored Cueva de los Tayos in 1969 and discovered mounds of gold, unusual sculptures, and a metallic library. These items were said to be in artificial tunnels that had been created by a lost civilization with help from extraterrestrial beings. Von Däniken had previously claimed in his 1968 book, Chariots of the Gods?, that extraterrestrials were involved in ancient civilizations.[citation needed] It is rumored strongly that the cave contains relics of a lost civilization. [11]
1976 BCRA expedition
As a result of the claims published in von Däniken's book, an investigation of Cueva de los Tayos was organized by Stan Hall of Scotland, in 1976. One of the largest and most expensive cave explorations ever undertaken, the expedition involved over a hundred people, including experts in a variety of fields, British and Ecuadorian military personnel, a film crew, and former American astronaut Neil Armstrong.[12][13]
The team also included eight experienced British cavers who thoroughly explored the cave and conducted an accurate survey to produce a detailed map of it. This expedition was financed by the Governments of Ecuador and the United Kingdom.[1] There was no evidence of Von Däniken's more exotic claims, although some physical features of the cave did approximate his descriptions, and some items of zoological, botanical, and archaeological interest were found. The team found passageways cut neatly and polished deep inside the cave and also burial sites dating back to 1500 BCE[11] The lead researcher met with Moricz's indigenous source, who claimed that they had investigated the wrong cave and that the real cave was secret.[14] Deep inside the cave, there are square shaped rock cuttings and rock structures resembling elongated doors and that portion is called Moricz portal. [1]
Hall never claims to have seen the Golden Library. He, however, repeats their claims that golden plates lie in Tayos Caves. Hall states in an interview with Alex Chionetti “Not only do I believe with all my heart [that the Golden Library] exists, but beyond being a unique treasure, I believe it is a chapter of the history of South America”.[15] Hall also states he believes that, despite admitting to having never seen the library, there are two libraries, housing thousands of golden books.[16]
2006-2009 Expeditions
Alex Chionetti holding one of the birds that gives the Cueva de los Tayos its name in Spanish.
As a friend and disciple of the main protagonists and discoverers of the caves (1960s), the Argentinian explorer and filmmaker Alex Chionetti carried out a series of expeditions between 2006 and 2009. In 2007 he reached the depths of the main cave (the Coangos River Cave) after several months of back and forth through the jungle and hostilities from the local indigenous people.[17]
Chionetti discovered figures of animals along the underground rivers in the system of the Pastaza Tayos caves, as well as an engraving on a gold patina representing a double quadrilateral. Also in Coangos, he was the first to digitally record the now called Moricz's Entrance Gate (previously Von Daniken's), thus highlighting what is called "the cornerstone", an architectural detail that would prove that parts of the structure have been built or adapted to the landscape or natural setting of the caves.
The Argentinian born explorer put the place on the map (2010) when acting as consulting producer for the series Ancient Aliens (History Channel, Promoeteous Entertainment).
In his bestseller book Mysteries of the Tayos Caves, Chionetti recounts his harrowing exploration and survival odyssey when a Shuar native party decided to attack his group after leaving the caves. The American press covered the story as frontpage describing Chionetti as a real Indiana Jones, struggling through the Amazon jungle and chased as the legendary movie explorer.
2018 Expedition Unknown episode
On 31 January 2018, Tayos Cave was featured on the 6th episode of the 4th season of Expedition Unknown, titled "Hunt for the Metal Library". Explorer Josh Gates and his team, helped by local Shuar and Eileen Hall, daughter of Stan Hall of the earlier expedition, headed to Ecuador to explore the depths of the cavern.[18]
Solstice alignment
Alex Chionetti returned to the Cueva de los Tayos on the Coangos River with an eight-person expedition, accompanied by Oscar Leonel Arce, a sergeant guide and owner of Vertical Extreme. Arce not only organizes tours and visits to the caves but also continues to explore them, leading tourists and adventurers to new sections of the 10 kilometers he has mapped out so far on each new journey.
During this new exploration of the mysteries of the Tayos, Chionetti investigated a phenomenon that had intrigued him for years: whether the solstice light —whether Summer or Winter— affects certain sites considered sacred within the caves.
One of these sites is a secondary opening known as The Well of Light, where sunlight also penetrates. This location was the site of the only archaeological discovery in 1976: a tomb containing a skeleton surrounded by artifacts, including ceramics, decorations, and a Spondylus shell, indicating contact with the costal cultures from the Pacific.
By timing his expedition to coincide with the Winter Solstice (June 21 to 23 in the Southern Hemisphere), Chionetti determined that the light does not align with the burial site on these dates. However, it does shift to align with the Summer Solstice, around December 21.[19]
Both jungle and Andean cultures were solar-focused and followed a perfect alignment with the equatorial meridian. This astro-archaeological correlation is evident in the form of pyramids, platforms, causeways, aqueducts, cobblestone roads, and cities made up of tolas.
Chionetti also achieved a historic milestone by reaching the stalagmite where Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, landed during his exploration of the cave in the mid-seventies.
These events coincided with the launch of Chionetti's book La Odisea de los Tayos,[20] published by Grupo Planeta in 2024 —a work that took over three decades to complete—. The author even signed copies of the book deep within the cave, sharing unpublished information about the true history and events of the cave, and distinguishing fact from fiction.
He also led another expedition related to previous work, where he announced that evidence of advanced cultures would be found. These predictions have been confirmed in recent years through discoveries made with LiDAR in the Upano River region. This elevated area, spanning over 300 square kilometers, consists of hundreds, if not thousands, of tolas or semi-pyramidal structures, serving as homes and places of worship for millions of inhabitants thousands of years before Christ.
Another concerning observation by the Argentinian explorer was the declining population of Tayos birds, compared to his earlier expeditions between 2006 and 2009. This decrease in bird numbers has been linked to the rise in adventure tourism and incursions by both national and foreign visitors, especially during holiday weekends. It is imperative to conduct a bird count and assess the impact of tourism on these sanctuaries, which are considered sacred by the Shuar nation that continues to manage access to its cave systems.
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↑ Hall, Stanley (2015). Tayos Gold: The Archives of Atlantis. Adventures Unlimited Press. ISBN978-1-93548-773-9.
↑ Turolla, Pino (1980). Beyond the Andes: My Search for the Origins of Pre-Inca Civilization. Harpercollins. ISBN978-0-06014-369-5.
↑ Chionetti, Alex (2019). Mysteries of the Tayos Caves: The Lost Civilizations Where the Andes Meet the Amazon. Bear & Company. p.127. ISBN978-1-59143-356-9.
↑ Chionetti, Alex (2019). Mysteries of the Tayos Caves: The Lost Civilizations Where the Andes Meet the Amazon. Bear & Company. p.94. ISBN978-1-59143-356-9.
↑ Chionetti, Alex (2019). Mysteries of the Tayos Caves: The Lost Civilizations Where the Andes Meet the Amazon. Bear & Company. p.162. ISBN978-1-59143-356-9.
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