Do The “Warriors Of The Clouds,” The Chachapoyas, Descended From Europeans?

The Chachapoyas, also known as “The Warriors of the Clouds,” lived in the foothills of the Andes in Peru, about 4,000 kilometers upriver.

There is little direct or contrasting knowledge when searching for information about Chachapoyas. We only know about their culture based on archaeological evidence from ruins, pottery, tombs, and some other artifacts.

One of the most densely populated cities of Chachapoya is situated at an altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, and its inhabitants were great architects and probably ruled a vast empire. According to radiocarbon analysis (Carbon14), except for the main entrance dated back to 500 AD, most of the structures are estimated to be around 800 AD.

Similar constructions do not exist in all America, but they do exist among the Celtic peoples of Europe, particularly in the ancient Celtic communities in Galicia. We found some signs of trepanation in some Chachapoya skulls, and these patients have survived. This surgical technique was already well-known in the Mediterranean around 500 BC, and trepanned Celtic skulls were also discovered in Austria.

The Chachapoya kingdom was located in the eastern part of Peru, and it was far from the area of influence of the Inca Empire. Although they used to be buried in the house after death, as the Celts did, their burials also took place on the cliffs, and then they painted the images of people wearing elaborate and beautiful headdresses on the cliffs. The Celts used similar headdresses to represent their gods.

The Chachapoyas preferred to construct on the mountaintops because the weather of this area is not good; there are frequent storms that result in landslides capable of burying cities in the valleys. A burial at 2,800 meters was found during torrential rains, and archaeologists could recover more than 200 mummies that had survived the storms and looting.

After analysis of the bones, the researchers found that many Chachapoyas suffered from diseases such as tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that has always been believed to have been introduced into America by the Spaniards after the discovery. But this evidence reveals that it was already present among the Chachapoyas many centuries before. This point suggests that Chachapoyas are descended from Europeans who arrived in America centuries before Columbus.

And they were real warriors; many skeletons show that they died of skull fractures and suffered violent deaths. And they used the slings to attack from a distinct, this wagon is very different from the one found in the Inca region of Peru, but the same to the Celtic sling in the Balearic Islands.

A world champion sling shooter from the Balearic Islands examines a Chachapoya sling and claims it is nearly equivalent to traditional Balearic slingshots.

Some Chachapoya descendants have physical characteristics that distinguish them from other Amazon Inca tribes. In contrast to the copper-skinned and dark hair of the rest of the South American tribes, they have lighter skin, and many have blond or red hairs.

Some of the first Spanish explores observed that those differences made the Chachapoyas more similar to Europeans than South Americans.

The researchers at the Molecular Genetic Institute in Rotterdam analyzed the saliva samples of children with these physical characteristics. Most of their genomes come from South America, while some contain 10-50% Celtic genes, mainly from England and Galicia.

Did the Chachapoyas descend from Celtic tribes who embarked on Carthaginian ships across the Atlantic while fleeing the Roman army?

Although there are some indications of this possibility, there is no convincing evidence. Let the new archaeologists or genetic studies may study and affirm this. But it seems that some archaeologists and researchers about the Chachapoyas are already convinced of it.