Shockingly Large Ancient Civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras

Deep in the Honduras rainforest, within a crown-shaped valley encircled by steep mountains lies an Eden-like paradise home to a mysterious lost city from an unknown culture, hidden beneath a triple-canopy rainforest. The city was struck by a series of catastrophes, and the inhabitants left, leaving all their belongings behind as offerings to the Gods. How many ancient civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras are there, and how do we find them?

These shockingly large ancient civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras uncovered in the last decade have been known by many names by locals and explorers over: La Ciudad Blanca, City of the Jaguar, City of the Monkey God

The shocking pre-Columbian ancient civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras was discovered in 2012 by using an aerial survey method called LIDAR, and surveyed 2015. A small, unassuming airplane equipped with millions of dollars of equipment revealed extensive plazas, earthworks, mounds, and an earthen pyramid, as well as hundreds of stone statues—firmly proving the existence of the Lost Civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras

Cultures lost to history thrived for hundreds if not thousands, of years in this region before disappearing. The Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History dated a small sampling of objects found peeking from the forest floor between 1000 to 1400 CE.

Rumors and Legends of ancient civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras

Over the last century, explorers and prospectors have tried to locate (discover is, I believe, the wrong word given the indigenous people know it existed) Lost Civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras as heard in indigenous folklore. A so-called “white house” or “place of cacao” where indigenous Hondurans took refuge from Spanish conquistadores—and the plagues that wiped out their misunderstood culture.

Social and political threats to ancient civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras

Many other issues take priority over protecting ancient ruins and biodiversity hotspots

Honduras has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world outside an official war zone. Gangs control the streets. In one incident, a gang member shot a public bus driver, causing the bus full of passengers to crash.

In 2022, the center-left president, Xiomara Castro, took office after years of conservative rule, pledging to fight narcos, and to protect rainforests and archeological sites. Deforestation slowed compared with the year before, the long-term impact of this political shift is yet to be measured. The creation of the Green Battalion Army is now protecting the forests, on a limited budget with far more ground then they can possibly cover.

Deforestation in areas near ancient civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras threaten to destroy archeological sits, profound biodiversity, and what indigenous culture remains intact.

The ancient lost city has hidden in the most pristine rainforest in Central America, supporting profound biodiversity. La Mosquitia supports 865,000-acres of the highest biodiversity in Honduras. The diversity of plants and wildlife on a 2017 conservation expedition spurred by the discovery of the lost city included a species new to science and several species formally listed as extinct.

The expedition was a “rapid assessment” given the social and natural dangers, extreme terrain, and remoteness of the location. The rainforest is so thickly vegetated, visibility is 20-feet in any direction. Moving through the vegetation requires a machete-wielding guide.

Illegal logging, cattle ranching, palm oil plantations, and narco landing strips and compounds, are driving deforestation, estimated to reach the valley by 2025. Environmental activists have been murdered, threatened, and forced to flee the country or go into hiding.

Narcos cut airstrips in the jungle and pose danger to nosey explorers

Narcos keep cattle to cover for building landing strips to transport drugs from South America, Colombia and Venezuela to the United States. Drugs are delivered, stored and exported by air in illegally cleared land to make airstrips in Honduras. Evidence of cartels farming coca in recent years have been reported.

Honduras has been known as a narco-state for over 20-years with politicians funded by drug traffickers. Once in power, politicians must repay traffickers. The remote Honduras jungle is an ideal transit hub for drug trafficking to the United States. Rampaging soldiers, gangs, and corrupt police harass locals. As a result, Honduras is one of the most violent countries in the world.

Looting of Artifacts in Lost Civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras

The temptation of looting artifacts is high. a remarkable cache of stone sculptures that had lain untouched since the city was abandoned. A pristine site like La Ciudad Blanca in unlooted condition is incredibly rare. The private site is guarded by soldiers and nearly-impossible to reach by foot, this combined with the artifacts being heavy stone sculptures, deters and prevents would-be looters.

Curse of Entering the Ruins as Passed Down Through Generations

The sacred site was the refuge of Indigenous Gods who fled when European Explorers arrived. Gods from all seven Indigenous groups inhabited La Ciudad Blanca. Anyone entering who couldn’t speak the language of each God representing each cultural group, they wouldn’t allow you to leave. One needed to know all seven Indigenous languages to leave their sanctuary.

Survival specialists, Honduran special forces soldiers, provided security safety for recent exploration crews. Several of them contracted a flesh-eating parasite that took months to diagnose and treat, long after the crew resumed their lives all over the world, one of which has a permanently disfigured. Venomous snakes filled their campsites—even directly under their hammocks and in front of their tents.

Annoyed archaeologists

Some archaeologists and professors have taken issue with the findings and methods of the National Geographic team, filmmakers, journalists, explorers, and teams of researchers that located the ruins and artifacts of lost civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras region.

I’m a little obsessed with ancient ruins and lost cities. The puzzle below is from my Lost City Puzzle Collection of ancient ruins and tropical birds in the Amazon.

For more reading and sources for Lost Civilizations in Mosquitia Honduras: La Ciudad Blanca, City of the Jaguar, City of the Monkey God, the White City

• https://nypost.com/2021/10/29/new-doc-explores-lost-city-of-monkey-god-after-decades-of-search/
• https://www.conservation.org/stories/biological-treasures-of-the-lost-city-of-the-monkey-god-in-honduras
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/150302-honduras-lost-city-monkey-god-maya-ancient-archaeology
• https://www.livescience.com/white-city-monkey-god
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/17/honduras-moskitia-forest-krausirpi-narco-highway
• https://programs.wcs.org/gcf-the5greatforests/en-us/-About-The-5-Great-Forests-of-Mesoamerica/La-Moskitia
• https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/honduras-arrests-mayor-accused-trafficking-cocaine-us-2023-08-27/
• https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/honduras/
• https://insightcrime.org/honduras-organized-crime-news/honduras/
• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56947595