"Discovered in a remote and rugged area of the Amazonian Andes in 1843, the colossal citadel of Kuelap was built by members of a regional culture called the Chachapoya. Despite the existence of Kuelap and other similarly spectacular remains, the ancient Chachapoya remained virtually unknown and unstudied until 1996, when looters found 200 astonishingly well-preserved Chachapoya mummies hidden in the densely forested cliffs overlooking the Lake of the Condors in northern Peru.

Now author-photographer Keith Muscutt examines in fascinating detail the history of the Chachapoya. In addition to their origins in the Amazon Basin, their distinctive architecture, and their defiant resistance to conquest by the Inka and the Spanish, he explores modern Chachapoya communities and shares stories of his own expeditions, traveling by mule and on foot, into Chachapoya territory."--BOOK JACKET.