The legend of a lost city made entirely of gold called El Dorado has circled the world for hundreds of years, beginning when Europeans started sailing to the new world in the 16th century. Since then, thousands of people have put their lives in peril to search for the gold. Many of these treasure hunters met their demise along the journey. But more recent archaeological discoveries have uncovered the origin of the legend, which actually centered around a person as opposed to a place.
It is now believed that the legend of El Dorado originally developed from stories about a sacred ritual of the Muisca tribe that has lived in present-day Columbia since 800 BC. This ritual took place when the Muisca appointed a new leader (often the nephew of the previous leader). Before a new leader assumed his role, he was brought to Lake Guatavita. He would remove his clothing and cover his entire body in gold dust. He then sailed to the middle of the lake on a decorated raft accompanied by four high priests adorned with golden jewelry. Once there, a priest would raise a flag to silence the music and cheers from the spectators on the shore, and then the new leader would throw gold and precious stones into the lake as a sacrifice to the gods. The crowds cheered to signify their allegiance to their new leader. He was called the “the gilded one” or “the golden one,” which was misconstrued over time to symbolize a lost city of gold.
Once the legend captured the attention of greedy adventurers, people starting journeying to the region in search of treasure. The lost city of gold became a beacon for those seeking to exploit these new lands for monetary value. In 1545, two conquistadores unsuccessfully attempted to drain Lake Guatavita with the assistance of workers forming a bucket chain. They found gold along the shore, but they never made it to the depths of the lake’s bottom. A second search of the lake was conducted in 1580 by an entrepreneur, which returned similar results.
In 1595, Sir Walter Raleigh set sail to establish an English presence in the southern hemisphere, while hoping to discover El Dorado in the highlands of Guyana. After a fruitless search, he re-visited the region in 1617 with his son to continue the quest. However, his son was killed in a conflict with the Spaniards, and Raleigh himself was executed upon returning home for disobeying King James’ order to avoid conflict.
Quite a few more expeditions have been attempted since then, yet there remains no physical evidence that a lost city of gold exists. The search has taken hundreds of lives due to dangerous terrain and conflict with local residents. In 1965, the Colombian government declared Lake Guatavita a protected area. But the shifting and transforming of the Muisca legend have led to continued searches across South America.
The most recent search took place in 2000, when a monastery was looking for underground Incan tunnels. They did find an entryway to a large tunnel, but no gold was uncovered. In 2001, an Italian archaeologist named Mario Polia discovered a document from the 1600s that described a city that was thought to be El Dorado. A search of the described area turned up evidence of manmade tools and structures, but still no gold.
Even though much of the world has zoomed in on the treasure hunting aspect of the legend, the Muisca society never sought after gold for its material value. Instead, gold was valued for its spiritual power, connection to the deities, and ability to bring balance to the Muisca society. Gold was not representative of wealth; it was simply an offering.
The Muisca society’s goldsmithing techniques and abilities were exquisite and their work far surpassed what the European explorers had seen. Sadly, the modern surge in gold hunting and the continuing quest for El Dorado has led to the looting and melting down of many Muisca artifacts. People’s search for monetary gain has deprived the scientific community of the opportunity to study these historic treasures to learn more about this impressive culture. The real value of much of this gold may now be lost forever.
Though no evidence of El Dorado exists, people continue to search for the lost treasure. It’s remarkable that one pre-Columbian society’s ritual became a well-known legend that has captured the hearts of treasure seekers. We can only hope that any significant discoveries in the region, if any are to be found, will be shared with the world.
You can obtain your own stock of golden treasure easily (and legally) when you buy gold bullion through Provident! Check out the 2017 1 oz American Gold Buffalo, a beautiful piece of US history.
What is your favorite treasure hunting story? We might feature it in our Friday Fables blog series!
PapiKink says
There’s always been a fabled treasure out there, and there always will be. Would be nice to get brought up to date on the Polish Nazi train found in 2016.
ProvidentMetals.com says
We actually wrote about that one! Read about it here.