De arqueologías y fantasías: el mito del Padre Crespi y su influencia en la “arqueología” ecuatoriana

Abstract

The current paper explores certain aspects of what is called “pseudoarchaeology” in Ecuador from the case study of Father Carlos Crespi. From the middle of the 20th century, several pseudoarchaeological myths came into existence in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Most of them were based upon dubious material evidence compiled by Crespi, and they included varied topics such as unknown civilizatons, gold plates, ancient contacts between Sumer and America, metallic libraries, and so on. These events generated commotion in society to the point of promoting foreign exploration campaigns to the Cuevas de los Tayos in search of said evidence. Thus, Erich von Däniken, through his literature, turned into fiction this area of the jungle, asserting that it was created by extraterrestrial beings. Although the material corpus compiled by Crespi was extensive, many of these were craftwork and handicrafts that people sold taking advantage of the priest’s old age. Additionally, said pieces disappeared in a great fire, event that encouraged, even more, the myth of Father Crespi’s treasures and the Cueva de los Tayos.