Peru is home to countless ancient mysteries, fascinating legends and incredible myths. One such mystery is hidden deep in the rainforest of the Peruvian Amazon: a massive face sculpted in the rocks.
Called the “Amarakaray Face”, the mysterious ancient sculpture is said to have existed from time immemorial.
However, despite the fact that the the face is well documented in ancient myths and legends and the numerous expeditions that succeeded in finding it, its initial location is difficult to identify and even more difficult to access.
Despite this fact, a group of researchers have managed to locate the massive ancient sculpture and record their journey to reach their destination.
The expedition, which set out to explore the massive stone face, included members of the ancient Character nation.
They call it “Rostro Harakbut” – or “Harakbut Face”.
The sculpture is located in a super remote part of the southeastern Peruvian Amazon.
In 2015, British director Paul Redman visits the stone sculpture with a group of male characters.
“The very existence of the fake person was a legend passed down from generation to generation among character families,” says a communique by Bernice Communications, announcing the shooting in Lima, Peru in 2015.
“But few people have seen it.”
The curious thing is that this is not the only person around. In fact, the Amazon rainforest has quite similar places. Some are well documented and others are covered by myths.
Reunion’s movie is a stunning journey to the face. Well documented. Exciting, emotional, and most importantly – it sends a powerful message of what places like the Native American Personality mean.
“It took us three days of hard climbing to get there, but then it was glorious,” says Rainforest Foundation’s American program director Tom Buick, who is taking part in the expedition.
“The rostro is exceptional and really creates the feeling of a forest guardian. Lewis and Jamie – the two main characters in the movie – were really delighted. “
The mysterious face is different from anything you can see in the whole area. There are many other geological formations, but they are of clear natural origin, while Amarakarei’s face clearly shows tool traces.
Is this massive geological feature a creation of our ancestors?
Amarakaray’s face is the perfect element for an Indiana Jones movie.
The massive stone-carved face has never been explored by archaeologists, but locals believe it is not a product of natural forces: they are convinced that the face was carved by their ancient ancestors.
Buick agrees, saying that there are numerous traces that point to his artificial nature.
“The rostro is placed perfectly overlooking the river valley and stands above a waterfall and a pool that resembles an amphitheater,” he explains, adding that: “there are traces all over the rostro that indicate that it was cut with elementary tools.”
But perhaps the most important argument for why the face person is not a natural entity is the fact that there are no rocks similarly shaped in the region. Even more interesting is the fact that the person is not upstream of the river, which at first implies that floods are not very likely to have created this strange human expression.
“The Charakbut do not have a written history, but they claim that Rostro has been in their verbal history for many generations … More studies are certainly needed,” Biwick adds.
Was the Face a border sanctuary left by the Incas to mark their domain? For the Harakbut, this stone formation was worshiped for centuries by the sages of the community, but they affirm that there are “two more faces”. The guides also demonstrated the existence of a place known as the “house of the Inka”, where you can see carved stone constructions.
And as we hope to learn more about this mysterious place hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest, we wonder why ancient cultures sculptured such individuals above all else.
Was it to honor their ancestors? Gods? Whatever the reason, places like this make us look, we want to know more about history, ancient cultures, and why such monuments exist at all.
In any case, Harakbut leaders insist that the Face stands as a cultural symbol to stop the predatory advance of illegal mining and road construction. That is why they have proposed to raise the Face of Harakbut to the category of Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
