Cueva de los Tayos is a cave located on the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains in the Morona-Santiago province of Ecuador. It is sometimes called Cueva de los Tayos de Coangos, presumably to distinguish it from other oilbird-containing caves with similar names.
Description
Cueva de los Tayos is located in the high rainforest, south of the Santiago River, and west of Coangos River. According to the latest GPS measurement in 2008, its altitude is above sea level. Located at an elevation of about within thinly-bedded limestone and shale, the principal entrance to Cueva de Los Tayos is within a rainforest at the bottom of a dry valley. The largest of three entrances is a deep shaft leading to of spacious passages and a chamber measuring. The cave has a vertical range of with its lowest point ending in a sump. The cave has long been used by the native Shuar people who descend into the cave each spring using vine ladders and bamboo torches to collect fledgeling tayos. Written references to the cave go back as far as 1860 and it is known to have been visited by gold-seekers and military personnel in the 1960s. Actually, the cave is located inside the Sindical Center Coangos. So, the cave belongs to the independent territory of the Shuar-Arutam. Today, access to the cave is restricted. It is necessary to obtain permission and pay a tax in Sucúa, Ecuador, at Shuar Center Federation.
''The Gold of the Gods''
A 1969 expedition to the cave is presented in Pino Turolla’s 1970 book Beyond the Andes. The cave was later popularized by Erich von Däniken's 1973 book The Gold of the Gods, in which he wrote that János Juan Móricz had claimed to have explored Cueva de los Tayos in 1969 and discovered mounds of gold, unusual sculptures and a metallic library. These items were said to be located within artificial tunnels that had been created by a lost civilization with help from extraterrestrial beings. Von Däniken had previously claimed in book Chariots of the Gods? that extraterrestrials were involved in ancient civilizations.
1976 BCRA expedition
As a result of the claims published in von Däniken’s book, an investigation of Cueva de los Tayos was organized by Stan Hall of Scotland, in 1976. One of the largest and most expensive cave explorations ever undertaken, the expedition involved over a hundred people, including experts in a variety of fields, British and Ecuadorian military personnel, a film crew, and former astronaut Neil Armstrong. The team also included eight experienced British cavers who thoroughly explored the cave and conducted an accurate survey to produce a detailed map of it. There was no evidence of Von Däniken’s more exotic claims, although some physical features of the cave did approximate his descriptions and some items of zoological, botanical, and archaeological interest were found. The lead researcher met with Moricz's indigenous source, who claimed that they had investigated the wrong cave, and that the real cave was secret.
On 31 January 2018, Tayos Cave was featured on the 6th episode of the 5th season of Expedition Unknown, titled "Hunt for the Metal Library". Explorer Josh Gates and his team, helped by local Shuar and Eileen Hall, daughter of Stan Hall of the earlier expedition, headed to Ecuador to explore the depths of the cavern.
