Percy Fawcett and The Lost City of Z

[Kara Sundstrom]

Kris's Archaeology Blog
By K. Kris Hirst, About.com Guide to Archaeology since 1997

Percy Fawcett and The Lost City of Z
Monday February 9, 2009
Percy Fawcett was a Victorian-minded explorer in the early 20th century.




Credit: Doubleday (c) 2009Mad and manly, Fawcett was certain there was a lost civilization in the lush green hell of the Amazon rainforest. His certainty flew in the face of generations of scholars and scientists who knew there was nothing to be found in the Amazon except extremely hostile hunter-gatherer residents, huge deadly snakes, man-eating fish and insects bearing horrible diseases.
New Yorker writer David Grann's new book chronicling Fawcett's explorations, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, proves several things. One, Percy Fawcett was certifiable. Two, I'm not so sure about David Grann. And three, there really was a "Lost City of Z", but Fawcett was blinded by Victorian notions of what cities looked like and thus unable to see it when he was standing in its ruins.

A fascinating book, The Lost City of Z's film rights have been bought by Brad Pitt, who will undoubtedly spend some horrific time in the Amazon rainforest and come back with a fabulous movie.

http://archaeology.about.com/b/2009/02/09/percy-fawcett-and-the-lost-city-of-z.htm