WHAT HAPPENED There are many reasons why a city can become lost In some cases a natural disaster such as an earthquake a volcanic eruption or flooding can simply overwhelm a city This is what happened to Pompeii in Italy when the volcano Vesuvius erupted violently You can find out more about the swift and terrifying destruction of Pompeii on pages 24 to 33 Other cities were abandoned by their inhabitants because of war In some places the food or water supply seems to have been disrupted forcing a city’s residents to move elsewhere But sometimes we just do not know why a place that had once been bustling and busy was deserted by the people who lived there In 1250 CE on the floodplain of the Mississippi River in present day Illinois there stood one of the biggest cities in the world At that time the city of Cahokia covered nearly 6 square miles 15 square kilometers and was home to up to 20,000 people as big as London or Paris at the time Yet by 1400 it had been abandoned Today the only reminders of this city are more than 100 earth mounds see the photo below
LOST AND FOUND Most lost cities are not absolutely lost Local people often know something about the mysterious ruins that lie deep in a jungle or are covered by desert sands But it is only when an outsider comes along to investigate that people realize what these ruins really are This is what happened to the American historian and explorer Hiram Bingham high in the Andes Mountains in 1911 Bingham was looking for the lost cities of the Inca people He was amazed when a local guide led him to some spectacular ruins high on a mountaintop Although Bingham was not the first to find the ruins he was the first person to bring them to the attention of the wider world You can find out more about Bingham’s discovery on pages 34 to 41
Machu Picchu is in the Andes Mountains IT IS PERCHED ON A MOUNTAINTOP IN THE MOST INACCESSIBLE CORNER OF THE MOST INACCESSIBLE SECTION OF THE URUBAMBA RIVER SO FAR AS I KNOW THERE IS NO PART OF THE ANDES THAT HAS BEEN BETTER DEFENDED BY NATURE HIRAM BINGHAM DESCRIBING THE REMOTE LOCATION OF THE LOST CITY OF MACHU PICCHU IN AN ARTICLE HE WROTE FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE
The magnificent ruins of Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia are part of what was once a huge city from the 800s to the 1400s WHY LOOK Why do people look for lost cities Historians and archaeologists want to know more about the people who once lived there what they ate who they worshipped and what jobs they did And there is always the chance that something really unusual may turn up including treasure like gold or silver
