Tayos Cave: Where Was the Metal Library Hidden?

On 21 July 1969, Juan Moricz filed a document at a notary office in Guayaquil. He claimed to have discovered a system of caves and tunnels beneath the forests of eastern Ecuador. The document attached his name to the claim of discovery. Moricz said the system held a metal library that recorded human history, the origin of people on Earth, and the knowledge of a vanished civilisation. He produced no metal plate. The public first saw only his account and a notarised paper.

Cueva de los Tayos lies in Morona-Santiago Province, on the slopes of the Cordillera del Cóndor. Its main entrance drops about 50 metres before opening into passages, streams, and large chambers. A map made by the 1976 Ecuador-British expedition records 4.9 kilometres of surveyed passage and a depth of 186 metres. The Shuar have known the cave for generations. Each season, they use rope ladders to descend and collect tayos, or oilbirds, from inside. They know the routes, the water seasons, and the nesting places. Visitors from elsewhere see only the parts of the cave they are led to.