Gold headpiece with grid writing or symbols, Cuenca, Ecuador. Crespi Collection.
Pre-Columbian incised stone found during construction of airport at Cuenca, Ecuador, showing elephants and symbols which may be writing. Crespi Collection.
Stone tablets inscribed with elephants, sun symbols, pyramid and burial. Crespi Collection.
Parapegma with Asia Face. Crespi Collection.
Pyramid Lions & Elephant Plaque. Crespi Colleption.
The remainders of an astonishing collection are kept in Cuenca, Ecuador. A collection with the following origins. Father Carlos Crespi was a Silesian-monk who lived in Ecuador. He did missionary work among the Indian population in remote valleys during his lifetime. Crespi received or bought these objects from Indians. The Indians got them from subterranean cave systems. Soon a lot of relics were brought together and kept in the courtyard of the church Maria Auxiliadora. Many pieces were destroyed in a fire in 1962 or later when the church was restored. Many were lost or wound up with treasure hunters. Now remainders of the original collection are inaccessible to the public. They are stored in the cellar archive of the church Maria Auxiliadora. Here they wait for their rediscovery.
The age and origin of these items is still unknown today. Father Crespi never tried to classify them. The picture motifs are strange, their meaning not understood. These objects show the pictures of an unknown culture. Were they left by unknown civilizations? The most well known pieces are tablets made of silver, gold foil or other alloys with unknown letters and mysterious symbols.
