(Sept 27, 2005) Legends of buried treasure, pirates and fortune hunters surround Robinson Crusoe Island but it seems that all the myths were true. Astonished explorers discovered what they claim is the long lost treasure of Spanish Conquistador Juan Esteban Ubilla y Echeverría worth over US$10 billion.
Last Wednesday a team from Wagner Technologies announced to the world that they had discovered 800 metric tons of gold, silver, and jewels on Robinson Crusoe Island, one of a tiny group of islands located 645 km off the coast of Chile. The team used new robot technology that can scan the atomic composition of materials such as water, metals and petroleum, buried up to 50 meters underground. Because the robot uses sonar to scan the ground, no digging has actually been done yet, but if they are right, the discovery would be the largest buried treasure ever found anywhere.
According to legend, the treasure originated in the Incan Empire and was stolen during the Spanish conquest of Perú in the 16th and 17th centuries. When the treasure was enroute to Spain around 1715, the navigator in charge of the ship landed on Crusoe Island and buried his cargo. Before he could return to unearth the booty, an English pirate named Cornelius Webb uncovered the Incan treasure and reburied it somewhere else on the island.
What became of the fortune afterwards has been the focus of speculation and myth that has survived on the island for over 300 years. Since 1998 the American millionaire Bernard Keiser has been excavating caves all over the island in search of the hidden loot. He has invested over US$1 million in the hunt, but has never been able to find the X that marked the spot.
“Arturito,” the little robot named after Star Wars character R2 D2, took only moments to locate the buried treasure after engineers from Wagner Technologies set him down on Cerro Tres Puntas (Three Peaks Hill) the site of the discovery.
Arturito is becoming famous for solving mysteries that people cannot. In June, it discovered the massive arms cache buried at the German rightwing paramilitary compound Colonia Dignidad. Then, in August, it detected the remains of the body of businessman Francisco Yuraszeck, who went missing in 2004. In both cases, officials were unable to find anything on their own and relied on Arturito to solve the mystery.
Representatives from Wagner Technologies and the government are now trying to decide how to divide the loot amongst them. The location of the site is under the jurisdiction of the Council of National Monuments on government property. As such, there are two laws that apply to the buried treasure.
The first involves the discovery of money, jewels, and other precious articles. The law states that in any discovery where the rightful owners cannot be determined, the finds should be divided equally between the discoverer and the property owner.
The second law involves discoveries on national monument property stating that any material of historical value, including ancient treasure, found on government property, is archaeological by default and therefore must be returned to the state to allow for historical research on the artifacts found.
The government has taken the stance that as the treasure is on national monument property, the second law applies in this case, entitling them to 100 percent of the find. As is to be expected, Wagner Technologies rejected this stance immediately.
Island officials have also weighed in, stating that they are entitled to the governments share of the find as it was discovered on their island, effectively making them the interested property owners.
Excavation is set to begin in October, but the turf wars have already begun.
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