TheLost City of Z is the name given by ColonelPercy Harrison Fawcett, a British surveyor of the early 20th century, to an indigenous city that he believed had existed in the jungle of theMato Grosso state ofBrazil. Based on early histories of South America and his own explorations of theAmazon River region, Fawcett theorized that a complex civilization had once existed there, and that isolated ruins may have survived.[1] Fawcett and two companions disappeared during an expedition to find evidence of the hypothesized civilization in 1925.
Fawcett found a document known asManuscript 512, held at theNational Library of Brazil, believed to have been written by PortuguesebandeirantesJoão da Silva Guimarães [pt]. According to the document, in 1753, a group ofbandeirantes discovered the ruins of an ancient city that contained arches, a statue, and a temple withhieroglyphs. He described the city ruins in great detail without giving its location.[citation needed]
Manuscript 512 was written after explorations made in thesertão of the province ofBahia.[2][page needed] Fawcett intended to pursue finding this city as a secondary goal after "Z". He was preparing an expedition to find "Z" whenWorld War I broke out and the British government suspended its support. Fawcett returned to Britain and served on theWestern Front during the war.
After the war ended, in 1920, Fawcett undertook a personal expedition to find the city but withdrew after suffering from fever and having to shoot his pack animal.[1] On a second expedition in 1925, Fawcett, his son Jack, and Jack's friend Raleigh Rimmel disappeared in the Mato Grosso jungle.
Researchers believe that Fawcett may have been influenced in his thinking by information obtained from indigenous people about the archaeological site ofKuhikugu, near the headwaters of theXingu River.[3][page needed] In 2022, the remains of settlements nearLlanos de Moxos were surveyed usinglidar. The sites contain the ruins of pyramids, causeways, and other infrastructure, supporting Fawcett's theory about ancient settlements in the Amazon.[4][5]
The city is the focus of the 1991 novelIndiana Jones and the Seven Veils.
In 2005, the American journalistDavid Grann published an article inThe New Yorker on Fawcett's expeditions and findings, titled "The Lost City of Z".[1] In 2009 he developed it into abook of the same title, and in 2016 it was adapted by writer-directorJames Gray into afilm of the same name starringCharlie Hunnam,Robert Pattinson,Tom Holland, andSienna Miller.[6]