Following an enigmatic map and the footsteps of an ill-fated conquistador, archaeologists may have unearthed one of the biggest pre-Columbian settlements in the US

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IN JUNE 1601, Juan de Oñate, conquistador and governor of the fledgling colony of New Mexico, marched eastwards in search of Quivira, a fabled land of gold thought to lie near an undiscovered coast. He found no treasure and no ocean. But according to Spanish records, Oñate’s expedition did turn up an intriguing discovery – one whose true significance is only just coming to light.

In testimonies given on their return, Oñate’s soldiers described their journey across what are now the US states of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. They spoke of “grasses so high that in many places they hid a horse”, Apache horse riders hunting vast herds of “monstrous” bison, and friendly encounters with a tribe they called the Escanxaques. Then the Spanish recounted how they were led to a settlement of people they called the Rayados so large that it would have taken two days to walk across it. They called it Etzanoa and reckoned it was home to some 20,000 people.

Scholars have long been sceptical about Etzanoa. Conquistadors were notorious for embroidering their tales to impress the Spanish authorities, and many believe that the people of the Great Plains lived in small, scattered settlements – not sprawling proto-cities.

Now, fresh translations of the soldiers’ testimonies have led one archaeologist to claim he has found Etzanoa. If true, and if it really was as extensive as Oñate reported, it wouldn’t only shake up our picture of how the people of the Great Plains lived before Europeans arrived. It would also remind us that the remains of large and socially complex settlements can hide in plain sight. …