Hidden Treasure.

AT 73 YEARS OLD, GENE SAVOY CONTINUES TO BLAZE A TRAIL of enlightenment across the interior of Peru and beyond. In his four-decade career, the former journalist and self-trained anthropologist has uncovered some 40 cities hidden in Peru's tropical cloud forests. The U.S. explorer was part of a 47-member team that recently located the lost city of Cajamarquilla, built by the Chachapoya people.

These mysterious tall and fair-skinned warriors may have reigned over an ancient kingdom but they'd meet their match today against the country's huaqueros, or looters. Archaeologists complain that while they work one side of a hill, the gold diggers burrow on the other side. Pilfered artifacts rank second only to illegal drugs as the country's leading illicit export.

Upon making the announcement about his latest find, Savoy refused to divulge the location of the site for fear of attracting thieves. He even went so far as to insist that no gold was found in the ruins. "The Spanish conquistadors thought all the lost cities hidden away in remote spots could be El Dorado," he told reporters. "But we have found no gold in the remains of Cajamarquilla." Perhaps the lost city would have stayed safer if it had remained hidden.