The Legend Begins
Legendary skins have been a mystery to researchers for decades. They were found inside a cave, in an underground chamber carefully guarded on the slopes of the Tepuy Huachamakari. In it there were hundreds of masks made of stone, clay and precious stones, created with prodigious precision and an unusual coloring for works of the period to which they belong. In the same chamber, stone tablets with inscriptions in a dead and indecipherable language, of which no records were kept, were found. From the archaeological signs it was possible to conclude that they dated from around the year 10,000 BC, but little else could be revealed.
This discovery shook the foundations of Venezuelan historiography. For years it had been thought that the first humans had settled in the area in the year 2,000 BC, as all the discoveries made up to that point confirmed it. However, the discovery of the legendary masks raised many questions about the development of civilization in the Amazon, but only the stone tablets could offer the answers.
After years of philological and linguistic work, the texts that accompany the masks can be interpreted. They are inscriptions from an unknown holy book, recounting the origin of the world, humanity, and legendary masks. The legends in them are reminiscent of myths from the Amazon area, but their details and complexity are something new within this core of beliefs, so it is believed that they belong to an extinct ethnic group.
As can be read in the texts, the masks are representations of the Coamas, a kind of anthropomorphic demigods. It was said that each of them embodied one of the 10 divine virtues, making them very wise and powerful mythological beings. However, they were expelled from the realm of the gods and condemned to live with humans. They spent centuries living together in society and even mixed with the inhabitants of this territory, thus forming elitist castes. Some of these demigods will help humanity to develop, they will remember gifts such as fire and language. Others, blinded by power, took advantage of their position to trample on impure humans and favor their own kind.
After a fatal event, the gods decided to end the reign of terror established by these demigods. This is how the bodies of the Coamas were reduced to masks, which functioned as bearers of the divine virtue that they once personified. Although they tried to flee, all of their descendants were killed, thus freeing those who had been unjustly treated for centuries.
The survivors were left to fend for themselves, with a dismembered society and powerful masks they could use to destroy. However, they chose to hide these pieces deep in the ground, as well as the history behind them, hoping that no one could ever find them. It is known that they left the territory, possibly in a migration to present-day Suriname, but their fate is unknown. Today there is no more record of this ancient society, we only have the story behind the Coamas and their legendary masks.