Researchers Hunt for Buried Treasure in Costa Rica

A team of researchers are embarking on a real life treasure hunt.

Cocos Island, off the coast of Costa Rica, is rumoured to be the site of the famous “Treasure of Lima”—a stash of jewels, gold statues, crowns, chalices and silver and gold bars, all worth an estimated £160 million and dating back to the early 19th century.

The team, led by British engineer Shaun Whitehead and consisting of researchers from the University of Costa Rica and Germany’s Senckenberg Institute, will undertake an archaeological expedition to find the elusive treasure on the uninhabited island, now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Over the years, many have attempted to find the hidden loot, but to no avail. U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt and Aussie actor Errol Flynn both failed in their searches for the treasure, while German explorer August Gissler lived on the island for nearly two decades but found nothing more than six gold coins.

The treasure is said to have been the stash of Captain William Thompson, who buried it on Cocos Island in 1820 after stealing it from the Spaniards in Lima, Peru. Thompson had been responsible for taking the treasure to Mexico during a revolt—but he had his own plans, killing the six men accompanying him before detouring to Cocos Island. Thompson was later captured by a Spanish warship; in exchange for his life, he offered to share the secret site of the treasure, but escaped into the island’s interior. The location of the treasure was never revealed.

Whitehead’s expedition will last for 10 days and will also include geological and ecological research on the famous island that was the inspiration for the novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.