Archaeology professor may have unearthed long lost 17th century civilization wiped out by Spanish conquistadors and disease

• Professor Donald Blakeslee believes he's found the massive lost city of Etzanoa, home to perhaps 20,000 people between 1450 and 1700
• Located in Arkansas City, Kansas, just a few miles from the Oklahoma border, Blakeslee says that freshly translated documents have helped his search
• In 2013, scholars at UC Berkeley announced that they had retranslated murky documents written by Spanish conquistadors more that 400 years ago 
• Blakeslee said he believes he's found a battle site in what is now an upscale Arkansas City neighborhood 
• Traditional thoughts about Native American communities in the early Midwest portrayed them as tribal nomads 
• Blakeslee's work now upends the theory and paints some tribes as urban dwellers

An archaeologist in Kansas believes that he has made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery after claiming to have unearthed a long-lost civilization in the Midwest.

Wichita State University Professor Donald Blakeslee believes he's found the massive lost city of Etzanoa, home to perhaps 20,000 people between 1450 and 1700.

Located in Arkansas City, Kansas, just a few miles from the Oklahoma border,  Blakeslee says that freshly translated documents and an array of high-tech equipment may have led him to the mythical city. 

Professor Donald Blakeslee (pictured) believes he's found the massive lost city of Etzanoa, home to perhaps 20,000 people between 1450 and 1700

Located in Arkansas City, Kansas, just a few miles from the Oklahoma border, Blakeslee says that freshly translated documents have helped his search

If he's right, the site could be home to one of the largest former Native American settlements in North America and may spark a rethinking of traditional views over early settlements in the Midwest, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

In 2013, scholars at UC Berkeley announced that they had retranslated murky documents written by Spanish conquistadors more that 400 years ago. 

The newly translated primary sources, more precise and cogent than older translations, kick-offed Blakeslee's foray into locating the massive ancient settlement. 

Adam Ziegler (pictured) was the first to stumble across evidence of an ancient civilization that may upend much of what experts know about ancient Native American communities

'I thought, 'Wow, their eyewitness descriptions are so clear it's like you were there.' I wanted to see if the archaeology fit their descriptions,' Blakeslee told the LA Times. 'Every single detail matched this place.'   

Two years ago, Blakeslee was searching a rocky ravine that matched the accounts from conquistadors, but found nothing.  

Meanwhile, a young volunteer on the dig, Adam Ziegler, asked to borrow Blakeslee's metal detector and explore the surrounding area. 

An hour or two later, Ziegler found something about four inches deep. It turned out to be a ball from a Spanish cannon.  

This gave Blakeslee the motivation he needed to keep searching, and enlisted the help of the National Park Service.

Intrigued, they offered their equipment and used a magnetometer to detect variations in the earth's magnetic field and find features around the excavation that looked like homes, storage pits and places where fires were started, the LA Times reported. 

Continuing to dig, and using the newly translated descriptions from the conquistadors, Blakeslee said he believes he's found a battle site in what is now an upscale Arkansas City neighborhood.      

In 2013, scholars at UC Berkeley announced that they had retranslated murky documents written by Spanish conquistadors more that 400 years ago

Stone weapons and tools such as these have been found at the site in abundance

The recent discovery of three half-inch iron balls, 17th century Spanish cannon shells and a Spanish horseshoe nail has helped Blakeslee bolster his claims even further.

'We're really proud that all this history happened here, and we want to share it with the world,' said Hap McLeod, who owns the property where the cannon shot was found.   

The only recorded accounts of Etzanoa come from the expedition of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, who in 1601 led a party into the Great Plains in search of the fabled 'city of gold' Quiviria. 

The expedition came across a war party of 300 to 400 natives, whom Oñate called 'Rayados', or striped ones, for their body paint and tattoos. They were almost certainly Wichitas.

Oñate tells of making peace with the group and being led to their settlement, Etzanoa.

The only recorded accounts of Etzanoa come from the expedition of Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate, who in 1601 led a party into the Great Plains in search of a fabled 'city of gold'

This map was drawn in 1602 by a Wichita Indian who was captured by the Spanish. The circular figures represent native settlements. Etzanoa is depicted by two circles with a diagonal line between them at the top center of the map.

The conquistador was stunned by the city's size. Though the rest of the tribe had fled Etzanoa for hiding at Oñate's arrival, he saw a sprawling settlement across thousands of acres along the bluffs of the confluence of two rivers.   

The Spaniard reported the city had 2,000 large, beehive-shaped houses, each large enough to house 10 people, for an estimated population of 20,000. 

Growing nervous at the size of the population they stumbled across, Oñate's party of roughly 100 men turned back, retracing their steps southward.

But suddenly, the group came under attack from a group of more than 2,000 natives from another tribe called the 'Escanxaques.'

The Spaniards marshaled their small cannons as the attackers charged at them up a rocky ravine, according to the Europeans' account.

The city was never seen by Europeans again, and no group of Wichita peoples that size was ever documented. Experts believe that smallpox and other diseases may have raced through the dense settlement after contact with the Europeans, wiping out the city. 

Oñate described finding a city of 2,000 beehive-shaped houses. Shown is a traditional Wichita grass house in a file photo from 1927

Oñate is believed to have encountered Wichita people, whom he called 'Rayados' for their striped body paint. Shown in a 1927 file photo are Plains Indians in ceremonial dress

'We're really proud that all this history happened here, and we want to share it with the world,' said Hap McLeod, who owns the property where some of the evidence was found.

'Lots of artifacts have been taken from here,' McLeod added. 

Traditional thoughts about Native American communities in the early Midwest portrayed them as tribal nomads whom followed buffalo migration routes.

But if Blakeslee's theory is correct, then some tribes were urban dwellers. 

'So this was not some remote place. The people traded and lived in huge communities,' Blakeslee said. 'Everything we thought we knew turns out to be wrong. I think this needs a place in every schoolbook.' 

The revelation has many in the small town of Arkansas City riveted, and they are trying to capitalize on their new found history by offering visitor tours.

Town leaders are also courting UNESCO, hoping to earn the site a World Heritage designation.