Heavy Machinery Destroys Section of Nazca Lines in Peru

First, I did a search but couldn't find it anywhere on here.

Second, this is currently the only source I could find for this information, (besides other sites linking back to this as their original source). I'm not sure how trust worthy the site is, however a quick search doesn't turn up anything that seems outrageous or unreliable.

The author is Manuel Vigo, a news editor and Peruvian-American who studied at Florida International University.


Now on the story..

Apparently a significant section of the Nazca lines was destroyed beyond repair by a firm doing limestone excavation.

The lines are located near kilometer marker 444 of the Panamericana Sur Highway. The area adjacent to the lines have reportedly also been affected, due to land being removed from the area.

Eduardo Herrán Gómez de la Torre, director of research at Ojos de Condor, described the extensive damage in the area. "We have witnessed the irreparable destruction to a set of lines and trapezoids that existed in the area,” Herrán said.

“The limestone firm responsible has not been sanctioned or supervised by the authorities of the Regional Directorate of Culture of Ica, despite being in this great archaeological reserve.”

What is worse is that the company takes no responsibility for this damage. They claim that they were working on private property and the owner has the right to do what he would like with the area. The problem with that claim?

...according to the daily, the private property is located within an area that was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, 18 years ago.

Link to Peru This Week

Whether you believe "ancient alien" theories, or think they have some mysterious, mystical past, or if you are of the mindset that these are simply some beautiful sand drawings that have survived through the ages, this is upsetting.

Some of these figures are up to 600 feet long - and depict incredibly stunning images, especially for a culture that had no access to aerial photography (that we know of ). They obviously had some kind of meaning to people in our past and I can guarantee they took longer to build than the time it took a bulldozer to ruin them beyond repair.

Just upsetting.

Jerks all day long!

I hope your post is bs, cause this sucks.
Thanks for the post, I'd look for more info, but I'm sure you're better on
a computer than I am.

reply to post by terriblyvexed


I doubt I'm any better on a computer than you! But yes, I hope it isn't real either. The site seemed legit and none of the comments on that site or any other site I saw it on had anyone debunking it. Most said it was a tragedy. And it is.

reply to post by jacktorrance


Yeah, I read about that few weeks ago. It's been a while and seems like the area is a private property, so it's not too much the gov. can do about it.

Something that I mentioned in many threads, knowing the area, it's very usual to have that kind of situation in Peru. Many times, archaeological sites are destroyed by urban and industrial developments. Incas and pre- columbian cultures left their traces all over the country. Believe it or not, you could find something if you dig a hole in your backyard.

Example : www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by terriblyvexed
Jerks all day long!

I hope your post is bs, cause this sucks.
Thanks for the post, I'd look for more info, but I'm sure you're better on
a computer than I am.

Sadly, it's true.

A set of lines and tracings of the archaeological zone of Buenos Aires, located in the gorge of Socos in Nasca, were destroyed by heavy machinery Company of limestone aggregates Gálvez, who installed a few months ago quarries in that area to remove material for the construction.

You can translate te whole article :

elcomercio.pe...

Arsholes!.....can I say that here, ah who cares what a waste of precious earth relics.

How could this happen? I can't get your link to work but I will try later and I hope it is wrong but my gut tells me there must be gas or oil underneath or similar wealth's you get the idea.

S&F

I hope upon hope we can find a way to stop this kind of thing, but being realistic I see money talks and history walks for ever.

Regards, Iwinder

reply to post by Trueman


Yeah, I did see that it was a few weeks old, but hadn't heard anything about it here so I thought I'd share.

I was kind of shocked to see someone else mention the same thing you did on another site - that it's pretty common for things like this to be damaged. I thought there was more protection in place for areas like this.

The price of progress as they say?

Shameful, utterly shameful.

reply to post by Iwinder

I hope upon hope we can find a way to stop this kind of thing, but being realistic I see money talks and history walks for ever.

Sadly, agreed.

Damn, this is really sad, it's not like we can ask the culture to redo the obliterated lines. I really wish people would be more in touch with the past, be it their cultural past or the planet's worth. Too many ancient sites are damaged or destroyed accidentally, deliberately, or naturally. We need to deeply connect with & cherish what our ancestors left behind. One stupid mining op, and it's ruined. One religious zealot group, and it's destroyed. One natural disaster, and it's rubble. One war, and it's dust

Well. You'll have that on them big jobs.

reply to post by Iwinder


Nope not gas or oil Iwinder that's the really sad part. They were after limestone to repave the adjacent highway. Limestone is literally dirt cheap if you'll pardon the pun. You can get a 5 yard dump truck full of it for about a hundred bucks. Utterly shameful.

Originally posted by Binder
reply to post by Iwinder

 

Nope not gas or oil Iwinder that's the really sad part. They were after limestone to repave the adjacent highway. Limestone is literally dirt cheap if you'll pardon the pun. You can get a 5 yard dump truck full of it for about a hundred bucks. Utterly shameful.

Thanks for that information, although it saddens me even more to realize all that damage for a very cheap commodity.

Regards, Iwinder