It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
eal estate developers using heavy machinery tore down a 20ft (6m) tall pyramid at one of Peru's oldest archaeological sites, cultural officials have said.
Rafael Varon, deputy minister of cultural patrimony, told reporters on Wednesday that the destruction occurred over the weekend at the ruins of El Paraiso, a few miles north of Peru's capital, Lima.
He said his agency has lodged criminal complaints against two companies for the damage – identified as Alisol and Provelanz – and has moved to seize the equipment used. People who answered the telephone at both companies said no one was available to comment.
Peru's tourism ministry says El Paraiso was built some 4,000 years ago and was a religious and administrative centre, long before the rise of the Inca culture encountered by the Spanish conquerors.
How can a thing like this happen in Peru? I get the religious defacing of ancient sites in the Middle East, though it's purely ignorant.
“They had asked for a certificate for the absence of archaeological remains which was denied by the Ministry of Culture because of the obvious existence of archaeological remains. So they knew, they knew very well about the marked-off area. They did this on purpose. And from what the archaeologist has explained to us, it was planned down to the millimetre with a lot of people involved in the crime making it difficult for them to react before the police arrived,” Ternero said
A government minister confirmed that developers had tried to destroy three other pyramids but were stopped by locals. The department of cultural patrimony has lodged criminal complaints against the two companies involved.
Originally posted by Sparta
Didn't they destroy an ancient mound there a couple months ago also?
Or was that Belize
Originally posted by Hanslune
Originally posted by Sparta
Didn't they destroy an ancient mound there a couple months ago also?
Or was that Belize
Yeah Belize. When you have lots of ancient ruins in the are the locals treat them as 'terrain'. I saw that repeatedly in Bahrain where the great burial mounds were being nibbled away. In a small island they cover a significant amount of space.
Yea, it makes you wonder why, who has such an interest in the demolition of these sites?
Two private companies, Compañía y Promotora Provelanz E.I.R.L and Alisol S.A.C Ambas, claim to own the land, but the Ministry of Culture says it’s owned by the government. Both sides have put up signs at the site claiming ownership. After the bulldozing incident, the government doubled security.
Now Past Horizons reports that two months later, no charges have been brought against the companies or any individuals identified as being part of the work crew. It appears that the two companies have won this round.