Monday 14 November 2011

Issue: Local People Protecting Local Archaeological Sites


       
        
         An aerial view of one of Nasca's giant animal tracings.

         In Lima, a Peruvian farmer is facing fines after digging a well in the middle of the Nasca archaeological site. Nasca is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and thus should be protected and respected by locals. The farmer, who owns land nearby, drove his tractor past warning signs and ended up destroying three geometric lines in the ‘campos barridos, or ‘swept fields,’ section of the site. Nasca’s giant tracings of lines and animal figures in Peru’s southern Ica desert can only be seen fully from the air, though the ancient drawings date back to the fifth or sixth century BC. Since they date more than two millennia before human flight, they are one of the world’s greatest archaeological mysteries.
       
        According to the newspaper report of the incident, the farmer will have to pay fines and restoration costs. Although I am not well versed in legal proceedings for an offense of this nature, I would think that the farmer should be subject to more punishment. Not  only is Nasca already protected under UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, but the site itself was also marked off and the farmer, being a local, was most likely aware of its existence and location. If the case is that the farmer was not aware of the site, then I think that strong efforts should be made towards educating local peoples of archaeological sites and the importance of protecting and preserving them. Local peoples are one of the first defences that an archaeological site can rely on for protection. But if the local peoples aren’t able to protect these sites because of lack of knowledge, then we are not doing all that we can to protect our heritage.

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