The Oldest City in The Americas Is an Archeological Wonder, And It's Under Invasion

[Judi Lynn]

The Caral archaeological complex. (Ernesto Benavides/AFP)

CARLOS MANDUJANO, AFP 20 JANUARY 2021

Having survived for 5,000 years, the oldest archeological site in the Americas is under threat from squatters claiming the coronavirus pandemic has left them with no other option but to occupy the sacred city.

The situation has become so bad that archeologist Ruth Shady, who discovered the Caral site in Peru, has been threatened with death if she doesn't abandon investigating its treasures.

Archeologists told an AFP team visiting Caral that squatter invasions and destruction began in March when the pandemic forced a nationwide lockdown.



An agricultural area that has invaded the protected site. (Ernesto Benavides/AFP)

"There are people who come and invade this site, which is state property, and they use it to plant," archeologist Daniel Mayta told AFP.

"It's hugely harmful because they're destroying 5,000-year-old cultural evidence."

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/oldest-city-in-the-americas-under-threat-from-squatters

Also posted in Anthropology:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/12296596

[Atticus]

1. Thanks for these posts. Though you are likely already familiar with them, allow me to add some

information about the Cahokia Mounds which are just across the Mississippi from St. Louis. They are the oldest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico and the mounds apparently have some similarities with the mounds in Turkey featured in your other post today.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/198/#:~:text=Cahokia%20Mounds%2C%20some%2013%20km,and%20included%20some%20120%20mounds.

These are just an hour's drive from us and we have visited with our children and grandchildren. The on-site museum has an unbelievable display of flint and obsidian implements and items decorated with shells apparently from the Gulf of Mexico. Obviously, the Cahokia were no strangers to travel and trade.

Worth a stop if you are ever in the area.