The remains of the oldest city in the Americas are the subject of a fierce battle between squatters and archaeologists. The ruins of Caral, a sacred city around 5,000 years old in the Lima region of Peru, have been invaded numerous times by several individuals since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. These individuals affirm in particular that the remains, nested in the desert valley of Supe, are theirs by right.
According to the Guardian, which chronicles this puzzling land conflict, squatters have tried to storm the archaeological site nine times since the coronavirus entered Peru. Last July, they even carried out a fist operation with the help of a massive excavator, and knocked down or damaged mud buildings, tombs occupied by mummies, as well as ancient ceramics and textiles. . The police and archaeologists present on the site were unable to intervene in time to avoid this damage.
Death threats
Still according to the Guardian, the squatters would all be part of one big family. They attest that the land that shelters the remains of Caral was offered to them in the 1970s, during the agrarian reform of Peru, under military dictatorship. Ruth Shady, the Peruvian archaeologist who brought the ancient city to light in the 1990s, refutes this claim. “They don’t have a single land title. The owner of the land is the Peruvian state, ”she told the English daily. The conflict with the squatters is such today that the archaeologist, as well as other members of the team working on the site, ended up receiving several death threats. Shady’s dog was also poisoned.
The archaeologists have asked the authorities to intervene in the area to stop these actions of “invasion” and “destruction”. A police car now patrols the site day and night. However, no police or judicial action was taken against the squatters. And the situation should not improve, as buyers rush to acquire land around the ruins, as the price per hectare in the area has increased tenfold since the archaeological site was listed as a heritage site. Unesco World Cup, in 2009.
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