No one knows for sure why the huge drawings in the landscape were once made. They are located in an area of 150,000 km² in the Atacama desert, in the north of Chile. They are known as geoglyphs and are made by removing soil and rock on the ground. Usually the drawings are so large that you have to get on a plane to see what they depict. In total, there are supposed to be around 5,000 geoglyphs that were built between the year 600 and the year 1500. New photos Now a Chilean foundation – Fundación Desierto de Atacama – has published photos on Instagram that show extensive destruction of the drawings. According to the foundation, someone has driven a motorcycle or four-wheeled vehicle over the drawings, writes El Pais. In the pictures, you can clearly see many wheel tracks which partly make it impossible to see the geoglyphs. Having reported the case, Luis Pérez shows that clearly visible signs warn of where the drawings are. Photo: Fundación Desierto de Atacama Luis Pérez is an archaeologist and director of the regional museum in Iquique, where the geoglyphs are. He says that what has happened is an irreparable damage. The destruction has now been reported to the public prosecutor, Pérez now hopes that they will take the matter seriously. – They must understand that damage to national monuments is not a misdemeanor, it is a crime, he says to BIoBioChile. Pérez believes that the destruction must have been done on purpose. He points out that there are large signs warning people. – There are huge drawings. Some of them are over 30 meters long. It is difficult to argue that you have not seen them, he says. Close-up showing motorcycle tracks above and next to one of the geoglyphs in the Atacama Desert. Photo: Fundación Desierto de Atacama Accuses rally drivers Pérez accuses rally organizers and other drivers of motor vehicles, writes the New York Times. Every year, hundreds of riders of motorcycles, quads and jeeps come to the desert to compete. The organizer of one of the biggest rallies, the Atacama Rally, says that their participants know where to drive. The head of the Atacama Rally, Gerardo Fontaine, says they monitor the drivers with GPS and warn them if they get too close to the drawings. – The real problem is those who rent motorbikes and drive around the desert without a permit. Nobody says anything to them, he says. The world’s driest desert Atacama is the world’s driest desert. On average, it rains 15 millimeters a year. This has led to the drawings being very well preserved. Some of the geoglyphs have geometric shapes, while others represent people and animals. The most common are the geometric shapes. Some stand alone, while others are in groups of up to 50 drawings. Published 26/09/2024, at 13.21
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Ancient stone drawings destroyed by motorcycle tracks in Chile – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
