Tourists damage Nazca lines in Peru

Web posted July 28, 1998

By David Koop
Associated Press

LIMA, Peru -- Tourists drove a pickup truck across a section of Peru's mysterious Nazca Lines, damaging at least three of the lines that were etched in desert sands centuries ago, authorities said Monday.

The thousands of Nazca lines, located 250 miles south of Lima, are among Peru's top tourist attractions. The loosely guarded lines cover a 35-mile stretch of desert.

The intruders, whose vehicle had a California license plate, bypassed protective concrete markers and drove across the desert plain, over the ancient lines, said park guardian Hector Garcia.

The tourists camped overnight among the lines, then departed leaving garbage behind, Garcia said. The tourists were not stopped or identified and it was not known if they were still in Peru.

The most famous figures among the lines -- a hummingbird, monkey, heron, whale, spider and flower -- were not damaged, said district prosecutor Jose Herrera Ramos.

The shallow etchings were made well over a thousand years ago by Indians who cleared the stony surface, exposing the whitish soil underneath.

Scientists debate their purpose, offering such theories as a calendar, a map of underground water supplies and landing strips for space aliens.

Archaeologists fear the lines may be at risk of further damage from such intrusions because of the death in May of their longtime guardian and investigator, German mathematician Maria Reiche.

Reiche, who died of cancer at the age of 95, had protected the lines tirelessly for more than half a century. She often paid guards with her own money to keep vehicles off the lines.

``When Maria Reiche was alive we Peruvians knew the Nazca Lines would be respected. Now this is in doubt,'' said Federico Kauffmann-Doig, one of Peru's leading archaeologists.

Nazca residents hoped the damage would not be permanent.

``We hope that time, wind and blowing sand will cover over the tire tracks on the lines,'' said Daniel Mantilla, director of Radio Sport in Nazca.