It ought to be punishable with life in prison.

Ancient Mayan pyramid destroyed for road fill

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/world/americas/belize-mayan-pyramid-destroyed

it's clear some landowners believe they're just going to get people who don't know any better to vaporize these ancient landmarks on their property, if it even IS theirs, and they'll make a fast buck selling it to developers who want it, instead.

No more exceptions, no more "whoops". Local authorities should be pushed to start keeping a closer eye on their regions to make it harder for idiot, greedy criminals to pull this off.

They're not making any MORE of these things, after all. That's all she wrote on the ones left standing.

There is NO excuse.

It's unbearable knowing how old this site was:

The site, which dates back to the Late Preceramic (3500-1800 BC) period, is situated several kilometres north of Lima.

According to Peru's tourism ministry, it was a religious and administrative centre long before the pre-Columbian Inca civilisation.

Faine Greenwood
February 13, 2013 00:40
New temple found at famous El Paraiso archaeological site in Peru

New temple structure located in the right wing of the El Paraiso pyramid, located not far from the national capital of Lima in Peru.

Scientists have unearthed a previously unknown temple at the famous El Paraiso archaeological site, located not far from the national capital of Lima — a small stone structure that could be as many as 5,000 years old.

If the temple's great antiquity is confirmed, it could be among the oldest structures in the world, AFP writes: older even than the 4,000-year-old El Paraiso ruins that surround it.

The temple, which features walls coated in yellow clay and with remainder traces of red paint, was found in the western wing of the imposing El Paraiso pyramid, situated in one of Peru's most productive archaeological sites, says the BBC.

Peruvian Deputy Minister for Culture Rafeal Varon told the BBC that the find "corroborates that the region around Lima was a focus for the civilizations of the Andean territory, further bolstering its religious, economic and political importance since times immemorial."

Watching it in Minneapolis every year.

it's happened throughout history-- all the libraries that have been burned, etc.

It's the frontier mentality at its 2013 worst, same thing as fighting Native Americans who didn't want settlements, railroads and their buffalo wiped out.

at least, burning libraries is not about money, or destroying evidence of old cultures. I think there is something deeper and more sinister to it.

It's like the loggers who shoot conservationists or massacre local tribes they come across. They don't care about some ideological point; as far as they're concerned they're just removing obstacles.

In the case of the pyramid destruction companies often deliberately target them for convenience, since they're a pile of consistently shaped stone in one place. They see a quarry, not an historical monument or a cultural anything.

Notice they didn't mention the names of the two Real Estate companies. Wouldn't put it past American Real Estate companies. They need to be sued, put out of business and jailed for the rest of their lives. Tearing down a 4,000 year old structures. Can't wait to see what happens to those two RE companies. Probably nothing (too big to be held accountable.)

[IMG][/IMG]

When people in the area learned Walmart was constructing a super store, they immediately started trying to beg the government to prevent it, to no avail whatsoever. In the last year, it has been learned Walmart bribed the Mexican government to get what it wanted, and has been required to pay a fine, but they of course have the location, anyway.

[center]







The Pyramid of the Sun, taken from the Pyramid of the Moon



Workers standing on top of Walmart, Pyramid of the Sun nearby. [/center]
Wal-Mart Abroad | A retail giant fueled growth with bribes

The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Got Its Way
in Mexico

By DAVID BARSTOW and ALEJANDRA XANIC von BERTRAB
Published: December 17, 2012

SAN JUAN TEOTIHUACÁN, Mexico — Wal-Mart longed to build in Elda Pineda’s alfalfa field. It was an ideal location, just off this town’s bustling main entrance and barely a mile from its ancient pyramids, which draw tourists from around the world. With its usual precision, Wal-Mart calculated it would attract 250 customers an hour if only it could put a store in Mrs. Pineda’s field.

One major obstacle stood in Wal-Mart’s way.

After years of study, the town’s elected leaders had just approved a new zoning map. The leaders wanted to limit growth near the pyramids, and they considered the town’s main entrance too congested already. As a result, the 2003 zoning map prohibited commercial development on Mrs. Pineda’s field, seemingly dooming Wal-Mart’s hopes.

But 30 miles away in Mexico City, at the headquarters of Wal-Mart de Mexico, executives were not about to be thwarted by an unfavorable zoning decision. Instead, records and interviews show, they decided to undo the damage with one well-placed $52,000 bribe.

More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/business/walmart-bribes-teotihuacan.html?pagewanted=all

Gawd, this is really depressing. I thought I was being somewhat over the top, but evidently not. These people are evil.

Not that I condone how he handled it, obviously. But he was pissed at the sprawl that was blocking the views of the Egyptian pyramids, among other sacriliges.

the building swept away, and the real landmarks will last far longer.

What a shame to throw trash up at a site like this. It's so shabby.

Thanks for posting the Walmart photos.

I'm sure Disney will recreate it as part of a new theme-park and hotel complex soon!

I'd figure even the most shady and greedy of developers wouldn't be able to stoop that low.

July 5th, 2013, 19:41 GMT · By Laura Sinpetru
5,000-Year-Old Pyramid in Peru Destroyed by Construction Workers

Construction workers in Peru have recently destroyed an ancient pyramid that was part and parcel of one of the oldest archaeological site in the Americas.

The site, dubbed El Paraiso, is located close to Lima, Peru's capital city.

The pyramid was brought down on June 29. In a recent statement, Peru's culture ministry explains that the ancient monument destroyed by the workers measured 6 meters (20 feet) in height.

Its base covered approximately 2,500 meters (roughly 3,000 yards), the ministry further detailed.

By the looks of it, the people who destroyed the pyramid did not settle for just tearing it down. On the contrary, they also set the resulting rubble on fire.

~snip~

The property developers have been arrested, and are now facing criminal charges. Given the gravity of their actions, they risk being made to spend as many as eight years in prison.

Ironically enough, the destruction of this pyramid occurred just five months after an archaeologist named Marco Guillen had warned that the El Paraiso archaeological site needed additional protection in order to prevent companies and workers from carrying out illegal urban development activities.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/5-000-Year-Old-Pyramid-in-Peru-Destroyed-by-Construction-Workers-365835.shtml

It's an uphill battle being a government archaeologist in a dirt-poor country that has a cultural heritage stretching back 5 millenia, and no resources to protect it. This is not Greece, Turkey or Italy putting up a sanctimonious stink about a few coins of which their museums are are already overflowing with duplicates. This is about ancient structures which, if studied properly, can tell us volumes about lost civilizations whose secrets are still to be unlocked. This is no less criminal than the Taliban blowing up the 1500 year old Afghan Buddhas. Indeed, it is every bit as bad if not more so.