BOLIVIA: Archaeologist says pyramid renovation is a botched job

Record ID: 644641

  • Title: BOLIVIA: Archaeologist says pyramid renovation is a botched job
  • Date: 21st October 2009
  • Summary: TIWANAKU, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PAZ, SAYING: "I estimate that 40 or 50 percent of the areas that have been excavated by UNAR should be buried again. They cannot be exhibited, they can't be conserved." VARIOUS OF WALL WITH DESTROYED PLASTER COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CULTURAL MINISTER PABLO GROUX, SAYING: "What the National Archaeology Union has been doing is giving the Akapana pyramid back its original shape. If we see how the pyramid was five years ago it was just a hill, and this is an important site for Tiwanaku culture. What we have now is clearly an approximation of what the pyramid originally looked like." MONOLITH (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GROUX, SAYING: "What UNESCO wants to de is ensure its $800,000 dollars [from a Japanese corporation] are correctly invested and that they do not lose these resources and to not jeopardise the world heritage recognition given to Tiwanaku." TIWANAKU, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE EXCAVATION OF THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID PROJECT EMPLOYEES WALKING NEAR THE SITE THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
  • Embargoed: 5th November 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: History
  • Reuters ID: LVA9W0RNCG2AETSBOVPYWG87I16J
  • Story Text: In a bid to have a "better looking" landmark, archaeologists have given the ancient Akapana pyramid in Bolivia a makeover using adobe instead of stone in what experts describe as a renovation fiasco.
    The Akapana pyramid is one of the biggest pre-Columbian constructions in South America and a building of great spiritual significance for the Tiwanaku civilisation, which spread throughout southwestern Bolivia and parts of neighbouring Peru, Argentina and Chile from around 1500 BC to AD 1200.
    Looting, extreme temperatures and strong winds in the Andean plateau - some 12,500 feet (3,800 meters) above sea level - have left the pyramid looking rundown though it is still evident that it was an impressive structure in its time.
    Bolivia's National Archaeology Union, or the UNAR in its Spanish initials, wanted to revamp the site to attract more tourists to the pyramid and the surrounding areas.
    But director of the Akapana excavation project Jose Luis Paz is puzzled as to why UNAR chose to rebuild the pyramid using adobe, when it is clear to the naked eye that the original was built with stone.
    "Observations by UNESCO say there is structural damage and in some parts they are absolutely right," said Paz.
    "The most urgent [problem] is the slanted walls which are in danger of falling. There are drainage problems that we are working on which is pretty basic work. There are aesthetic problems because on one side we have a stone pyramid and on the other an adobe pyramid taking away from its criteria as original and authentic. I mean, which of the two is the real thing? There are problems caused by poor planning with the plaster that we are working to solve," added Paz.
    Paz says the restoration efforts were motivated by nothing more than making the pyramid "more attractive for tourists", but many parts of the structure should never have been excavated in the first place.
    "I estimate that 40 or 50 percent of the areas that have been excavated by UNAR should be buried again. They cannot be exhibited, they can't be conserved," said Paz.
    However, Minister for Culture Pablo Groux said the renovation had been long necessary.
    "What the National Archaeology Union has been doing is giving the Akapana pyramid back its original shape. If we see how the pyramid was five years ago it was just a hill, and this is an important site for Tiwanaku culture. What we have now is clearly an approximation of what the pyramid originally looked like," said Groux.
    "What UNESCO wants to de is ensure its $800,000 dollars [from a Japanese cooperation] are correctly invested and that they do not lose these resources and to not jeopardise the world heritage recognition given to Tiwanaku," added Groux.
    The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, or UNESCO, is due to visit Tiwanaku shortly and if it deems that the Akapana Pyramid has been excessively tampered with, it may drop Tiwanaku from its list of World Heritage Sites.
    In 2000, UNESCO decided that Tiwanaku deserved to be in the list because its ruins "bear striking witness to the power of the empire that played a leading role in the development of the Andean pre-Hispanic civilisation."
    At its peak, the city of Tiwanaku stretched over 1,480 acres (600 hectares) and had a population of over 100,000, according to archaeologists.
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