Destruction at archaeological sites following Dakar Rally
Submitted by coldrum on Monday, 19 October 2009 Page Views: 3775
Site WatchCountry: Chile Irreversible damage to a number of important archaeological sites in Chile and Argentina has been caused by the Dakar Rally, an annual off-road automobile race held in South America for the first time in January in spite of persistent warnings from archaeologists and environmentalists both before and during the event.The extent of the damage emerged from a report submitted to the Chilean government by the National Monuments Council in early July. The report claims that “irremediable damage” sustained at six archaeological sites could have been avoided if recommendations issued by the council in 2008 had been followed.
The world famous 15-day race, run along a notoriously tough course that originally started in Paris and finished in Dakar, Sudan, is contested by around 500 vehicles ranging from motorbikes to 4WDs and rally cars. The French organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) decided to move the rally to South America in 2009 after the threat of terrorist and rebel attacks caused its cancellation in 2008.
The response to the rally in South America has been very positive, with plans already well underway for a repeat running in 2010. Most of the archaeologists and environmentalists who have voiced their concerns about the rally have accepted that cancellation is an unlikely prospect—and that the threat to sites can best be minimised by ensuring that the route is thoroughly surveyed beforehand in close cooperation with the organisers. Other voices have been more forthright about the impact. “This [race] is absolutely illegal,” said Carlos Aldunate, director of Chile’s Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. “If you destroy an archaeological site, you destroy a national monument.”
According to the National Monuments Council’s report, four of the sites that sustained damage are in the region of Atacama and two are in the region of Coquimbo, around 500km north of Santiago. The report focused specifically on Pelican Creek, near the town of La Higuera in Coquimbo, where a team of council archaeologists discovered a pre-Columbian hunter-gatherer camp, half of which had been destroyed by the race. ... According to Óscar Acuña, the executive secretary of the council, only 120km or 10% of the route had actually been inspected and it was possible that more instances of damage could emerge.
The issue of protecting the archaeological sites in the Atacama Desert has not been focused exclusively on the Dakar Rally. At the time the rally was held in January, Sergio Cortes, a local ranger and tour operator, told authorities that in the Tarapacá region south of Iquique, the Alto Yape geoglyphs and the remarkable dunes that preserve 18,000-year-old wind patterns had already been seriously damaged by 4WD tourist vehicles and off-road driving enthusiasts. The Atacama Desert’s 5,000 or more prehistoric geoglyphs are massive images depicting humans, animals and geometric patterns made from stones and pebbles on the flat desert.
Cortes said that vehicles had left tyre tracks all over the geoglyphs, some of which were being studied by British archaeologists who had asked him to keep their locations secret, but he now believes that if the locations of these geoglyphs were revealed it would be easier to ensure proper measures for their protection.
Speaking to the Santiago Times, Dakar Rally representative for Northern Chile Jose Cornejo said that the problem with 4WD tourist vehicles and off-road sports enthusiasts could not be levelled at the rally organisers, who had in fact reduced the 12th stage by 33km when it was realised that it was set to cross archaeological sites.
Chilean rally driver Rodrigo “Yiyo” Illanes reiterated the problem, telling the Santiago Times that although a strong code of ethics prevents them from going near the geoglyphs and other archaeological sites, there are often no indications of where the sites are, and it was of great importance that they should be mapped out before the next rally. “Sometimes the sites simply can’t be seen,” he said. “At other times there is very thick fog in the desert and you can only see five or six metres ahead of you.”
For more, see www.theartnewspaper.com.
Note: Car race causes “irremediable damage” in Chile and Argentina.
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