The Sun Gate at Tiwanaku
Posted on 10/20/2009 4:59:37 PM PDT by decimon
EAGER to attract more tourists, the town of Tiwanaku in the Bolivian Andes has spruced up the ancient Akapana pyramid with adobe instead of stone, in what some experts are calling a renovation fiasco.
Now, the Akapana pyramid risks losing its designation as a UN World Heritage Site and there is concern the makeover could even cause its collapse.
The 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 south-western Bolivia and parts of neighboring Peru, Argentina and Chile from around 1500 BC to AD 1200.
Jose Luis Paz, who was appointed in June to assess damage at the site, said the state National Archaeology Union erred in choosing to rebuild the pyramid using adobe, when it was clear to the naked eye that the original was built of stone.
"They decided to go freehand with the (new) design," he said.
"There are no studies showing that the walls really looked like this."
The pyramid stands in the Tiwanaku archaeological site, some 64km north of Bolivia's administrative capital of La Paz.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Stuck on stucco ping.
I’d blame the decepticons for this....
I thought this was about real estate...
The Sun Gate at Tiwanaku
Thanks.
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