Machu Picchu looted

Machu Picchu, now Peru's biggest tourist attraction, was famously believed to have been discovered in 1911 by US explorer Hiram Bingham. . .

Now the story about its discovery by the western world has been shaken up by a team of historians who say a German businessman looted its treasures more than 40 years before.

They say the adventurer, Augusto Berns, who traded in Peru's wood and gold, raided the citadel's tombs in 1867 apparently with the blessing of the Peruvian government.

He had set up a sawmill at the foot of the forested mountain on which Machu Picchu stands and systematically robbed precious artefacts which he sold to European galleries and museums.

Only when one of the historians found a map in Peru's national museum were his activities traced.

From the BBC. New Scientist notes:

Berns' activities were uncovered by Paolo Greer, who in 1978 discovered an old map of the area and subsequently traced Berns' activities through documents in the National Library of Peru.

New Scientist has been given access to some of the documents Greer uncovered, which you can see on the right. Greer uncovered a sketch map of the area by Berns' partner, a lost geology book with material based on Berns' work, a booklet describing Berns' plans to loot Machu Picchu, and his handmade map of the area.

Greer's research will be published in South American Explorer Magazine.

Images of the documents may be viewed as links from the original New Scientist article. The AP writeup adds:

Peruvian historian Mariana Mould de Pease backs Greer's claim. She said she found in Yale University archives a letter of understanding between Berns and Peru's then-president to pillage the site, as long as the Peruvian government received 10 percent of the profits.

Posted by David on June 7, 2008 12:05 AM