Ancient city in Peru likely to be considered as World Cultural Heritage site

October 6th, 2009 Machu Picchu, Barcelona church on threatened listNEW YORK — Peru's Machu Picchu ancient ruins, Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona and a New Orleans elementary school are among the cultural heritage sites threatened by neglect or overdevelopment, a preservationist group said Tuesday. The World Monuments Fund's watch list for 2010 includes 93 sites in 47 countries, ranging from Phajoding, a remote monastery in Bhutan, to the bridges along Connecticut's scenic Merritt Parkway.

September 10th, 2009 LIMA - Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva has confirmed that a pre-Inca citadel has been found in Zana river's upper basin, between the departments of Lambayeque and Cajamarca in Peru. According to a report in 'Living in Peru', it would be an archaeological complex belonging to the Cajamarca culture, from the early Christian era.

July 22nd, 2009 SEOUL - In a historic discovery, a collection of fifth-century scale armor of Silla Dynasty cavalrymen was unearthed last month in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, Korea, providing proof of the existence of these mythical men. According to a report in JoongAng Daily, the armor of the heavily protected cavalrymen of the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.

July 15th, 2009 ROME - The world's largest haul of ancient coins, which was discovered in Rome, has been restored. The 108,000 Roman coins were found by chance in Libya in 1981, but were in such poor condition that it has been impossible to adequately restore them until recently.

July 12th, 2009 Magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits southern PeruMEXICO CITY — The U.S. Geological Service is reporting that an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 has struck southern Peru.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A team of archaeologists have sketched out the layout of the first capital of Kublai Khan's empire, known as Xanadu in Marco Polo's Travel Notes, through a large-scale excavation in China. "The most exciting findings are the layout of moat in front of the Mingde Gate to the royal capital and the highest building of Muqingge in the three-month long excavation on the ruins of Yuan Shangdu," said Yang Xingyu, a senior archaeologist with the Inner Mongolia regional bureau of cultural relics.

June 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Sacred City of Caral-Supe (Peru), the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas, and the historic centre of the town of Levoca (Slovakia), have been added to UNESCO's World Heritage List. The 5000-year-old 626-hectare archaeological site of The Sacred City of Caral-Supe is situated on a dry desert terrace overlooking the green valley of the Supe river.

June 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Buddhist Mount Wutai in China has become the country's 38th site to join UNESCO's World Heritage List as a cultural landscape. "We've been through a rough path, full of suspense," said Tong Mingkang, deputy chief of China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage, after the announcement.

June 25th, 2009 SEOUL - The royal tombs of the Joseon Kingdom in South Korea are expected to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site at the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee now in session in Seville, Spain through June 30. According to a report in Korea Times, the final review is due for the June 26 to 27 session, and if approved, the tombs will become South Korea's ninth UNESCO-designated treasure.

June 18th, 2009 LIMA - Archaeologists at the National Institute of Culture (INC) have found a pre-Inca tomb in the Salapunku archaeological site, located inside the Machu Picchu Archaeological Park in Cusco, southeastern Peru. Resident archaeologist Francisco Huaycaya Quispe said that these remains would belong to a woman from the Quillke culture, an indigenous which flourished before the Inca Empire.

June 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Archaeologists have unearthed more than two tonnes of ancient coins dating back to as early as the Tang Dynasty (618-907) on a playground of a primary school in Shaanxi Province, northwest China. According to Zhao Aiguo, director of the cultural relics protection and tourism bureau in Liquan County, Shaanxi, the coins were found when workers were excavating the grounds for construction of another building.

June 5th, 2009 LONDON - Archaeologists in Peru have discovered the remains of nearly three dozen people sacrificed some 600 years ago in a gruesome ritual by the Incan civilization. The bodies, some of which show signs of having been cut along their necks and collarbones, were otherwise found in good condition, Carlos Webster, who is leading excavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap camp, told the Telegraph.

May 31st, 2009 SOFIA - The latest archaeological research at the ancient observatory of Kokino in north-eastern Macedonia has revealed layers from the Iron Period, around the seventh century BC. "At the moment, there is intensive archaeological research on several sectors of the site," Minister of Culture Elizabeta Kancheska-Milevska explained during a Parliament session dedicated to questions of members of parliament.

May 29th, 2009 LONDON - Reports indicate that Italian experts will help Iran restore the tomb of Cyrus the Great (580-529BC), considered one of the most magnificent monuments of antiquity. According to a report by Poundbury Publishing, an agreement signed in Tehran will see Italian archaeologists working with their Iranian colleagues for at least two years.

February 9th, 2009 LIMA - Hundreds of footprints and the fossilised remains of various prehistoric animals, probably dinosaurs that lived 120 million years ago, have been discovered in the Ancash region of central Peru. The find came when the Antamina mining company, which is owned by BHP Billiton and Xstrata, among other partners, was building a road from its camp at Yanacancha to the Conococha crossroads, in Huari province, some 400 km northeast of Lima.