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Off-Roaders Are Destroying 3,000-Year-Old Desert Art From a Lost Civilization

Off-roaders left tracks in ancient desert art
Off-roaders left tracks in ancient desert art

Unfortunately, the privilege to drive anywhere and respect for the outdoors don’t always go hand in hand. Across the Americas, off-roaders have caused headaches by trashing the environment, then making their recklessness other people’s problems when they get stuck. It’s been happening even in the highlands of Chile for far too long, where off-roaders driving out of bounds have caused “irreversible” damage to ancient art carved into the desert itself thousands of years ago.

Off-roaders’ impact on Chilean geoglyphs in the Atacama Desert was recently reported on by The New York Times. The geoglyphs are huge, earthen artworks dug out of the desert as long as 3,000 years ago, which have endured almost unchanged since due to the Atacama’s unique climate. Those of you who remember when BBC’s Top Gear crossed it may remember the line, “it has never rained”—the Atacama’s lack of precipitation means the land has kept static for 25 million years. Marks people leave in the Earth aren’t quickly worn away. That’s advantageous if you’re an ancient Chilean leaving a hundred-foot carving of a bird in the Earth. But it’s tragic if you care more about the glyphs than the off-roaders driving all over them.

Damage to ancient geoglyphs left by off-roaders in Chile.
Damage to ancient geoglyphs left by off-roaders in Chile.
Damage to ancient geoglyphs left by off-roaders in Chile.
Damage to ancient geoglyphs left by off-roaders in Chile.

Members of the Fundación Desierto de Atacama (or Atacama Desert Foundation) outlined to NYT how they’ve been ringing alarms about these ancient sites’ treatment for years as off-roaders make them their playground. Despite prominently posted signage forbidding driving on them, everything from rented bikes to private SUVs, mining trucks, and even desert rally vehicles have been crisscrossing this historic art. One recent survey by drone of an impact site shows just how completely some of these ancient symbols have been erased from the landscape.

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“When we saw the drone footage, we couldn’t believe it,” said Dr. Pimentel to NYT, stating, “the damage is irreversible. […] Just like the geoglyphs, vehicle tracks will remain there.”

“It’s a tragedy,” added Luis Pérez Reyes of the Regional Museum of Iquique, who described the damage as “a museum of ‘never again.’”

The organization says Chilean authorities aren’t doing enough to protect these heritage sites, and have allowed races like the Atacama Rally to go through the region without auditing its route. Race organizers reportedly deny routing racers through the glyphs, but regional officials say the organizers have also refused to share their GPS data to prove their claims. Locals meanwhile are also concerned that the damage could hurt the livelihoods of the archaeological tourism industry. But prosecuting careless vandals is apparently a rarity, due to the difficulty of proving one particular driver or vehicle caused damage.

Not all the glyph sites are as equally damaged, with some being merely scarred as opposed to almost erased. But the damage will likely continue to mount as long as the off-road community doesn’t consider its role in all this. That may be as unfair as blaming law-abiding track drivers for the actions of street takeover hooligans, but there’s a common thread of people lacking respect for their driving environments. Whether they’re truly a part of our established enthusiast communities or not, we can all recognize that they risk ruining things for everyone.

Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com