News Topic - South America
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July 24, 1911: Hiram Bingham 'Discovers' Machu Picchu
1911: Exploring in Peru, Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham locates Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. The event will set off a century of controversy.Bingham was born in Honolulu, the son and grandson of Protestant missionaries in the Pacific. He graduated from Yale University and did graduate work in history and politics at the University of California and Harvard.Bingham had already made two expeditions to South America -- and published a book on each -- when he returned to Peru in 1911. He located the last Inca capital, Vitcos, and made the first ascent of the 21,763-foot Mt. Coropuma. Then came the find that would make him famous: Machu Picchu.Bingham eventually left academe for Republican politics, serving as lieutenant governor of Connecticut. He was also governor for one day, before moving on to the U.S. Senate for eight years. The Senate censured Bingham in 1929 for hiring a lobbyist. He died in 1956.The controversies have not ended:Did Bingham "discover" Machu Picchu?Hardly. He was led there by local people who lived nearby and were using Machu Picchu's agricultural terraces. He did, however, conduct the first archaeological excavations there and uncovered the famous structures hidden by four centuries of disuse. He also documented, mapped and photographed the site over several years.Was Bingham the first European to visit Machu Picchu?Maybe not. Some claim that the German adventurer and businessman Augusto Berns had visited the site some four decades earlier, with the blessing of the Peruvian government. Others say that two missionaries had trekked there in 1906, five years before Bingham.Bingham, however, was clearly the first to scientifically explore the place, and he also publicized it. The entire April 1913 issue of National Geographic was devoted to it. Bingham also wrote about it, notably Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru (1922) and Lost City of the Incas, a 1948 best-seller.What was Bingham looking for?After locating the capital, Vitcos, he was hoping to find the last Inca stronghold, Vilcabamba, which fell to the Spanish in 1573. Machu Picchu was in the wrong direction from Vitcos to be a likely Vilcabamba, but Bingham was so impressed by Machu Picchu's mountainous impregnability that for the first years of his exploration he thought he must have found Vilcabamba.What kind of place was Machu Picchu?For many years, it was uncertain if Machu Picchu was a city, a mountain fortress, a religious shrine, a royal palace or various combinations of these. Continuing archaeological exploration has produced a consensus that it was a highland retreat of the Inca royalty. "Machu Picchu was simply a royal estate," says archaeologist Richard Burger. "You can think of it as the Inca equivalent of Camp David."Who owns the artifacts Bingham removed from Machu Picchu?Yale University's Peabody Museum has housed hundreds of museum-quality artifacts (and thousands of fragments) for nearly a century. The government of Peru maintains that these were only loaned to Bingham, and that they belong to Peru and its people.After years of negotiations, Yale and Peru signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2008. Yale acknowledged Peruvian ownership of the collection and pledged to work with Peru to promote an international traveling exhibit of the collection and create a permanent, new museum for it near Machu Picchu. Some prominent Peruvians think the agreement still gives Yale too much control.The dispute is not alone. A similar controversy rages over Britain's continued control of the Elgin Marbles, decorative pieces removed from the Parthenon in Athens two centuries ago. Does tourism threaten Machu Picchu?Some people fear that. Machu Picchu was already a World Heritage Site when it was named one of the Modern Wonders of the World in 2007. That led archaeologist Luis Lumbreras to warn that the influx of tourists was already damaging both the historic site and the fragile ecosystem surrounding it.This controversy, too, is not alone. Striking a balance between protecting a site and providing access to let people experience it has caused restrictions at England's Stonehenge, France's Lascaux cave paintings and elsewhere.Balancing preservation and access is also a conundrum in planning for Yosemite and other national parks. Some natural sites, like the exact location of the world's oldest living tree (Methuselah, a bristlecone pine in the eastern Sierra Nevada) or the world's tallest tree (a coast redwood in Northern California) are just plain kept secret.Source: Various
Wired News – 14 hours, 23 minutes ago ¦ comment?
found in Technology
1911: Exploring in Peru, Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham locates Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas. The event will set off a century of controversy.Bingham was born in Honolulu, the son and grandson of Protestant missionaries in the Pacific. He graduated from Yale University and did graduate work in history and politics at the University of California and Harvard.Bingham had already made two expeditions to South America -- and published a book on each -- when he returned to Peru in 1911. He located the last Inca capital, Vitcos, and made the first ascent of the 21,763-foot Mt. Coropuma. Then came the find that would make him famous: Machu Picchu.Bingham eventually left academe for Republican politics, serving as lieutenant governor of Connecticut. He was also governor for one day, before moving on to the U.S. Senate for eight years. The Senate censured Bingham in 1929 for hiring a lobbyist. He died in 1956.The controversies have not ended:Did Bingham "discover" Machu Picchu?Hardly. He was led there by local people who lived nearby and were using Machu Picchu's agricultural terraces. He did, however, conduct the first archaeological excavations there and uncovered the famous structures hidden by four centuries of disuse. He also documented, mapped and photographed the site over several years.Was Bingham the first European to visit Machu Picchu?Maybe not. Some claim that the German adventurer and businessman Augusto Berns had visited the site some four decades earlier, with the blessing of the Peruvian government. Others say that two missionaries had trekked there in 1906, five years before Bingham.Bingham, however, was clearly the first to scientifically explore the place, and he also publicized it. The entire April 1913 issue of National Geographic was devoted to it. Bingham also wrote about it, notably Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru (1922) and Lost City of the Incas, a 1948 best-seller.What was Bingham looking for?After locating the capital, Vitcos, he was hoping to find the last Inca stronghold, Vilcabamba, which fell to the Spanish in 1573. Machu Picchu was in the wrong direction from Vitcos to be a likely Vilcabamba, but Bingham was so impressed by Machu Picchu's mountainous impregnability that for the first years of his exploration he thought he must have found Vilcabamba.What kind of place was Machu Picchu?For many years, it was uncertain if Machu Picchu was a city, a mountain fortress, a religious shrine, a royal palace or various combinations of these. Continuing archaeological exploration has produced a consensus that it was a highland retreat of the Inca royalty. "Machu Picchu was simply a royal estate," says archaeologist Richard Burger. "You can think of it as the Inca equivalent of Camp David."Who owns the artifacts Bingham removed from Machu Picchu?Yale University's Peabody Museum has housed hundreds of museum-quality artifacts (and thousands of fragments) for nearly a century. The government of Peru maintains that these were only loaned to Bingham, and that they belong to Peru and its people.After years of negotiations, Yale and Peru signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2008. Yale acknowledged Peruvian ownership of the collection and pledged to work with Peru to promote an international traveling exhibit of the collection and create a permanent, new museum for it near Machu Picchu. Some prominent Peruvians think the agreement still gives Yale too much control.The dispute is not alone. A similar controversy rages over Britain's continued control of the Elgin Marbles, decorative pieces removed from the Parthenon in Athens two centuries ago. Does tourism threaten Machu Picchu?Some people fear that. Machu Picchu was already a World Heritage Site when it was named one of the Modern Wonders of the World in 2007. That led archaeologist Luis Lumbreras to warn that the influx of tourists was already damaging both the historic site and the fragile ecosystem surrounding it.This controversy, too, is not alone. Striking a balance between protecting a site and providing access to let people experience it has caused restrictions at England's Stonehenge, France's Lascaux cave paintings and elsewhere.Balancing preservation and access is also a conundrum in planning for Yosemite and other national parks. Some natural sites, like the exact location of the world's oldest living tree (Methuselah, a bristlecone pine in the eastern Sierra Nevada) or the world's tallest tree (a coast redwood in Northern California) are just plain kept secret.Source: Various
Wired News – 14 hours, 23 minutes ago ¦ comment?
found in Technology
Study suggests past climate changes may have promoted the formation of new species in the Amazon
Today, the Amazon basin is home to the richest diversity of life on earth, yet the reasons why this came to be are not well understood. A team of American and Brazilian researchers studied three species of leafcutter ants from Central and South America to determine how geography and climate affect the formation of new species. Their results will be published July 23 in the journal PLoS ONE.
EurekAlert! – Jul 22, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology: Science
Today, the Amazon basin is home to the richest diversity of life on earth, yet the reasons why this came to be are not well understood. A team of American and Brazilian researchers studied three species of leafcutter ants from Central and South America to determine how geography and climate affect the formation of new species. Their results will be published July 23 in the journal PLoS ONE.
EurekAlert! – Jul 22, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology: Science
Scientists find new clues to explain Amazonian biodiversity
Ice age climate change and ancient flooding -- but not barriers created by rivers -- may have promoted the evolution of new insect species in the Amazon region of South America, a new study suggests.
EurekAlert! – Jul 22, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology: Science
Ice age climate change and ancient flooding -- but not barriers created by rivers -- may have promoted the evolution of new insect species in the Amazon region of South America, a new study suggests.
EurekAlert! – Jul 22, 2008 04:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Technology: Science
Explorer aims to educate youth on the environmentAP - After traveling around the Arctic Circle alone, walking across South America, venturing through African war zones and hiking deep into the Amazon, Borneo and Sumatra jungles, Mike Horn is ready to embark on his most ambitious project yet.
Yahoo! – Jul 21, 2008 5:12 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in World: Europe
Best Bet: Go on a bird cruise, help wildlife center
Looking for an affordable cruise? Carolina Wildlife Care is hosting the 4th annual purple martin fundraising cruise on July 30.Guests will witness the release of five rehabilitated purple martins back into the wild. The birds arrived at Carolina Wildlife Care's wildlife center separately, having endured various traumas like being captured by a cat or falling from the nest.Purple martins are the largest North American swallow and the only species of martin found on this continent. Hundreds of thousands of purple martins inhabit Bomb Island during the summer before migrating to South America for the winter months.Carolina Wildlife Care, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rehabilitating S.C. wildlife, nurtured the birds to good health.The purple martin cruise will take guests to Bomb Island on Lake Murray. The Southern Patriot tour boat will serve as the cruise ship.
The State – Jul 21, 2008 10:40 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: South Carolina: Columbia
Looking for an affordable cruise? Carolina Wildlife Care is hosting the 4th annual purple martin fundraising cruise on July 30.Guests will witness the release of five rehabilitated purple martins back into the wild. The birds arrived at Carolina Wildlife Care's wildlife center separately, having endured various traumas like being captured by a cat or falling from the nest.Purple martins are the largest North American swallow and the only species of martin found on this continent. Hundreds of thousands of purple martins inhabit Bomb Island during the summer before migrating to South America for the winter months.Carolina Wildlife Care, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rehabilitating S.C. wildlife, nurtured the birds to good health.The purple martin cruise will take guests to Bomb Island on Lake Murray. The Southern Patriot tour boat will serve as the cruise ship.
The State – Jul 21, 2008 10:40 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: South Carolina: Columbia
Farmers Swapping Coca With Rice
Bolivian President Evo Morales is asking coca farmers to supplement their crops with rice and corn as a way of holding down coca production while helping to feed South America's poorest country
Time.com – Jul 20, 2008 5:06 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Top Stories
Bolivian President Evo Morales is asking coca farmers to supplement their crops with rice and corn as a way of holding down coca production while helping to feed South America's poorest country
Time.com – Jul 20, 2008 5:06 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Top Stories
Review: Rio's Brazilian Sauces and Pastries
South America invades Austin food scene
The Austin Chronicle – Jul 18, 2008 05:55 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Texas: Austin
South America invades Austin food scene
The Austin Chronicle – Jul 18, 2008 05:55 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Texas: Austin
Brazil The Overachiever
Sure, it's South America's largest country. Still, you'd be spot-on calling Brazil the little engine that could. Brazil's growth engine trails...
Investor's Business Daily – Jul 17, 2008 12:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Business
Sure, it's South America's largest country. Still, you'd be spot-on calling Brazil the little engine that could. Brazil's growth engine trails...
Investor's Business Daily – Jul 17, 2008 12:00 AM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Business
South America - Pharma Events Confirmed for This Year and 2009
Read full story for latest details.
PR Newswire – Jul 16, 2008 4:38 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Top Stories: Press Releases
Read full story for latest details.
PR Newswire – Jul 16, 2008 4:38 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Top Stories: Press Releases
CCI in $10 billion coal deal
ISHPEMING - The longstanding Cleveland Cliffs Inc. name will change with the announcement of the mining company's merger with Alpha Natural Resources Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $10 billion. The combined company will be renamed Cliffs Natural Resources. The new company will own nine iron ore facilities and more than 60 coal mines in North and South America and Australia.
The Mining Journal – Jul 16, 2008 2:23 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Michigan: Marquette
ISHPEMING - The longstanding Cleveland Cliffs Inc. name will change with the announcement of the mining company's merger with Alpha Natural Resources Inc. in a cash and stock transaction valued at about $10 billion. The combined company will be renamed Cliffs Natural Resources. The new company will own nine iron ore facilities and more than 60 coal mines in North and South America and Australia.
The Mining Journal – Jul 16, 2008 2:23 PM [GMT] ¦ comment?
found in Local: Michigan: Marquette