Lima, April 1 (RHC-teleSUR), -- Extreme floods wreaking havoc in Peru are also threatening the South American country's rich archaeological heritage and the tourism that thrives on it, a Peruvian archaeologist said earlier this week.
At least 50 archaeological sites in Peru have been damaged by the intense rains that are battering northern Peru, resulting in a drastic drop in related tourism, said archaeologist and explorer Walter Alva.
Alva discovered the tomb of Peru's "Lord of Sipan" in 1987, a gold-adorned find that established the Moche culture as one of Peru's rich coastal civilizations that flourished long before the Incan Empire in the Andes.
A sudden warming of waters off Peru's coast this year, as well as an unusual easing of trade winds, have unleashed torrential downpours that have killed dozens of people and displaced more than 100,000 in recent weeks.
The 1,700-year-old tomb of the Lord of Sipan should be able to resist the floods because a drainage system has been installed. However, visits to the Lord of Sipan museum have dropped by 80 percent because much of the region's infrastructure has been destroyed.
