Mexican pyramids under threat from Equinox revellers

[jose v]

Mexico's pyramids are "at risk of being damaged" by thousands of people who will gather at them for the Spring Equinox, the country's heritage protection body has warned.

Large numbers of tourists and Mexicans are expected to descend on historic sites such as Chichen-Itza and the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan this Sunday.

Many people in Mexico believe that gathering at these locations during the equinox - when the sun is positioned directly over the equator - will provide them with a special "charge of energy".

But the National Anthropology and History Institute (INAH), the government agency entrusted with protecting Mexico's rich cultural heritage, takes rather a different view.

It has launched 'Operation Equinox' with the aim of protecting the archaeological sites by preventing too many people grouping on the pyramids simultaneously.

Visitors are also warned that they cannot bring food, alcohol, barbecues, backpacks, chairs umbrellas or pets.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecarib...

[Bishop]

"at risk of being damaged" ow boo hoo.... a little superficial wear and tear is no reason to keep people out, i have the same problem with Stonehenge