6,500-year-old Indigenous sacred site in Arizona partially destroyed by Trump administration’s border wall construction; 50-foot corridor cuts through 272-foot geoglyph that predates Egypt’s first pyramid by 2,000 years

New research has revealed that the Las Playas Intaglio, a sacred Indigenous geoglyph in Arizona, is at least 6,500 years old, making it the oldest scientifically dated geoglyph in the Americas. The discovery comes months after the fish-shaped earthwork was partially damaged by federal contractors working on the Trump administration’s second border wall through the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. Previously believed to be around 1,000 years old, the site has now been linked to an ancient period of Indigenous history predating Egypt’s first pyramid, Peru’s Nazca Lines and the initial construction of Stonehenge.The findings, published in the September issue of The SAA Archaeological Record, were reported by researchers David S. Whitley and Ronald I. Dorn. Their study identifies the Las Playas Intaglio as the oldest scientifically dated geoglyph in the Americas.The researchers used a technique known as varnish microlamination dating, which examines microscopic layers of rock varnish and compares them with regional records of ancient climatic conditions. They analysed stones collected from the intaglio in 1979, with three samples supporting a conservative age estimate of between 6,500 and 7,300 years.Since the rock varnish formed after the earthwork was created, the researchers noted that the geoglyph could be even older.Its estimated age places the creation of the site roughly 2,000 years before Egypt’s first pyramid, 4,000 years before Peru’s Nazca Lines and 1,500 years before the first construction of Stonehenge.Ancient site partially damaged during border wall constructionThe discovery has drawn renewed attention to the damage caused to the site on April 23, when contractors working for US Customs and Border Protection drove heavy equipment through the intaglio while preparing land for a second border barrier.According to the Center for Biological Diversity, the construction work created a roughly 50-foot-wide scraped corridor that cut through part of the 272-foot-long figure and the surrounding wildlife refuge.Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the newly established age of the site made its destruction even more significant.“This discovery makes an already devastating loss even more profound. It’s a cultural and historical atrocity,” McSpadden said. He added that the destruction had harmed the deep history of Indigenous communities and called for accountability over the damage.“People deserve to know what warnings were given and why safeguards, if they existed, failed,” he said, urging Congress to seek records and testimony about who authorised and carried out the work.Geoglyph holds deep cultural and religious significanceLas Playas lies within the ancestral homeland of the Tohono O’odham, Hia-Ced O’odham and other Indigenous tribes. Intaglios are large figures created by removing dark stones from desert surfaces to expose the lighter ground beneath.According to the researchers, such sites are important to Indigenous cultural and religious traditions, tribal identity and continuing relationships with ancestral lands. The newly established age of the Las Playas Intaglio offers further insight into the long history of Indigenous communities in the region.McSpadden compared the destruction to the hypothetical bulldozing of part of Stonehenge to make way for a wall, arguing that Indigenous heritage deserves the same level of protection as other internationally recognised cultural sites.Border construction raises concerns over other sacred sitesThe damage to the Las Playas Intaglio follows other instances of destruction and threats to culturally significant places in the region. In February 2020, blasting at Monument Hill, a burial ground sacred to the O’odham in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, drew concern over the impact of border wall construction.Construction has also affected saguaros, which the Tohono O’odham Legislative Council recognised as O’odham persons and kin in a May 2021 resolution condemning their destruction.In January 2025, the San Xavier District Council called for the protection of the sacred jaguar and its habitat and movement corridors from border barriers and other threats. Construction of primary and secondary walls has also been reported in the San Rafael Valley, an important jaguar corridor between Mexico and the United States.Meanwhile, plans for a second parallel wall have raised concerns about Quitobaquito Springs, a sacred O’odham oasis within Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Conservation advocates warn that bulldozing and groundwater pumping could permanently damage the water system that sustains rare aquatic wildlife.Calls for greater protection of Indigenous cultural heritageThe destruction has renewed questions about how ancient and sacred sites are protected during major infrastructure projects. UNESCO’s 2003 Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage recognises that such destruction harms humanity as a whole and calls for preventive measures and sanctions consistent with international law.The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also affirms Indigenous peoples’ rights to protect their cultural heritage, traditions and religious practices.Meanwhile, US Customs and Border Protection had been accepting public comments on 225 miles of secondary border wall construction across Arizona through October 12, according to the information provided by the agency. The deadline has now passed as of October 13, 2026.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.