<p>“A cradle of civilization reduced to ashes.” So lamented Peruvian archaeologist Ignacio Alva Meneses, after the Ventarron Archaeological Complex, a 4,500-year-old temple site he managed, was destroyed by fire on November 12.</p><p>A report in Peru’s La Republica</a> said the fire destroyed a mural dating back more than 2,000 years, and that the suspected cause of the fire was the burning of sugar cane in fields near the site.</p><p>Alva Meneses, in his Facebook posts documenting the destruction, criticized the “negligence” of the burning operation. He said that the minimum care had not been taken</a> to stop the spread of the fire to the Ventarron complex. Credit: facebook/Ignacio Alva Meneses via Storyful</p><br />
