Trump Border Wall Destroys 1,000-Year-Old Arizona Archeological Site

A rare archaeological site in the Sonoran Desert was bulldozed by a Department of Homeland Security contractor involved in building the latest sections of Donald Trump’s border wall, according to multiple sources briefed on the incident.

The area, in a remote corner of Arizona’s Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, is a nearly 280-by-50-foot etching in the desert sand known as an intaglio.

Last Friday, without any notice, a contractor working for DHS cut a roughly 60-foot swath across the middle of the intaglio, doing irreparable damage to the 1,000-year-old artifact.

“I liken it to destroying the Nazca lines — something that culturally we should have been relishing and promoting.”

Rick Martynec, archaeologist

Cabeza Prieta, one of the largest wilderness areas outside of Alaska, also encompasses lands sacred to the Tohono O’odham Nation, which borders the refuge to the east. The O’odham have fought to prevent border wall construction across their reservation and during Trump’s first term largely prevailed; they also managed to protect the intaglio and a nearby burial site that they consider to be part of their ancestral lands.

Rick Martynec, an archaeologist, likened the destruction to damaging the Nazca lines in southern Peru, stating, “I liken it to destroying the Nazca lines — something that culturally we should have been relishing and promoting. Not destroying,” in a phone interview.

The destruction was confirmed by a federal employee with direct knowledge of the incident, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

The intaglio is located just 10 to 15 feet from the newly constructed steel wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, as first reported by The Washington Post.

Rick and Sandy Martynec, both archaeologists who have studied the site for over two decades, said the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge had been in discussions with DHS and the contractor to protect the intaglio as the Trump administration moves forward with a second layer of border barriers in the ecologically sensitive region.

The Martynecs visited the intaglio in mid-April and observed stakes placed by an engineer to mark its boundaries.

According to the Martynecs, refuge manager Rijk Morawe confirmed the damage during a call on Monday after surveying the site.

The news surprised many, as the refuge had been working towards an alternative route to avoid the intaglio, similar to negotiations during Trump’s first term. Neither DHS’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Arizona nor the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provided comment by press time; FWS referred all border inquiries to CBP.

“The refuge was pushing as hard as they possibly could to come to a resolution,” Martynec said.

Members of the O’odham Nation had also been monitoring border wall development. The day before the damage, a group of O’odham runners observed construction nearing the protected area and alerted Lorraine Eiler, an O’odham elder and co-founder of the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, in the town of Ajo.

The runners reported that the contractor was clearing the area indiscriminately, “They’re coming with their bulldozers and they’re knocking down trees and cactus and everything that’s along the border. They’re just bulldozing everything down and they are getting near the intaglio.” Eiler said, recounting their report.

Eiler contacted tribal officials and environmental groups, but the damage occurred the following day.

“I alerted people but all I got was, ‘We’re going to have meetings, we’re going to discuss it,’” Eiler said.

During Trump’s first term, border wall construction impacted protected landscapes and sacred sites. In one instance, DHS blasted through hills in Organ Pipe National Monument, including a known burial ground. A contractor also bulldozed a road through an archaic Hohokam burial site in Coronado National Forest, despite prior briefings from the tribe.

“This doesn’t bode well for the desert.”

Rick Martynec, archaeologist

The Trump administration has allocated over $11 billion for new border barriers and surveillance technology, with border security remaining a priority. The cleared path through the intaglio is part of an effort to build a “smart wall” that CBP says will allow for day and night monitoring of desert activity.

According to the Martynecs, this will require clearing a wide swath of land between the original wall and the secondary barrier, leaving the area devoid of vegetation.