Subj: An Appeal - Mars Surveyor Project
Date: 6/27/00 5:55:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: KKasten@mednet.ucla.edu (Kasten, Kathy)

To: An appeal to whoever has the ear of the head of the Mars Project

Over the weekend, I was reading Thor Heyerdahl's (co-authors: Daniel H.
Sandweiss and Alfredo Narvaez) "Pyramids of Tucume: The Quest for Peru's
Forgotten City." Before you start raising your eyebrows, I suggest you find
a copy of this book and look on pages 62 and 63, for instance. However, any
of the many photographs of area should do. What these photos point to is
the fact that a very large pyramid can in fact look like a small mountain,
and the whole area looks like it is on another planet. I quote from Chapter
2, "Tucume: A Temple City Called Purgatory", written by Thor Heyerdahl: "I
literally felt like a visitor to another planet - there was nothing like
these strange and colossal ruins on our own familiar Earth." This is how I
felt while looking at the photos.

The archaeologist who pointed Heyerdahl to Tucume was Walter Alva, the
excavator of the graves at Sipan which were loaded with gold, silver and
ceramics. "Lords of Sipan" is Alva's book discussing his excavation.

Therefore, I am strongly suggesting that archaeologists who are well
acquainted with the type of archaeological sites located in the Lambayeque,
Zana, Casma Valleys and the Sican region of Peru be included as consultants
to the Mars Surveyor project as end of project consultants. Alva, Sandweiss
and Narvaez are all familiar with the very arid environment (with only a
torrential downpour from Los Nino every 100 years or so) which has eroded
the monumental architecture in the above referenced Valleys.

I am sure if the Project Managers glanced at the photos in Heyerdahl's book
they would immediately recognize that the Mars project should include
archaeologists such as Heyerdahl, Alva, Sandweiss or Narvaez.

Thor Heyerdahl, Jr., I believe, can be reached through the Kon-Tiki Museum
in Oslo, Norway
Walter Alva might still be the director of the Brunning Museum in
Lambayeque, Peru
Daniel Sandweiss is with the Department of Anthropology at the University of
Maine
Alfredo Narvaez is an archaeologist based at the National Institute of
Culture in Lambayeque, Peru

I can't think of a more capable group of archaeologists to conduct a search
of Mars' photographs for possible archaeological sites. Who knows,
Heyerdahl might still be looking for another adventure.
Kathy Kasten
Certified Field Archaeologist