The fish-shaped Las Playas Intaglio in southern Arizona is estimated to be 6,500 to 7,300 years old—roughly 2,000 years older than Egypt’s first pyramid and about 1,500 years older than Stonehenge’s first construction, according to research announced in 2026. A border-wall contractor disturbed part of the geoglyph on April 23, 2026; reports do not say the entire design was destroyed.
What is the Las Playas Intaglio?
Las Playas Intaglio is a large fish-shaped geoglyph in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in southern Arizona. An intaglio is a design made by scraping away the darker surface layer of hard ground to expose lighter material beneath; its scale makes it visible from above. The location is west of Ajo, near the U.S.-Mexico border.
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Arizona Public Media describes the site as part of Tohono O’odham ancestral homelands, and coverage identifies it as a sacred place. The Washington Post also quoted Hia-ced O’odham elder Lorraine Marquez Eiler describing the harm of damage to ancestral places: “If someone came to Washington and started destroying all the different sites that people in the United States revere, it’s the same thing for us.” These are reported accounts of cultural significance, not a direct statement from the Tohono O’odham Nation.
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A research announcement in September 2026 gave the Las Playas Intaglio a conservative age estimate of 6,500 to 7,300 years. Arizona Public Media summarized the finding as “at least 6,500 years” old. Before this finding, reports said the site had been understood to be about 1,000 years old; that earlier figure is not a competing new measurement.
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The Center for Biological Diversity said the estimate makes the design roughly 2,000 years older than Egypt’s first pyramid and about 1,500 years older than the first construction at Stonehenge. These are approximate comparisons based on the reported age range, not exact dates for the monuments.
How did researchers estimate its age?
The Center for Biological Diversity’s September 24, 2026, release says researchers used varnish microlamination dating on stones collected from the intaglio in 1979. Three samples supported the 6,500-to-7,300-year range. The release also says the varnish formed after the earthwork, which means the design itself could be older than the estimate. The available reporting does not establish a more precise age.
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What happened during the border-wall work?
The Washington Post reported that a border-wall contractor disturbed the site on April 23, 2026. CBP spokesperson John Mennell confirmed the incident in a statement quoted by the newspaper: “On April 23, 2026, a border wall contractor inadvertently disturbed a cultural site known as Las Playas Intaglio, located west of Ajo, Arizona along the border,” Arizona Public Media described a roughly 50-foot swath through the geoglyph; that measurement is reported by the outlet, not independently verified here.
The reporting describes damage to part of the fish formation, not the destruction of the entire geoglyph. Mennell also said, “The remaining portion of the site has been secured and will be protected in place.” That was the agency’s statement at the time. The available accounts do not establish whether repair or remediation followed, whether consultations occurred, or what the site’s current physical condition is.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the new age estimate changes the story
The age estimate places the intaglio in a much earlier period than the roughly 1,000-year age previously reported. That makes the reported disturbance significant not only because it affected a visible landform, but because it affected a place with Indigenous cultural ties and a history now understood to extend thousands of years further back than earlier accounts suggested. Russ McSpadden, a Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, told Arizona Public Media: “This discovery makes an already devastating loss even more profound. It’s a cultural and historical atrocity.”
The evidence supports saying that a contractor disturbed part of an exceptionally old geoglyph and that CBP said the remainder would be protected. It does not support saying the whole site was destroyed or that its present condition has been independently established.
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Sources
- Center for Biological Diversity: age estimate and dating summary
- The Washington Post: contractor disturbance and CBP statements
- Arizona Public Media: age estimate, damage account and cultural context
- KJZZ: age estimate and cultural context
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