Nazca Lines

In an isolated valley, high in the Andes Mountains of Central Peru, dozens of lines have been waiting thousands of years to be discovered. But what sets these lines apart from many other anthropoligical etchings is that they can only be truly appreciated from an airborne perspective ! Presumed to be left behind by some Ancient Civilization (possibly Atlantis), many designs resemble our modern landing strips, or depict various animals that correspond to major Constellations ~ and one looks just like an astronaut !

The Nazca Plateau: Where Human History Touches the Sky ! Perhaps this century's most amazing tangible discovery and our contribution to science is a freeway running through it ! Lines in the Sand The mysterious Nazca Lines, viewable only from high in the air, were drawn into the valley floor, perhaps many millennia ago, by people who had at least learned how to fly, if not voyage into orbit or even outer space. The designs range from abstract shapes, runway like trapezoids and long, narrow triangles to colossal images of various animals including 18 different kinds of birds, a monkey, a spider, a whale, fish, lizards (some of which have been found to conform to various bright and familiar constellations) ~ and a curious figure known as "The Astronaut" which really resembles little else. So although proper perspective could have been obtained from less technological devices, like a hang glider or a hot air balloon, the original artists had to have known what a space suit is.

Modern Science to the Rescue: Maria Reiche, the German mathematician famous for having studied the lines, felt it was unlikely that the runways were used by extraterrestrials."I'm afraid the spacemen would have gotten stuck," she said. She devoted almost her entire life to the investigation and analysis of the Nazca Lines (living there almost continuously from before World War II until her death just a few years ago), and was instrumental in the early research. Ironically, no one knew what to make of the Astronaut figure, until she was an old woman, and Humans began to make their way out into space again. A local legend, there are memorials of her in Lima, Peru (she even has an airport named after her) ~ and the Peruvian government has begun to take serious financial (tourism), if not historical, interest in the site. Today there is a guard posted, and a one million dollar fine imposed for any vandalism of the lines...

A new National Geographic documentary is revealing the secrets behind who made the Nasca Lines and why.Its one of the most well known spectacles of the ancient world, but exactly who built this extensive series of lines making up giant patterns and shapes in Peru"s southern desert and for what purpose ? Etched, as if by giants, onto the arid moonscape of Peru’s southern desert lies one of man’s greatest mysteries; the Nasca Lines.

More than 15,000 geometric and animal-like patterns have been discovered criss-crossing the pampas like a vast puzzle. Who built them and what was their purpose?

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The ancient, intricate geometric patterns stamped on the surface of a desert in Peru have long been thought of as messages to the gods, or as markers that tracked celestial objects. Now new details about these geoglyphs suggest they may have been made for "prayer walking".The Nasca lines are a collection of lines, giant trapezoids, and figures of humans, plants and animals in a desert 400 kilometres south of Lima, Peru. They were created between 400 BC and AD 650 by the removal of reddish oxidisedstones from the desert pavement to reveal the lighter sand beneath.Tomasz Gorka of Munich University in Germany analysed five geoglyph complexes near the city of Palpa, focusing on the large trapezoidal structures which are etched on the plains there.

He measured anomalies in the Earth's magnetic field caused by changes in soil density at various depths. The team walked the entire site, an area of about 60 hectares, using hand-held sensors. "We found other lines, in the interior of the trapezoid structures, which were not visible from the air," says Gorka, who presented his findings at an archaeological geophysics meeting in London last month. "The geoglyphs visible today are the most recentstage of a prolonged construction process during which the whole complex of drawings was constantly added to, remodelled, obliterated or changed by use," adds Gorka. Some of the lines produced stronger magnetic anomalies than others, prompting Gorka and Karsten Lambers of the University of Konstanz in Germany to suggest that the soil beneath was compacted by people walking back and forth during prayer rituals. "This activity was closely connected to the placing of ceramic vessels along the lines," perhaps as offerings, says Lambers.

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Heavy rains in recent days in Peru have affected the famed Nazca Lines, the two-millennia-old giant outlines thatare one of the country's top tourist attractions, officials said Tuesday.

The precipitation left a layer of white clay on parts of two of the geoglyphs, "giving another color to the figures," archeologist Mario Olaechea of the National Institute of Culture told AFP.But the changes were "reversible," he added. The Nazca Lines are considered one of the world's great mysteries.Thegeoglyphs, depicting people, animals and simple lines, are up to 200 meters (656 feet) long and can only be truly appreciated from the air. They were placed on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites in 1994, and thousands of tourists visit every year to see them up close.

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