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The Nazca Lines have been a source of mystery and dispute since their discovery in southern Peru nearly a century ago. So why should the latest find be any different? Japanese enthusiasts recently released new aerial photographs of figures etched in the ground of the Nazca region, adding..."
The Nazca Lines have been a source of mystery and dispute since their discovery in southern Peru nearly a century ago. So why should the latest find be any different? Japanese enthusiasts recently released new aerial photographs of figures etched in the ground of the Nazca region, adding a fresh dollop of wonder to the giant geometric patterns and animal drawings that scientists say the Nazca Indians created as many as 2,000 years ago. Peruvian officials expressed excitement about the announcement. But Nazca experts said the Japanese discoveries might merely be good photographs of previously known lines."Saying these figures are new is a risk," saidJosue Lancho Rojas, a Nazca historian and writer.
"You cannot say at this time that there are any virgin sites." Even if the Japanese figures are not new, the announcement exposed shortcomings in Nazca scholarship. And it raised new questions about the Peruvian government's commitment to sophisticated scientific study.
Largely undocumented
There is no central catalog
detailing the hundreds of lines and figures already mapped and
measured. There is no database for archeologists or, for that matter, a
team headed by a literature professor from Yamagata University in
Japan, to refer to when trying to piece together the history of the
Nazca.
"There are two consequences
to this `discovery,' one positive and one negative," Lancho said."The
positive is that a lot of tourists are going to come to Nazca now,
eager to see the new figures.
"The negative is that once again it shows that the National Institute of Culture has no central registry of the geoglyphs."
Putting together such a
list would not be difficult, experts said, but it would take time and
money. Though the Peruvian government profits greatly from the
international tourists who come to Nazca to fly over the lines for a
dizzying display of ancient accomplishment, Peruvian officials say they
could not afford such a project.
"The government should open
its doors and say that all the scientists of the world, all the
foundations, are invited to come and work," Lancho said. "But the
Peruvian government puts up too many obstacles to projects."
Though theNazca have bee......
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