Nazca Lines

The Nazca lines aren't the only geoglyphs in the world. The tradition of drawing figures on the ground spans the pacific coastal desert areas from central California to northern Chile. The drawings at Nazca, however, are unique because they are so large and so densely packed within a 500 square kilometre area in southwest Peru. Straight lines that go on for hundreds of kilometres, only swerving out by a few degrees, huge trapezoids and spirals, and animal figures, some of which can be seen in their entirety from the air - have been puzzling archeologists since the 1920s. How did the Nazcans make them so precise? For whom? And why?

In the hot hazy desert of southwest Peru, couched between the Andes Mountains and the Peruvian coast, lies what many have called one of the most baffling enigmas of archeology. Huge geometric patterns and spirals, animal figures including a monkey, a spider and an 'owl man', and thousands of perfectly straight lines are immaculately etched onto the desert's surface. The last of them were drawn about a thousand years ago. Known as the Nazca lines, the drawings have mystified scientists since they were first discovered in the 1920s.

From ground level, the earth drawings, or geoglyphs as they're called, seem like a confused mass of lines. It's only when viewed from the air, that one sees how the lines and figures convey a sense of purpose, of organization. But for whom? Why? And how did they get such large drawings - one of the lines is 65 kilometres long, and some of the animal drawings are more than two soccer fields long - so precise?

A group of about 50 drawings of giant figures recently discovered in the hills of Peru’s southern coastal desert near the city of Palpa has been said to predate the famous Nazca lines nearby.Mr. Johny Isla, director of the Andean Institute of Archaeological Studies, said the “geoglyph” figures appear to have been created by the Paracas communities between 500 and 400BC, whereas the Nazca culturedeveloped after 50 BC.

Mr. Isla and his partner Dr. Markus Reindel from the Dutch Institute of Archaeology discovered the Paracas figures using aerial photography and land-based surveys.The figures of humans, birds, monkeys and cats vary in size from 10m to 50m across, and are also grouped together in areas up to 60 m to 90 m across. The Paracas figures were created by removing dark stones in order to expose the lighter surface underneath. Some areas were cleared and others built up with rock, creating figures in high and low relief. With the Nazca lines though, the geoglyphs were only made by clearing low-relief areas. Until recently scientists believed that the figures in the Palpa and Nazca regions were only from the Nazca culture. Mr. Isla says cultural dating and style of the newly found Paracas figures sets them apart.Mr. Isla told The EpochTimes: “Most of these geoglyphs belong to the Nazca culture but our recent studies demonstrated that there are at least 50 geoglyphs pertaining to the Paracas culture. These new figures are definitely different and older than those of the Nazca culture.“First, the Paracas figures were drawn on the slopes of the hills, while the Nazca images were drawn in level areas. Second, the Paracas figures are smaller and were made in a naturalistic style, while the Nazca figures are bigger and stylised. Third, the Paracas figures are mostly arranged in groups, while the Nazca figures are arranged individually. Finally, it is important to note that not one of the Paracas figures were repeated in the Nazca iconography,” Mr, Isla said.Although the existence of some of the Paracas figures was previously known, most were undiscovered due to their remote location,and......

Peru's ancient spiral-tailed monkey is losing its tail. Extensive high-resolution aerial photos of the famed Nazca Lines taken by Peru's air force showed destruction Thursday that conservationists have long feared. Tire tracks and disregard for the site are irreparably scarring the mysterious lines and animal figures that a pre-Columbian civilization etched into a 56-kilometre stretch of Peru's southern desert centuries ago. In the first comprehensiveaerial photos taken by Peru's government since 1973, one of the most famous animal figures, the monkey, was crisscrossed by tire tracks nearly obliterating the top of its tail.

The fish and spider lines showed similar scars in the 180 photos taken last month and published in local newspapers. Denouncing the damage, Congressman Luis Gonzales said he would urge legislators to take urgent action to protect the site, which was added to the United Nations World Heritage list in 1994. "This is extremely grave," he said. "When the photographs are presented to theinternational community, it will unleash a scandal because it involves human patrimony." Some of the worst damage has occurred since the death in 1998 of German mathematician Maria Reich, who at 95, had devoted five decades of her life guarding the 450-square-kilometre protected zone.

View: Full Article | Source: CTV.ca