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Nazca Lines
Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sands in Peru lie a mystery that has never been solved. One of the greatest mysteries of humanity spans 400km of land and depicts over 300 unexplained glyphs and carvings. The Nazca lines were first spotted in the 1920's when commercial airlines began to fly over the Peruvian desert. Passengers and pilots began to report strange signs and landing strips on the ground below. But where they came from no one knows but the explanations that have been put forth have become fantastic and some a little unbelievable.
The figures come in two types: biomorphs and geoglyphs. The biomorphs are some 70 animal and plant figures that include a spider, hummingbird, monkey and a 1,000-foot-long pelican. The biomorphs are grouped together in one area on the plain. Some archaeologists believe they were constructed around 200 B.C., about 500 years before the geoglyphs.
Purpose of the Lines
Paul Kosok an American explorer first journey to see the lines in the 1940's. His impression was that the lines were of astrological importance and that the plain was in effect an giant observatory. Kosok referred to the lines as "the largest astronomy book in the world." However some didn't believe that theory and so one, an American Astronomer, Gerald Hawkins decided to test the theory. In 1968 he fed the positions of a sample of lines into a computer and ran a program to caluculate the lines that coincided with astronomical events. The results were that the while there were coincidences of events the numbers were not siginificant enough to make the observatory theory viable.
Tony Morrison an English explorer seems to have come up with a more plausible explanation for the lines but still one that is not completely proven. While researching the old traditions of Andes mountain folk, Morrison discovered a tradition of wayside shrines linked by straight pathways. Moving from shrine to shrine the worshippers would pray and meditate and often the shrine was nothing more than a small pile of stones. Perhaps the Nasca lines served the same purpose just on a more grand scale. Perhaps the symbols served as guidelines or enclosures for holy places and ceremonial gatherings.
David Johnson and Steve Mabee have another theory and one that is more plausible than the others. They think that the glyphs are related to water. The Nazca plain is one of the driest places on Earth with less than one inch of rainfall per year. While looking for water, Johnson discovererd ancient aquaducts called puquios which seemed to correlate their position with some of the Nazca lines on the surface. Now both Mabee and Johnson are working to prove this theory that the Nazca lines are actually a map pf underwater ground sources.
Construction
The straight lines of the geoglyphs were easily constructed even with simple tools. Using wooden stakes as markers to denote a straight line started the guidelines and could be used to continue the line indefinitely and can create a straight line for miles. The bioglyphs were probably made by drawing the figure at a resonable size and then placing the image on a grid which when then laid out provided an easy scale for the drawing to then be carved out one square at a time.
The City
South of the lines archaologists have begun to uncover a lost city of Cahuachi, possibly built by the ones thought to be responsible for the lines. Over 2,000 years ago this city was built and abandoned mysteriously 500 years later. Cahuachi is a treasure trove of information about the Nasca people and their culture, paintings on pottery, and even woven cloth have been discovered. Hopefully someday their secrets will be revealed and we will finally know the purpose of the lines and the reason they were carved more than 1500 years ago. The most unusual discoveries have been of the preserved mummies of the Nasca people. Some of the remains have revealed unusually shaped skulls that are humanlike but yet appear to be from a different species. These skulls have led the alien landing strip theories and the intermingling of aliens with the human race. Did aliens come and interbreed with the Nasca peoples? Far fetched true, but there are many more mysteries waiting to be solved in the desert of Peru.
Nazca Lines
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