Nazca Lines Unraveling the Mysteries of the Past

Explore the history and mystery of the Nazca Lines in Peru. Learn about their origin, purpose, and the cultural significance of these enigmatic geoglyphs.
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Mysterious Nazca Lines
The #nazcalines Lines are a collection of #giant #geoglyphs— #designs or motifs etched into the ground—located in the Peruvian coastal plain about 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Lima, Peru.
Created by the ancient Nazca #cultures in South #America, and depicting various #plants , #animals , and shapes, the 2,000-year-old Nazca Lines can only be fully appreciated when viewed from the air given their massive size.
Despite being studied for over 80 years, the geoglyphs—which were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994—are still a mystery to researchers.
The landscape changes as lines take shape to form simple geometric designs: trapezoids, straight lines, rectangles, triangles, and swirls.
Some of the swirls and zigzags start to form more distinct shapes: a hummingbird, a spider, a monkey.
The Nazca Lines are perhaps best known for the representations of about 70 animals and plants, some of which measure up to 1,200 feet (370 meters) long.
Examples include a #spider , #hummingbird , #cactus #plant , #monkey , #whale , #llama , #duck , #flowers , #trees , #lizard and #dog .
The Nazca people also created other forms, such as a humanoid figure (nicknamed “The Astronaut”), hands and some unidentifiable depictions.
The Hummingbird is the most well-known of all of the geoglyphs and easily identified because of its distinctive features.
Located near the edge of a trapezoid and a huge network of lines on the surface of the desert.
This large figure is approximately 151 feet long.
At 440 feet long and almost as wide, the Condor is one of the largest geoglyphs.
Also known as the Long-tailed #Mockingbird, it`s easily spotted from above.
Andean condors are very common in the Andes #mountains, which come as close as 130 miles from the Nazca lines.
The whale #geoglyph is one of the most well defined carvings found in the Nazca Desert surface to date.
Its defined fins and large mouth easily distinguish this geoglyph from the others.
With no similarity to any current native breeds in Peru, scholars believe it could depict a breed which existed in the time of the Nazca Culture.
One of the most enigmatic of the Nazca geoglyphs, observers have theorized a number of interesting theories about what this one depicts from a fisherman to a spaceman to a googly-eyed extraterrestrial visitor waving to passersby.
In 2011, a Japanese team discovered a new geoglyph that appears to represent a scene of decapitation, which, at about 4.2 meters long and 3.1 meters wide, is far smaller than other Nazca figures and not easily seen from aerial surveys.
The Nazca people were known to collect “trophy heads,” and research in 2009 revealed that the majority of trophy skulls came from the same populations as the people they were buried with (rather than outside cultures).
In 2016, the same team found another geoglyph, this time one that depicts a 98-foot-long (30-meter-long) mythical creature that has many legs and spotted markings, and is sticking out its tongue.
And in 2018, Peruvian archaeologists announced they had discovered more than 50 new geoglyphs in the region, using drone technology to map the landmarks in unprecedented detail.
The Kosok-Reiche astronomy theories held true until the 1970s when a group of American researchers arrived in Peru to study the glyphs.
This new wave of research started to poke holes in the archeo-astronomy view of the lines (not to mention the radical theories in the `60s relating to aliens and ancient astronauts).
Johan Reinhard, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, brought a multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of the lines: “Look at the large ecological system, what`s around Nazca, where were the Nazca people located.” In a region that receives only about 20 minutes of rain per year, water was clearly an important factor.
"It seems likely that most of the lines did not point at anything on the geographical or celestial horizon, but rather led to places where rituals were performed to obtain water and fertility of crops," wrote Reinhard in his book The Nazca Lines: A New Perspective on their Origin and Meanings.
Anthony Aveni, a former National Geographic grantee, agrees, "Our discoveries clearly showed that the straight lines and trapezoids are related to water … but not used to find water, but rather used in connection with rituals."

#Nazca #Peru #Archaeology #AncientCivilizations #Travel #Adventure #Discover #Explore #History #mystery
Disclaimer: Graphical content and information used in this video are just for educational purposes.