Nazca Lines

 

The oldest is two thousand five hundred years old. But humanity discovered these shapes in the 1930s, only after the invention of aircraft. In southern Peru, we are talking about giant geometric shapes in the Nazca Desert, Nazca lines consisting of figures of animals such as monkeys, lizards.

A passenger looking at the ground while flying over the Red Desert in southern Peru will notice that this dull desert image will become interesting with white lines after a certain period of time. After a while, he will see that these white lines turn into geometric shapes such as trapezoidal, square, triangle, spiral. When viewed more carefully, it will be seen that these shapes turn into animal figures such as monkeys, spiders, hummingbirds, Pelicans, lizards, Jaguars, or various flower, tree and plant figures.

These interesting man-made lines are known as the’ Nazca Lines ' and are spread over an average area of 450 km2 in the desert between the cities of Nazca and Palpa, 450 km from Lima, the capital of Peru. There are more than 800 straight lines, more than 300 geometric figures and more than 70 paintings of animals and plants in the area. The largest figure reaches a length of 370 m, while straight lines can extend for distances of up to 50 km. These lines were formed by the red - brown gravel, which filled the Nazca Desert as a result of oxidation, and the opening of thin pits at a depth of 10-15 cm.

The exposed white-gray soil has led to the formation of shapes that can be clearly seen from high above the red-brown back area. The Desolation of the Nazca Desert, the fact that it is one of the driest places in the world, the climate that does not change much throughout the year, and the lack of winds have kept these lines intact for centuries.

But who, when and why did he make these huge shapes in the middle of the desert? Some of the lines are M.He. Although it goes back to the 500s, a significant majority of the lines are M.He. 200-m.S. It was built between 500 years ago. The people who made these dates dominated this region and its existence m.S. It is thought to have been the ancient Nazca people that lasted until the 800s. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know for what purpose these lines are made, since this civilization, which has developed advanced irrigation systems that can draw water from underground, does not have writing. So it's a mystery what purpose these drawings were made for.

The fact that the drawings only appear from the sky or high places further deepens this mystery. As a matter of fact, the drawings only attracted people's attention when planes began flying from the region in the 1930s. Because the drawings are only visible from the sky, Erich Von Daniken claimed that these lines served as a kind of signpost of the runway where aliens landed their ships. As a matter of fact, the Nazca lines are famous for this theory, which Daniken put forward in his work Chariots of the Gods. But there is no justification to think that this theory is correct. Just as there is no data indicating the descent of any extraterrestrial beings in the region, it is known that the lines were made with rough wooden tools, thanks to the wooden stakes left by the Nazcans. As a matter of fact, Joe Nickell managed to make exact copies of these shapes using similar rough tools. Moreover, these operations, as Daniken claims, can be completed in a few days by a small group without any help from the air.

Jim Woodman claimed that the Nazcans had balloon technology because the shapes were visible from the air. Woodman even managed to make a flying balloon using simple tools and materials possessed by the Nazcans. However, historians reject this theory, citing the lack of any findings indicating that the Nazcans possessed the balloon. Historian Paul Kosok and archaeologist and mathematician Maria Reiche, who first studied these lines in earnest in the 1940s, suggested that these lines had astronomical meanings, acting as a kind of giant astronomical calendar. This claim was based on the fact that there are lines indicating the place where the sun rises in both winter and summer. Reiche thought the drawings depicted constellations in the sky. Although this view is very popular, many astro-archeologists, such as Gerald Hawkins and Anthony Aveni, believe that the shapes have nothing to do with stars and that there is no data to link the region to astronomy.

Other archaeologists, such as Johan Reinhard, believe that the shapes are related to the rain prayer and play a role in the rituals. According to Reinhard, in this region, which only rains 20 minutes a year, religious rituals should be relevant to this phenomenon. Helices are a common symbol in Andean culture in general. Proponents of this view say that the Spider symbolizes rain, the fertility of the hummingbird, and the monkeys symbolize the rainforest, where rain is abundant.