Paranormal
All across the Nazca Desert, situated on a plateau near the coast of Peru, etched out in the ground is some of the most remarkable ground art that has ever been seen. Truly an enigma, these drawn figures simply exist there, their origin unclear and their purpose unknown. Even more importantly, how these Nazca Lines were made continues to baffle us.
Since their discovery, the Nazca Lines have inspired fantastic explanations from ancient gods, a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar, used for rituals probably related to astronomy, to confirm the ayllus or clans who made up the population and to determine through ritual their economic functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution or, a map of underground water supplies.
Nazca isn't the only location in the world to harbor geoglyphs. Geoglyphs exist in Egypt, Malta, USA, Chile, Bolivia and other countries as well, but the Nazca lines stand out because of their numbers, characteristics, dimensions, and the thus form the most impressive as well as enigmatic archaeological group.
There are about 900 geoglyphs in that area, the largest of which is a perfectly straight line stretching nine miles across the plain. The drawings were made by removing the top layer of oxidized stone and patina, and setting them aside. When removed, the underlying soil would contrast with the surrounding soil, and thus the lines were formed. This is possible due to the dry climate and stony ground which give the Nazca plains the unique ability to preserve such ground markings. An artist could ask for no better place to leave a mark for eternity.
The drawings are not easy to make out at the ground level, and are discernible only from the sky, and therein lies the mystery: Why would anyone make such huge efforts to carve out figures of such a large scale that could only be viewed from the air, in a time when there were no airplanes? Second, and not less important, how did they create the figures so accurately, unless they were guided from the sky, again, at a time when there were no airplanes? Were the constructors of these lines capable of flying in those times? Or were they receiving guidance from aerial ships? Perhaps from outerspace? While the reasons and purpose of the lines can be debated and discussed over, the methods employed will remain undiscovered.
Calling back the Aliens
Erich Von Daniken, one of the most famous aliens-in-the-past theorists suggested that a long time ago, alien visitors from other planetary systems had visited several locations on Earth, the Nazca plateau being one of them. During the landing, the stones were blown away by the power of the propulsion systems, and as it approached the earth, the force was stronger, thus cleaning out a broader band of stones. This was how the first trapezoids emerged. Later, after the aliens had left, the people were left in confusion, and they tried to call these "gods" back by drawing lines, figures, and various animals.
As appealing as this theory is, it is unlikely, because the soil at Nazca is soft, and would not have supported an aircraft or spaceship for that matter.
Astronomical Calendar
Maria Reiche was the most famouse Nazca researcher. She claimed that the lines, which were actually an astronomical calendar, would show in the direction of the rising of important stars, and planets, and other stellar events such as sun solstices. Furthermore, the spider and monkey geoglyphs were representations of constellations like Orion and Ursa Major. Although this seemed somewhat likely, the biggest problem here was that the time period during which these were drawn is unknown, and direction of stars are changin within centuries.
Maria was against the possibility of extraterrestrial visitors, and her argument was that the lines were constructed relatively recently - somewhere between 300 BC and 800 AD. Theories were put forward as to how such lines could have been constructed from the ground, but they fail to stand up to analysis.
Radiocarbon ating done on ceramic and wood remains left at the lines were too ambiguous with regards to the line, because they only tell us when the Nazcans were there, not whether they made the lines. For all we know, the lines could have been there before the Nazcan culture emerged in that area.
The second piece of evidence available was the alleged resemblance of the Nazca geoglyphs to certain features found on Nazcan pottery, but then again, it's possible that the pottery art was influenced by the pre-existing glyphs in the area.
Maria Reiche died at the age of 95 and was buried in the Nazcan valley which she loved so much.
For God's Eyes
It's possible that the Nazcans may have considered solar eclipses to be manifestations of the Eye of God, due to the striking resemblance between an eclipse and an eye. Some theories state that these drawings were meant to be seen by the Eye of God during eclipses, for reasons raging from prosperity, to food, good luck, water, and mercy.
Other Theories
- To measure rainfall
- Areas for rituals and sacrifices of animals
- A memorial area for the Great Flood. Every culture has it's own Flood Myth, and this could be their tribute to the flood
- They are markers for underground waterflow. The lines were representatins of flow pressure, direction, etc.
- They were used for dowsing purposes
- Each figure could be markings of different clans around the Nazca plains
Images
We'll start off with an overview of the entire area:
The representations, as numbered above, are:
- Killer Whale
- Wing
- Baby Condor
- Bird
- Animal
- Spiral
- Lizard
- Tree
- Hands
- Spiral
- Spider
- Flower
- Dog
- Astronaut
- Triangle
- Whale
- Trapazoids
- Star
- Pelican
- Bird
- Trapazoid
- Hummingbird
- Trapezoid
- Monkey
- Llama
- Trapezoids
Bird
Candleabra
Dog
Nazca lines at Ground Level
Hummingbird
Monkey
Rose
God, Human, or Astronaut?
Spider
Spirals
Trapezoids
Whale
ZigZags
(Left) Creature with 4 fingers on one hand, 5 on the other
