Mysteries of the Cosmos

Nazca Lines

The Nazca Lines are huge geoglyphs (geo=earth; glyphs=images) in the Nazca Desert in south Peru. They include not only simple lines, geometric figures and abstract irregular designs, but also pictures of humans, birds, flowers, trees, spiders, monkeys, fish, whales, jaguars, lizards, etc. Physically, the Lines are only about 20cm deep trenches in the red pebble-covered ground, exposing the grey-white ground underneath. They are believed to have been made between 500BC and 500AD. They span across nearly 500sq.km and the largest figures are more than 270m across. The Nazca Lines were first spotted by Peruvian archaeologist, Toribio Mejia Xesspe, in 1927.

Spider

Hummingbird

Dog

Monkey

Of course it wouldn't have been easy for such an ancient people to construct the Lines without the aid of flight or other sophisticated technology. However, WHY they were made is a tougher question. Some theories go-

"The geometric ones could indicate the flow of water or be connected to rituals to summon water. The spiders, birds and plants could be fertility symbols. Other possible explanations include irrigation schemes or giant astronomical calendars." (from wikipedia)

"...they are not shapes of constellations, but of what might be called counter-constellations, the irregularly shaped dark patches within the twinkling expanse of the Milky Way." (from wikipedia)

Some say the Lines are connected to star alignments and represent constellations. The straight lines may have been used to track the movement of stars across the sky. They could have been related to religious worship and rituals. It has even been suggested that the Lines were giant looms used to weave the long-thread textiles that were used as mummy shrouds by ancient South American civilizations. However, the 'Giant' or 'Astronaut', as some call it, continues to baffle everyone. The figure is humanoid and seems to be wearing a space helmet- BUT, the Nazcas were not supposed to have known about space travel. This, and other unearthly figures bring in the idea of alien influence.