Who created the lines?
The Nazca
Indians are thought to have existed here between 200 AD and 600 AD, making them
the most likely constructors in the eyes of orthodox archaeology. There is little
doubt that the Nazca Indians were at least contemporaneous to the lines. Much
of their pottery used similar styles and motifs, and carbon dating associated
with the lines appears to confirm this:
·
The desert heat causes mushrooms and lichens to grow under the stones.
The organic matter on nine of these stones, presumably up-turned to make the lines,
have been carbon-dated to between 190 BC and 600 AD.
·
A wooden stake at the end of a line was dated to roughly 525 AD.[3]
Lacking
any evidence to suggest prior cultures living there, it is a reasonable hypothesis
that gives these lines an uppermost age of just two thousand years. But there
still remains a possibility that others may have stopped there briefly to construct
the lines, then disappeared without leaving any clues to who they were. Because
of the impossibility of dating the lines themselves, it is possible that they
could be even ten thousand years old!
 This
is just a small portion of my online book, Survive 2012 - a look into possible
ways our world might end, and how to survive. Available in bookstores sometime
before 2012, fingers-crossed... |
But
how could markings etched upon the desert this long ago remain virtually intact
-undisturbed by the forces of weather and time? Well, this is a desert of stones,
and the stones absorb heat. The resulting cushion of warm air helps protect the
surface from the effects of wind. And it only drizzles rain here for an average
of twenty minutes each year, with most years being completely dry, so there is
zero erosion. If there ever was some gradual deterioration of the lines, they
may have been restored from time to time. Humans have a habit of repairing sites,
especially if they have a ritual importance, such as the chalk figures in the
English countryside.
How were the lines created?
·
The Spider, (46 metres long)
·
The Killer Whale, (65m)
·
The Monkey, (55m)
·
The Lizard, (180m)
·
The Guano Bird, (280m)
·
The Hummingbird, (50m)
·
The Pelican - an incredible 285 metres long
There
are a total of 70 creatures on the Nazca Plain, as well as drawings of flowers
and plants, deformed creatures and inanimate objects. Is it possible that there
were once 72? If so, this would create a mathematical connection to sites such
as Angkor Wat which also use this number.
| 
|
It is normal for the figures to be asymmetrical. Where they
have fingers, the numbers will vary from limb to limb. An example this is the
drawing of a weird being with two enormous hands, one normal and the other with
only four fingers. The monkey has three toes, with four fingers on one hand and
five on the other. The dog has either an extra leg or an extra tail. The spider
has one leg that is far longer than the other seven.[4] |
There are also a few anthropomorthic figures situated
on the slopes, the most famous being the 32 metre Astronaut (below left) and E.T,
discovered by Eduardo Herran in 1982. Others include The Man with the Hat (below
right) and the Executioner. These are the most primitive figures at Nazca, and
probably belong to a different time and purpose.
 |  |
Maria Reiche thought that the Nazca artists prepared
preliminary drawings on small six-foot-square plots, some of which are still visible
near some of the larger figures. The drawings were then subdivided into small
sections, to be transposed onto the desert on a larger scale. Lines could easily
have been formed by stretching a rope between two posts. A rope radiating from
a central point could be used to create arcs and circles. In fact, the remains
of posts have been discovered[5], as well as holes in the centre of circles. But
their skilled use of relative positioning puzzled Maria. In her book she wrote,
"Ancient Peruvians must have had instruments and equipment which we ignore
and which together with ancient knowledge were buried and hidden from they eyes
of the conquerors as the one treasure which was not to be surrendered." [6]
Maybe
it wasn't so difficult after all? In 1981, volunteers from the Earthwatch organization
had a go at it. Evan Hadingham, author of Lines of the Mountain Gods,
participated and described the process:
"We
selected a remote corner of the Nazca Valley for our experiment, far from any
genuine ancient markings. Though the surface here was rougher than that of most
parts of the pampa I had seen, consisting of coarse volcanic stones, it was easy
to create the color contrast required for our line. All we had to do was peel
away the crust of dark brown surface rocks to reveal the dusty yellow-white clay
immediately beneath.
Our reconstruction began with
a simple surveying procedure: we lined up two tall poles to coincide with a cleft
in the distant horizon and then stretched the string between them. This formed
one border of our line. To set out the other border, we measured off another
pair of poles side by side with the first.
Within
the avenue of string thus created, we spread ourselves out at arm's length, one
behind the other. The idea was that each volunteer would squat on the ground
and gather up all the stones within arm's reach into a single pile. This seemed
an efficient way to collaborate on removing the surface. Moreover, it reproduced
the small, regularly spaced stone heaps still visible inside many (presumably
unfinished) cleared figures.
The final phase was
to get rid of the piles by spreading the stones out along the borders of the line.
At this stage it was useful to have "Chief Priest Aveni" standing by to point
out where the edges of the line still appeared ragged or crooked. Eventually
the strings were removed, and the result looked remarkably like the perfectly
straight avenues we were emulating."[7]
They
went on to add a smooth spiral to the end of the line, and Hadingham wondered
whether the skills required by the Nazcans were so amazing after all?
To
take it one stage further, in 1982 Joe Nickell of Kentucky, USA, and some family
members, successfully recreated the 440-foot-long condor in a field near their
home. They took nine hours to plot and stake 165 points and connect them with
twine. The resulting image (they used white lime to mark it) was an exact replica.
"The method we chose was quite simple:
We would establish a center line and locate points on the drawing by plotting
their coordinates. That is, on the small drawing we would measure along the center
line from one end (the bird's beak) to a point on the line directly opposite the
point to be plotted (say a wing tip). Then we would measure the distance from
the center line to the desired point. A given number of units on the small drawing
would require the same number of units--larger units--on the large drawing.
For
this larger unit we used one gleaned by Maria Reiche from her study of the Nazca
drawings and approximately equivalent to 12.68 inches. For measuring on the ground,
we prepared ropes marked off with paint into these Nazca "feet," with
a knot tied at each ten-"foot" interval for a total length of 100 units.
To aid in accuracy in plotting on the ground, we decided to employ a "T"
made of two slender strips of wood. With this we could ensure that each measurement
made from the center line would be at approximate right-angles to the line."[8]
Discuss Survive
2012 at our forumGive the author your thoughts, and discuss any 2012
ideas with others, at 2012 Forum |
Comments from Visitors
Matt:
Why do people always say it's easy to do this. Yeah, it's easy to recreate something. Try doing something original and see how easy it is.
(23.04.2004, 13:38)
Annie:
how the heck were these lines able to survive this long? huh?? huh??
(27.04.2004, 18:35)
spikeinme:
well the theory on that is at the top of the page where it says 'But how could markings etched upon the desert this long ago remain virtually intact' they say that there was only 20 minutes of drizzle each year so there was no erosion, but what about wind? wouldn't the hot climate itself damage them?
- i will have to get this book.
(12.08.2004, 01:58)
Dee Shuaw:
Sweet, but how did they achive this within only a few hundred years....
(05.10.2004, 11:49)
Weng Seng:
The climate is "virtually unique" and that's why it keeps the drawings intact. i dun remember wat's unique about the climate but... anyone knows where i can find the pictures of "the executioner" mentioned above?
(08.03.2005, 09:33)
Linda:
Why did the Nazca indians make pictures where they couldnt see them?
(12.04.2005, 14:45)
ibleave:
i have many theorys iread this artical in class at school and they say it seems that the nazcas had been worshipping gods so they would have water and they say it could of been a landing strip for beings from other planets i think they thought of aliens as gods because they brought them things and there is no evidence that they did fly but it is evidence that they could have flown and maybe these so called beings may have taught them how to fly if u wanna here more of my theroies email me at IceLitt1@aol.com
(03.05.2005, 20:33)
Renato Longato:
I think that the Nazca lines were created in two different periods. FIRST, by an ancient civilization in a remote past.The creators were knowledgeable in astronomy. There is indeed a difference with the best drawings and the rest. The ones with most perfect geometrical lines are the ones built by these ancient architects/astronomers.SECOND There was a shift caused by an earthquake that left the main drawings obsolete in remote times.THIRD The remarks of Gerald Hawkins based on his research states that the lines are not an astronomical calendar refuting Maria Reiche theory. But A. Aveny disagree because Hawkins used the same patternS he used to decoded Stonehenge. In other words the position of the constellations in the Northern Hemisphere as reference. Not the one located in the southern hemisphere.He got a point.FOURTH The other lines , which have a different drawing technique not as sophisticaded as the main ones were an attempt from the Nazca astronomers who oriented the mostly, the lines towards sacred mountains for fertile/ agricultural purposes.Besides that the monkey and the tarantula drawings are very special ones . These means that the astronomers made specific trips to the amazon-via cuzco- to choose both of them because none belong to the desert. FIFTH The Nazcas were textile masters but not even one poncho or "manto" were found with the monkey or the spider design. why?
(13.07.2005, 22:20)
The comments section is now closed, but you can still email me, or even
better, visit 2012 Forum
Script by Alex
|
[3] Table 4. Radiocarbon Dates. Middle
Nazca L-268H San Jose Pampa: small post from intersection of ground lines, No
421 525 ± 80. William Duncan Strong, Paracas, Nazca, and Tiahuanacoid
Cultural Relationships in South Coastal Peru, from American Antiquity, Volume
XXII, Number 4, Part 2, April 1957, page 46. The Society for American Archaeology.
[4] It has been mentioned by other researchers
that many of the creatures represented are not native to the area. The most striking
example of this is the 45 metre long Spider. It was identified as a member of
the rare genus Ricinulei, which is only found in the most remote and inaccessible
parts of the Amazon Jungle. These spiders are only 5-10 mm in length. One leg
is noticeably longer - it is a protrusible tube, and at its tip is the spider's
reproductive organ, normally only visible with the aid of a microscope.( first
determined by Hawkins, Beyond Stonehenge, Arrow Books, London, 1977)
This
information appears to signify an advanced ancient culture at work, but fails
when inspected more closely. The only similarity between the spider figure and
a Ricinulei is the extended leg. Otherwise the figure could be just a
common local spider.
[5] Along some lines, the remains of posts
have been found at roughly one-mile intervals. See McIntyre, Loren. 1975. :Mystery
of the Ancient Nazca Lines." National Geographic (May): pages 716-28.
[6] Reiche, Maria. 1976. Mystery on
the Desert (1968), rev. ed. Stuttgart: Privately printed.
[7] Evan Hadingham, Lines to the Mountain
Gods: Nazca and the Mysteries of Peru, Random House 1987 ,page 135-6
[8] The Nazca Lines Revisited: Creation
of a Full-Sized Duplicate, by Joe Nickell. THE SKEPTICAL INQUIRER, copyright
©1983, http://www.onagocag.com/nazca.html
