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The Nazca Lines

New evidence suggests the history and intended purpose(s) of the Nazca Lines may be more complex than previously thought ...

Mysterious Nazca Line Geoglyphs Formed Ancient Pilgrimage Route

SAN FRANCISCO — The Nazca Lines, a series of fantastical geoglyphs etched into the desert in Peru, may have been used by two separate groups of people to make pilgrimage to an ancient temple, new research suggests.

But the purpose of the desert etchings may have changed over time.

The earliest Nazca Lines were created so pilgrims could view the markings along a ritual processional route, the researchers said. But later people may have smashed ceramic pots on the ground where the lines intersected as part of an ancient religious rite, according to a study presented here on April 16 at the 80th annual meeting of the Society for American Archeology. ...

FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.livescience.com/50699-nasca-lines-ritual-procession.html
 
And why are they always virgins?

It's to do with value. You give something of value to your gods, especially if you're asking for a lot in return. And in cultural context a young woman is very, very valuable...
 
It's to do with value. You give something of value to your gods, especially if you're asking for a lot in return. And in cultural context a young woman is very, very valuable...
And I just realised that post was from 2010...
 
100-Foot Image of Mythical Creature Discovered in Peru

A new Nazca geoglyph has been uncovered by Japanese scientists in Peru, and it could be linked to a major ceremonial center.

Measuring 98-feet long, the geoglyph is located within the central area of the Nazca pampa, a large, flat, arid region of Peru between the Andes and the coast. The line drawing is of an animal, with many legs and spotted markings, sticking out its tongue.

"It certainly represents an imaginary or mythical creature," Masato Sakai at the Yamagata University in Japan, said. ...

Full Article: http://www.livescience.com/54658-mythical-creature-drawing-found-in-peru.html
 
This is interesting ... Preliminary results from an analysis of the Nazca bird figures suggest the set of figures seems to emphasize bird species from some distance away in the region.
Mysterious Etchings in Peruvian Desert Prove to Be Foreign Birds. What Did They Mean to the Pre-Incans?

The sprawling Nazca Lines have long been cloaked in mystery. The enormous geoglyphs number in the thousands and portray everything from animals and plants to seemingly mythical beasts and geometric patterns. Now, researchers have found some of Peru's massive creations depict non-native birds.

Among the 16 massive bird carvings in the Nazca desert of southern Peru are a hermit (a forest species) and a pelican (a coastal denizen), according to new research published yesterday (June 19) in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

No one knows why the Nazca Lines were made, and it's too early to say why the pre-Inca people who carved them would have been interested in non-native birds, said study co-author Masaki Eda, a zooarchaeologist at the Hokkaido University Museum in Japan. ...

Using an ornithologist's approach, Eda and his team studied the anatomical characteristics of each of the 16 bird etchings, categorizing features such as the shape of the beak and tail and the relative length of the tail and feet. They were able to identify three birds with confidence. One famous glyph, previously identified generally as a hummingbird, actually appears to be a hermit, a subgroup of hummingbirds found in the tropics and subtropics, the researchers reported. Hermits live in the forests of northern and eastern Peru, but not in the southern desert.

Another surprise, Eda said, was the discovery that another of the glyphs represents a pelican, which would have been found only on the coast. The third identifiable glyph shows a guano bird, which represents an important group of species in Peru to this day. On islands off the country's coast, the Guanay cormorant, the Peruvian booby and the Peruvian pelican leave huge amounts of bird poop, or guano ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/65755-mysterious-nazca-lines-birds-identified.html
 
Here's the abstract from the published paper on the bird figure study ...

The lines and geoglyphs of Nasca are a series of drawings etched into the surface of the so-called Pampas of Southern Peru. Of these geoglyphs, there are 16 that depict birds. The bird geoglyphs mainly created during the Late Paracas and the Nasca Period (c. 2400 to 1300 years ago) and account for the largest number of geoglyphs in the Nasca pampas that depict plants and animals. Bird geoglyphs are identified using general impressions or a few notable morphological traits. However, little consideration has been given to whether bird geoglyphs contain traits similar to those of other taxa or if the traits depicted by each figure match the taxon to which they have been attributed. In this study, we identified the Nasca bird geoglyphs from an ornithological perspective. In doing so, we revealed several discrepancies between their geoglyphic characteristics and those of the taxonomic groups to which they were attributed by previous research. In addition, we determined that some of the geoglyphs depicted a number of specific birds, including hermit, pelicans, and what is most likely an immature parrot. Each of these birds is regionally exotic. For instance, hermits and parrots are found in tropical rain forests whereas pelicans live in coastal areas. The reason exotic birds were depicted in the geoglyphs instead of indigenous birds is closely related to the purpose of the etching process. Further studies involving bird figures depicted on pottery and sacrificed bird remains would be useful when attempting to identify the geoglyphic birds further.

SOURCE: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X18307430?via=ihub
 
Large 2,000-year-old cat discovered in Peru's Nazca lines


The figure of a relaxing cat has been discovered in the Nazca desert in Peru.
The Nazca lines, a Unesco World Heritage site, is home to designs on the ground - known as geoglyphs - created some 2,000 years ago.
Scientists believe the cat, as with other Nazca animal figures, was created by making depressions in the desert floor, leaving coloured earth exposed.
The cat then went unnoticed until plans were recently drawn up for a new path leading to an observation platform.
The platform would have provided a vantage point for visitors to see many of the other geoglyphs.
(c) BBC '20
 
The Yamagata University (Japan) years-long survey project (cf. my May 2019 post above) has now been announced to have discovered over 140 previously undocumented geoglyphs at the Nazca site. ...

This Live Science article provides an update on the discovery and analysis of these smaller geoglyphs.
Aerial investigation reveals 168 previously unnoticed Nazca Lines in Peru

Archaeologists have discovered 168 previously unknown geoglyphs — often called Nazca Lines — that Indigenous people created more than a millennia ago in the Aja area, near the city of Nazca, Peru.

The newfound geoglyphs include outlines of humans, camelids, birds, killer whales, felines and snakes. It's unknown why prehistoric people shaped the Nazca Lines, but one idea is that these features helped the Nazca people find water in the desert.

The newly discovered geoglyphs date to between 100 B.C. and A.D. 300 and were discovered during field surveys conducted between June 2019 and February 2020 by a team from Yamagata University in Japan, which worked with Jorge Olano, the head archaeologist for the Nazca Lines research program. The team used aerial photos and drones to make the discovery, they said in a statement ...

The team has been searching for geoglyphs in this area for nearly a decade now. The newfound earthen artwork brings their discoveries to 358 geoglyphs in total, they said in the statement.

The team is helping develop artificial intelligence that can detect geoglyphs by analyzing aerial images. While AI was not used to find the 168 new geoglyphs, the team hopes to use the new geoglyphs to "teach" the system to find more as they comb the countryside for more of these ancient depictions ...

It appears that some of the 168 new geoglyphs were made, in part, by piling stones on top of each other, Jennings said. This is interesting as many of the other Nazca lines were created by removing soil and exposing the white surface underneath. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/168-new-nazca-lines-peru

Here's the December 2022 update statement issued by Yamagata University:

168 New Geoglyphs Discovered on the Nasca Pampa and Surrounding Areas
https://www.yamagata-u.ac.jp/en/information/info/20221208/
 
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