General, Research, Technology

What are Nazca geoglyphs and what were they for? The most interesting theories

In mid-October, archaeologists shared the newsthat they managed to find a huge drawing painted by ancient people on the surface of one of the hills in Peru. Large-scale drawings on the surface of the earth are usually called geoglyphs, and the authors of the most famous of them arerepresentatives of the ancient civilization of Nazca. The drawing on the hill represents the silhouette of a huge cat and has almost disappeared from the face of the Earth for more than 2000 years of its existence. But archaeologists managed to find it in time and restore its original appearance, which I talked about in detail in this material. At the moment, scientists know about the existence of more than 30 such drawings, but why they were created nobody knows for sure... But there are a lot of assumptions and in this material I suggest you familiarize yourself with the most interesting of them.

Newly Discovered Cat Geoglyph

Content

  • 1 Facts about Nazca drawings
  • 2 Theories around Nazca geoglyphs
    • 2.1 Traces of aliens
    • 2.2 Space Observatory
    • 2.3 Map of celestial objects
    • 2.4 Other theories

Facts about Nazca drawings

Scientists do not know exactly why and how they wereNazca geoglyphs made. But the study of these mysterious works of art is ongoing. At the moment, researchers know that in addition to drawings in the form of various animals, the ancient population of present-day Peru drew about 12 thousand simple lines and stripes... Also, scientists have found approximately 700 geometric shapes like triangles, trapezoids and spirals. They are believed to have survived so well due to the arid conditions. After all, if there were frequent torrential rains in this area, the contours of the drawings would quickly blur.

The Nazca desert is full of such drawings

Theories around Nazca geoglyphs

The purpose of the Nazca geoglyphs tried anddozens of scientists are trying to figure it out. But none of the many suggestions has yet been scientifically proven. Someone believes that the drawings were intended for aliens, while others are sure that the images were needed by people to study space. Each theory has its own supporters and many stubbornly stand their ground. Moreover, each version is interesting in its own way, and some of them are probably correct. Take a look for yourself.

Alien footprints

The most unusual and unusual theory can be considered the version of the Swiss writer Erich von Deniken. He is the ideologue of the so-called theory paleocontacts, which says that in prehistoric timesour planet was visited by extraterrestrial beings. In his book "Mysterious Nazca Drawings", he suggested that once upon a time aliens flew to Earth. The writer believes that the geometric shapes were left behind by the engines of the landed spaceships. They were allegedly seen by ancient people and, in order to call upon the "heavenly gods" again, they began to draw images of animals. It sounds interesting and if everything happened that way, it would be a real brain explosion. Only here the Nazca geoglyphs are not at all similar to the traces of spaceships.

Are these traces of aliens?

Space observatory

A more reasonable version seems to be Paul Kosok's theory. This is an American archaeologist who is the first person to see the mysterious drawings while flying on an airplane. In his opinion, with the help of huge drawings in the fields, ancient people indicated the location of celestial bodies. That is, once upon a time the Nazca plateau was something like a space observatory. Considering that some ancient civilizations were indeed very advanced in terms of science, this assumption seems very realistic. And other scientists put forward similar assumptions.

Perhaps the drawings of animals are a designation of the constellations

I also talked about the Nazca geoglyphs in this article. I recommend reading.

Celestial Objects Map

Take, for example, Maria Reiche - Germanthe explorer who took the first photographs of the Nazca geoglyphs in 1947. She also believed that the huge drawings on the Nazca plateau were associated with astronomy. In her opinion, numerous lines indicated the direction of various planetary events. And drawings in the form of animals could symbolize various constellations. She assumed that the spider-shaped geoglyph is the personification of the constellation Orion, and the figure of the monkey is the Big Dipper.

A spider-shaped geoglyph may represent the constellation Orion

Other theories

As you can see, most of the most popular theoriesboils down to the fact that huge drawings have a close connection with space. But the study of Nazca geoglyphs has been going on for several decades, and during this time other theories have been put forward. These seemed funny to me:

  • a certain professor Anthony Aveni once suggested that the drawings indicate the presence hidden underground water currents... And ancient people could organize large-scale ceremonies with dancing;
  • and Professor Gelan Siverman put forward the theory that the huge drawings were tagged by different tribes... Several groups of people clearly lived on the Nazca plateau and they could well indicate their territories with the help of drawings;
  • Georg von Brunig believed that the Nazca plateau was venue for sporting events like the Olympics. And the lines could show the athletes where to run.

As you can see, there are a lot of theories. If you want to know about everyone, I recommend the book by Andrey Sklyarov “Nazca. Giant Crop Drawings ”, in which he talks not only about the most popular theories, but also shares his opinion.

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And finally, I would like to know which of the above theories seems to you the most probable? Share your answer in the comments or our Telegram chat.