Nazca desert from satellite. Nazca Plateau

The Nazca lines still cause a lot of controversy regarding who created them and when they appeared. Strange inscriptions, clearly visible from a bird's eye view, resemble geometric shapes, even stripes, and even representatives of the fauna. The dimensions of the geoglyphs are so large that it is not possible to understand how these images were drawn.

Nazca Lines: Discovery Story

Strange geoglyphs - inscriptions on the surface of the earth, were first discovered in 1939 on the Nazca plateau in Peru. American Paul Kosok, flying over the plateau, noticed strange drawings resembling birds and animals of enormous size. The images intersected with lines and geometric shapes, but stood out so clearly that it was impossible to doubt what they saw.

Later, in 1941, Maria Reiche took up the study of strange inscriptions on the sandy surface. However, take a photo unusual place succeeded only in 1947. Maria Reiche devoted more than half a century to deciphering strange symbols, but the final conclusion was never provided.

Today, the desert is considered a protected area, and the right to explore it has been transferred to the Peruvian Institute of Culture. Due to the fact that the study of such a vast location requires huge investments, further scientific work on deciphering the Nazca lines has been suspended for the time being.

Description of Nazca drawings

When viewed from the air, the lines on the plain are clearly visible, but walking through the desert, it is unlikely that it will be possible to understand that something is depicted on the ground. For this reason, they were not discovered until aviation became more developed. Small hills on the plateau distort the pictures, which are caused by trenches dug across the entire surface. The width of the furrows reaches 135 cm, and their depth is from 40 to 50 cm, while the soil is identical everywhere. It is due to the impressive size of the lines that they are visible from a height, although they are hardly noticeable in the process of walking.

Among the illustrations are clearly visible:

birds and animals;
geometric figures;
chaotic lines.

The sizes of the printed images are quite large. So, the condor spread over a distance of almost 120 m, and the lizard reaches 188 m in length. There is even a drawing resembling an astronaut, whose height is 30 m. modern technology to carry out such a trench seems impossible.

Hypotheses of the origin of lines

Scientists from different countries tried to figure out where the lines were pointing and who laid them. There was a theory that such images were made by the Incas, but studies have shown that they were created much earlier than the existence of the people. The approximate period that dates back to the appearance of the Nazca lines is considered to be the 2nd century BC. e. It was at this time that the Nazca tribe lived on the plateau. In a village belonging to the people, sketches were found that resemble drawings made in the desert, which once again confirms the guesses of scientists.

Maria Reiche deciphered some of the symbols, which allowed her to put forward a hypothesis that the drawings reflect a map of the starry sky, which means they were used for astronomical or astrological purposes. True, this theory was later refuted, since only a quarter of the images fit the known astronomical bodies, which seems insufficient for an accurate conclusion.

AT this moment it is still not known why the Nazca lines were drawn and how a people who did not have writing skills managed to reproduce such inscriptions on an area of 350 square meters. km.

Nazca- a desert in Peru, surrounded by low spurs of the Andes and bare and lifeless hills of dense dark sand. This desert stretches between the valleys of the Nazca and Ingenio rivers, 450 kilometers south of the Peruvian city of Lima. This desert is one of the biggest mysteries of archeology, history, anthropology and many other related sciences.

The surface of the Peruvian desert of Nazca, an area of approximately 500 square kilometers, is covered with countless land figures, gigantic in our imagination. 12 thousand stripes and lines, 100 spirals, 788 drawings were found on the plateau, among which are a 50-meter hummingbird, a parrot and a spider, an 80-meter monkey, a condor extends from its beak to tail feathers for almost 120 meters, a lizard has a length of up to 188 meters ., finally, a 250-meter bird. Some of geometric shapes formed by straight lines over 8 km in length. There is an image of a flower, like a tree. But there are a little more than three dozen such informative drawings, that is, they make up approximately 0.2% of the total number of figures. Everything else is geometric figures: lines up to 8 km long, elongated rectangles (the largest is about 80x780 m), arrow-shaped triangular and trapezoidal platforms. Scattered among them is the so-called "decoration" in the form of countless whip-shaped figures (a triangle with a line coming out of the top at an angle), rectangular and sinusoidal zigzags, and spirals. In addition, there are more than a dozen so-called "centers" on the plateau - points from which different sides lines come off.

The lines of the drawings are grooves twenty-five deep and sixty-five centimeters wide, exposing lighter (not oxidized) placers of pebbles that cover the entire plateau.

One of the features of the Nazca drawings is that they are all made in one line that does not intersect anywhere. The painting of the plateau was carried out in several steps: many geometric figures intersect more complex figures, partially crossing them out.

HISTORY OF DISCOVERY AND RESEARCH OF THE NASCA DESERT

The mysterious drawings in the Peruvian Nazca desert, the largest work of art in the world, one of the most outstanding and at the same time inexplicable creations of man, were little known to anyone until 1939. In that year, pilots flying over a desert valley in a small airplane noticed a strange pattern of randomly intersecting long straight lines, interspersed with outlandish meanders and squiggles, which was noticeable in certain lighting conditions.

This discovery aroused great interest. Initially, archaeologists suggested that these were the remains of an ancient irrigation system. The American archaeologist Paul Kosok from the University of Long Island went to Peru to study them.

From the air, the patterns looked immense, but on the ground, due to the uneven surface, Kosok barely found them. “The lines could only be distinguished if you looked at them along. A few yards away and nothing could be seen.” After the first careful study, Kosok's surprise knew no bounds - according to his drawings, it turned out that it was a clear image of a large bird, which was impossible to distinguish from the ground. Kosok explored the valley and found the outline of a huge spider, followed by dozens of other drawings, either animals or geometric patterns. He could not understand who this mysterious artist was and what kind of people it was that left behind such works of art.

In 1946, Kosok handed over his notes to Dr. Maria Reich, a German mathematician interested in ancient observatories, whose name is associated with almost the entire "canonical" history of the mysterious drawings of the Nazca desert. Since then, Maria Reiche, who has become the world's foremost Nazca specialist, has learned a lot about the way these paintings were created, working almost alone. She was in a hurry to fix the exact dimensions and coordinates of all the drawings and lines, until they were destroyed by tourists and cars. As Reiche established, the drawings were made sufficiently in a simple way, a thin layer of dark stones was laid out in lines on the yellowish earth. But, although physically such work does not seem difficult, the project was extremely difficult. Reiche believes that the authors of the drawings used a fixed unit of measurement equal to 0.66 cm, similar to the megalithic yard of Alexander Thoma. Then the figures were laid out according to a specially constructed plan on a scale, which was transferred to the surface of the earth with the help of ropes attached to marker stones, some of which can be seen today. The length and direction of each segment were carefully measured and recorded. Approximate measurements would not be enough to reproduce such perfect outlines as we see with aerial photography, a deviation of only a few inches would distort the proportions of the drawing. Photographs taken in this way help to imagine how much work it cost the ancient craftsmen. The ancient Peruvians must have possessed equipment that even we do not have and which, combined with ancient knowledge, was carefully hidden from the conquerors, as the only treasure that cannot be stolen.

Erich von Däniken and other seekers of traces of space aliens brought glory to the Nazca drawings. The desert was declared nothing more than an ancient spaceport, and the drawings were a kind of navigation signs for alien ships. Another version said that the drawings in the desert are a map of the starry sky, and in the desert itself there was once a grandiose ancient observatory.

The famous Gerald Hawkins, the astronomer who solved the mystery, arrived in Peru in 1972 to find out if among the drawings of the Nazca desert there were signs indicating a connection with astronomical observations (these signs were not there). He was surprised that the lines are unusually straight - the deviation is no more than 2 meters per kilometer. “It would be impossible to create such a figure even with the help of a photogrammetric measurement,” he believes. “These lines are really absolutely straight, we would not get such a result even using modern aerial photography. And this straightness remains for many miles. Due to the thick fog creeping along the ground, the lines sometimes become invisible. But they continue in exactly the same direction on the opposite side of the ravine, and they are as straight as the trajectory of a shot arrow.”

Maria Reiche is sure that she only touched ancient secret: “What is most impressive about these ground drawings is their huge size combined with perfect proportions. How they could depict animal figures with such precise outlines and precisely measured sizes is a mystery that we will not solve soon, if at all. Reiche made, however, one reservation: "Unless, of course, they could not fly."

This is exactly what Bill Sporer, a US resident in Peru and a member of the International Research Society, was trying to prove. The people who created these patterns probably came from two similar peoples, known as the Paracas and Nazca cultures, who practiced agriculture in the period before and after our era. But these peoples are known for their success in the art of weaving and decorating clay products, and this gave Sporer a clue. Four pieces of Nazca cloth from a looted grave found near the Peruvian drawings were examined under a microscope. It was found that the ancient Peruvians used in their fabrics a better weave than we use in the manufacture of modern parachute fabric, and stronger than modern balloon fabrics - 205 by 110 threads per square inch compared to 160 by 90. On clay pots found images of objects resembling balloons and kites with fluttering ribbons.

Starting his investigation, Sporer came across an old Inca legend about a little boy named Antarqui, who helped the Incas in battle by flying over the enemy fortifications and reporting the location of their units. Many Nazca fabrics depict flying people. These legends arose a very long time ago, but it is known that even today some Indian tribes of Central and South America make balloons for their ceremonies and launch them during ritual festivities.

Another mystery lies in the so-called "fire pits" that end many straight lines. These are round pits about 10 meters in diameter with charred stones. Sporer, along with several other researchers, examined these stones to see if they were craters from the fall of celestial bodies, and made sure that they were blackened by exposure to a strong source of heat. Perhaps a large fire was lit at this place, which warmed the air inside the ball?

In November 1975, this theory was put to the test. Only from those materials and technologies that could be available to the Nazca Indians, a balloon was built. A fire was lit under it, and the balloon went into flight with two pilots in a reed basket. Of all the hypotheses about the origin of such a perfect pattern, the idea with the ball was the best. But the purpose of all this is still unclear. Maybe it was a peculiar form of burial, and the bodies of the dead Nazca leaders were sent on black balloons - into the arms of the sun god? Maybe birds and other huge creatures symbolize the eternal life of these leaders? But why did they need such straight lines? No answer…

But there is evidence that among the ancients such a desire for accuracy was very common. There is a clear similarity between the Peruvian drawings and finds on the other side of the globe: Stonehenge and many famous megaliths are distinguished by extraordinary geometric accuracy. By the time the Peruvian patterns were laid out, the tradition of megalithic structures had already died out, so there is no direct evidence of a connection between the two cultures. But it would not be too rash to assume that the levels of development of these cultures, in which illiterate people used predominantly stones, were similar; and that the art of land painting died with the advent of writing and civilization.

Peruvian drawings are one of the wonders of the world. Until the final solution of their mystery, however, is still far away. Except that the version of the runways for spacecraft has disappeared. Reiche categorically dismisses the possibility that the Nazca drawings were alien landing marks: hypothetical space aliens are unlikely to be at such a primitive level as to lay out figures from stone. In addition, “if you move the stones, you will see that the ground is quite soft under them,” says Maria Rai-he. “I’m afraid that the astronauts would get stuck in such soil” ...

HYPOTHESES ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF DRAWINGS IN THE NASCA DESERT

Since the discovery of the mysterious drawings, scientists have been haunted by questions about their creators and purpose. The theories put forward are diverse and fantastic - from space aliens to the control system of the earth's population. Each new enthusiast of solving the mystery of Nazca adheres to one theory: astronomical, geometric, agricultural or irrigation, utilitarian-geographical (roads) and creative (art and religion). Other hypotheses are put forward, but so far none of them has a significant advantage. Even in determining the age of the desert drawings, researchers cannot come to a consensus: some believe that they were created around 200 BC. e., according to others - in 1700 BC. e. In total, there are more than 30 hypotechs.

The very first is astronomical , she came up with the discoverer of the drawings, Paul Kosoku. On June 21, 1939, the scientist took the first step towards unraveling the "mystery of Nazca". At sunset, he saw the sun setting exactly at the intersection of one of the straight lines with the horizon. Observations in the following days convinced Kosok of the correctness of his guess: he found the line of the winter (in the southern hemisphere, winter corresponds to our summer) solstice. In addition, Kosok drew attention to the fact that the drawings and lines indicate the presence of certain cosmic bodies (stars and constellations) in the sky on astronomically significant days (full moons, etc.).

But to reinforce the hypothesis, it was necessary to identify all the figures of the Nazca desert with celestial phenomena. This most difficult task required great efforts, time and full dedication. Paul Kosok was lucky. He found such an assistant in the person of a modest translator from Spanish, who accompanied him on trips to the countries of South America, a German by birth, Maria Reiche. It was to her that the scientist handed over the fate of his extraordinary discovery and never later repented of it. It took seven years to draw up the first approximate maps and topological plans of the plateau.

Only in 1947, with the assistance of the Ministry of Aviation of Peru, Maria was able to use a helicopter. The first time she flew, hanging overboard: she was tied with ropes, and she held the camera in her hands. Then a familiar engineer designed a special suspension for her - it became relatively safe. She worked alone, and therefore things went slowly. the first detailed diagram images in the Nazca desert, Maria finished only in 1956.

“For the ancient peoples, the positions of the Sun and Moon served as a calendar,” said Maria Reiche. - It was used to determine the arrival of spring and autumn, seasonal fluctuations in the water regime, and, consequently, the timing of sowing and harvesting. That is why we found so many lines. It is difficult to talk about the exact meaning of animal images. I only know that some of them represent entire constellations. Most of all, I want to penetrate into the way of thinking of the ancients, who left us such unusual writings. And it is also extremely important to understand how people who did not know how to fly over the pampas (the local name for the desert) could design and transfer to its surface a many times enlarged picture of the starry sky? .. "

The hypothesis of the astronomical calendar was shared by most scientists around the world for decades, until the well-known American astronomer Gerald Hawkins, the author of the monograph “Unraveling the Mystery of Stonehenge”, took up its verification. With the help of a computer, Hawkins brilliantly proved that the famous Stonehenge - a mysterious structure on the Salisbury Plain - is nothing more than an astronomical observatory. Applying the same technique, corrected for the latitude of the Nazca Plateau, Hawkins made sure that only 20% of the lines on the Nazca Plateau point to the Sun or Moon. As for the stars, here the accuracy of the directions does not generally exceed the random distribution of numbers. “The computer has smashed the theory of the star-solar calendar to smithereens,” J. Hawkins was forced to admit. “With bitterness, we abandoned the theory of the astronomical calendar.” However, Hawkins's research also gave a positive result, since it was he who was the first to note the strange feature of the Nazca drawings: they were all made in one line without a break, which does not intersect anywhere.

The next version of the mysterious Nazca drawings is alien , it is now the most common. And for the first time it was put forward by Erich von Daniken (he also studied the English Stonehenge). He is sure that these drawings served as runways for interplanetary alien ships. His confidence in the cosmic purpose of signs is based on the fact that the drawings have the correct forms, and the lines are perfectly straight, and they can only be detected from the air.

Why are these drawings located in places where no one can see them from the ground? Or were they intended directly for gods unknown to us?

Those who watched went around the world documentary"Memories of the Future" remembers the landing of a sports plane on one of these runways. But as soon as they are visible only from an airplane, a natural question arises: "Could the ancient inhabitants of the Cordillera - the Incas - know how to fly?". Here it is appropriate to recall the ancient legend of the Incas, which speaks of a “golden ship” that arrived from distant stars: “It was commanded by a woman named Oryana. She was destined to become the foremother of the earthly race. Oryana gave birth to seventy earthly children, and then returned to the stars.

This legend reports on the ability of the "sons of the sun", the Incas, "to fly over the earth on golden ships." Perhaps there is some connection between these legends and the reports of the English anthropological journal Maine, which, in particular, says: “Analysis of the muscle tissues of the preserved Inca mummies showed that they differ sharply from the local population in terms of blood composition. They had a blood type of the rarest combination. In our time, such a blood composition is known only in two or three people in the whole world.

Developing further the discovery of J. Hawkins, who was the first to discover the continuity of the lines of the drawings, scientists drew attention to strange additional lines. Being absolutely alien to the main image, they were, however, connected to the beginning and end of the contour (groove), as if connecting the drawing to a certain Nazca mega-system. The conclusion suggests itself that the drawings resemble electrical circuits made by one conductor, which can neither cross (short circuit) nor interrupt (open circuit).

Paying attention to the connection lines, scientists clearly saw the parallel and series connection of the drawings and suggested that the groove lines of the Nazca plateau, apparently, were filled in antiquity with some kind of phosphor. This substance was capable of glowing under the influence of an electric current, similar to the inscriptions and drawings of the current gas-light advertising. Thus, in confirmation of the alien theory, the “runways” did their job, and the luminous drawings, visible from the air for tens of kilometers, did theirs. ”

Another version with an alien base . The key to unraveling the mystery of the Nazca desert can be a huge drawing applied to the 400-meter mountain slope of the Paracas Peninsula (Peru). The design is known as the Paracas Candelabra, or Andean Candelabra. Its “branches point in the direction of the Nazca desert. Like the figures of the Nazca desert, the lines of this image are notches that reach the bedrock - red porphyry. The age of the Candelabra is at least two millennia, and the history of its origin is a mystery behind seven seals. According to the bold hypothesis of some Russian researchers, the "Candelabra of Paracas" is nothing more than a "passport of the Earth." This picture contains all the information about our planet. The left side of the picture represents the fauna, the right side - the flora. And the picture is the whole face of a person. Near the top of the mountain there is a mark resembling a nail in shape. This is a scale showing the level modern development civilization” (there are six in total). If the "Candelabra" is speculatively rotated by 180 °, then a crucifixion will turn out. This is a kind of symbol - a warning that our planet may die from unreasonable human activities.

Further, the authors of this idea try to explain that this information we were delivered by some super-civilization from the constellation Leo. Referring to a large number of sculptural images of a lion on Earth and in all earthly religions in particular, the authors prove that modern earthly civilization is the work of aliens from the Leo constellation.

To space hypotheses, one can add a cheerful idea that perhaps star tourists simply left a trace of their visit to the Earth in this way, like “Vasya was here.” It should be noted that such interpretations of the Nazca drawings are born in all parts of our planet every day, if not every minute. But even the most insane of them should not be dismissed without considering in detail.

I want to tell about another version that appeared relatively recently - this is an artificial system of underground water channels located in the bowels of the mountain plateau. In the city of Nazca with a population of 10 thousand people, the river of the same name flows. In terms of its composition and “fragrance”, it is not inferior to the sewers of large cities, but at the same time, the inhabitants of Nazca do not lack fresh and clean water. It is taken from a system of wells, which are located exactly along the lines of mysterious drawings. And what is especially striking is that two of these underground channels run directly under the bed of the Nazca River. BUT general system irrigation canals Nazca simply cannot but arouse admiration - it is so perfect and productive. It should be noted that agriculture was the source of prosperity for the people who inhabited Nazca, so this version has a real basis. But who, when and how could build such canals?

It is curious that the drawings were discovered from an aircraft that flew over the plateau specifically in search of water sources. And only after some time they found wells with water. Thus, the pilot coped with his task brilliantly, although he offered historians one of the most difficult puzzles of the 20th century - the Nazca drawings.

Time passes, and the Nazca drawings only become more mysterious. Not far from the desert, in the mountains, similar images were found that were not previously known. And in this case the drawings do not indicate the location of underground water channels.

And 1400 km from the Nazca plateau, at the foot of Mount Solitari, a giant statue of a man was discovered. She was called the "Giant of the Atacama". It reaches a height of 120 meters, and it is surrounded by lines and signs similar to the Nazca drawings. There are more and more such mysterious finds every year, which confuses researchers and stimulates dreamers who put forward more and more new versions of the purpose of the Nazca drawings.

Questions, questions... So far, none of them about these mysterious objects has been answered satisfactorily.

DESERT PHOTOS OF NASCA

NASCA DESERT VIDEO

NASCA DESERT ON THE WORLD MAP

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We continue our series of stories about mysterious ancient objects. Today we will tell you about the Nazca geoglyphs in Peru, created many centuries before the rise of the Inca Empire, and which are the most important evidence for the existence of a mysterious ancient culture in the territory of Peru. These lines and geoglyphs are located on the Nazca plateau and reach tens of meters in length, so they are visible only from the air.

The German scientist Von Daniken, in his book "An Answer to the Gods", claims that these lines were created as signals for the landing of alien spacecraft. And the German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche called these patterns a strange confirmation of the existence of the ancient Peruvian culture:

“The Nazca lines are nothing but the documented history of ancient Peruvian science. The ancient inhabitants of Peru created their own alphabet to describe the most important astronomical events. The Nazca lines are the pages of a book written in this strange alphabet.”

From the air, you can observe various figures such as large giant spiders, lizards, llamas, monkeys, dogs, hummingbirds, etc., not to mention zigzags and geometric designs. There are many unanswered questions regarding these lines. For example, how they remain intact after hundreds of years, or how they were created in such sizes, accurately recreating all proportions.

In 1927, Mejia Hespe, a student of the famous Julio Tello, the father of Peruvian archeology, reported mysterious incomprehensible geoglyphs on the territory of the Peruvian plateau. Initially, this was not given any importance, scientists were engaged in research on other more significant sites, such as Machu Picchu

In the same year, a researcher from the United States, Paul Kosok, arrived in Peru, who was very attracted by the ancient history of Peru. On one of his first trips to the south of the country, he stopped at the top of a plateau and saw extensive lines on both sides of the road. After careful examination, he was amazed to find that one of the figures depicted the ideal form of a bird's flight. Kosok spent almost 20 years studying the Nazca lines, in 1946 he returned home, offering to study the drawings of the Nazca tribes to the German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche. Maria devoted her whole life to this work.

Maria Reiche studied the Nazca lines for 50 years. She explained how these lines were used by the ancient Peruvian astronomers - they were a giant solar and lunar calendar hidden in the sand, legends and myths of the locals.

The lines themselves are applied to the surface in the form of furrows up to 135 centimeters wide and up to 40-50 centimeters deep, while white stripes form on the black stony surface. The following fact is also noted: since the white surface is heated less than the black one, a pressure and temperature difference is created, which leads to the fact that these lines do not suffer in sandstorms.

The hummingbird has a length of 50 meters, the spider - 46, the condor has stretched from beak to tail feathers for almost 120 meters, and the lizard has a length of up to 188 meters. Such enormous dimensions of the drawings are admirable, almost all the drawings are made in this huge scale in the same manner, when the outline is outlined by one continuous line. The true shape of the images can only be observed from a bird's eye view. There is no such natural elevation nearby, but there are medium-sized hills. But the higher you rise above the plateau, the smaller these drawings become and turn into incomprehensible scratches.

Other animals captured by the Nazca include a whale, a dog with long legs and a tail, two llamas, various birds such as herons, a pelican, a seagull, a hummingbird and a parrot. Reptiles include the alligator, iguana, and snake.

All geoglyphs are located on the map, with detailed names. Click to enlarge

So who did create the Nazca geoglyphs? Locals or aliens? This is a giant solar and lunar calendar or landmarks spaceship? It is impossible to know the answers to these questions, since the Nazca lines are one of the largest

The giant ground drawings of the Peruvian Nazca plateau are deservedly considered one of the most mysterious sights not only in South America, but of the entire planet.

About 500 square meters of the plateau area are covered with mysterious lines that form bizarre figures. The lines that form the Nazca drawings are applied to the surface of the earth in a peculiar way - excavation, as a result of which trenches up to 1.5 meters wide and up to 30-50 centimeters deep were formed.

The lines form a huge number of geoglyphs - geometric and curly patterns: over 10,000 stripes, more than 700 geometric shapes (mainly trapezoids, triangles and spirals), about 30 images of birds, animals, insects and flowers.

Nazca's drawings are impressive in their size. So, for example, the figures of a spider and a hummingbird are about 50 meters long, the drawing of a condor extends for 120 meters, the image of a pelican is almost 290 meters. It is striking that with such gigantic dimensions, the contours of the figures are continuous and surprisingly accurate. Almost perfectly flat stripes cross the beds of dry rivers, climb up and down high hills, but do not deviate from the required direction. Modern science is unable to explain such a phenomenon.

For the first time, these amazing ancient figures were discovered by pilots only in the 30s of the last century.

This is explained by the fact that from the ground it is almost impossible to recognize the figures, spread over tens and hundreds of meters in length.

Despite decades of research, it remains a mystery how, by whom and for what purpose these drawings were made. The estimated "age" of the images is from fifteen to twenty centuries.

Today, about 30 drawings are known, about 13 thousand lines and stripes, about 700 geometric figures (primarily triangles and trapezoids, as well as about a hundred spirals).

Most researchers attribute the authorship of the drawings to representatives of the Nazca civilization, who inhabited the plateau before the advent of the Incas. The level of development of the Nazca civilization has not been sufficiently studied, therefore it is impossible to say with certainty that its representatives possessed the technologies that allow them to create such drawings.

There are many versions explaining the purpose of the Nazca geoglyphs. The most common of these is astronomical. Its supporters consider the Nazca lines to be a kind of astronomical calendar. The ritual version is also popular, according to which giant drawings are intended for communication with the heavenly Deity.

Multiple repetitions of the same lines and figures, as well as the revealed mathematical patterns in their proportions and mutual arrangement, give the right to assume that the Nazca drawings are a kind of encrypted text. According to the most fantastic hypotheses, the figures on the plateau serve as landmarks for the landing of alien ships.

Unfortunately, a purposeful and regular study of the Nazca geoglyphs is not carried out in our time. The centuries-old mysteries of the famous Peruvian drawings are still waiting to be explored.

Geoglyphs of Nazca and Palpa from a copter. peru 2014 hd

Satellite drawings of Nazca

The Nazca culture is considered the successor of the Paracas culture. Here, a similar "design" is used to make fabrics, household items, and jewelry. The kids, as was customary in Paracas, continued to deform the skull by squeezing the forehead and the back of the head. Some adults were sometimes trepanned skulls - but not in such a massive manner, as was the case with their predecessors.

It is curious that the attitude of society towards these people (or rather, heads) has changed dramatically. Apparently, all the "trepanned" were on a special account. And when they died, their heads were separated from the body, and a headless body with a small pumpkin attached to it was placed in the burial! Dangerous (or especially valuable?), apparently, the heads were buried separately, in special caches.

This one would seem strange fact can serve as a proof of L.P. Girmak about the attempts of ancient Americans to achieve an altered state of consciousness with the help of neurosurgical intervention. People who underwent trepanation became "sorcerers" or clairvoyants and inevitably occupied a special position in society. It is quite obvious that in Paracas there were excellent surgeons and many clairvoyants. In Nazca, for reasons unknown to us, this tradition is gradually being lost. It may very well be that the new government decided to do away with witchcraft practices, for which the heads of the dead (possibly killed) sorcerers began to separate from the bodies. As you know, the violation of the integrity of the body during burial, according to the beliefs of many peoples, predetermines the impossibility of reviving the deceased...

However, we will not dwell on the description of this culture, but move on to one of the biggest mysteries of archeology, history, anthropology and many other related ones. It will be about mysterious drawings of the Nazca plateau.

These drawings were discovered by accident, thanks to aviation, since they can only be seen from an airplane or from a high altitude. The first to see giant geometric figures from an airplane in 1920 was an American explorer. Paul Kosok. The scientist peered with amazement at this incredible kaleidoscope of trapezoids, triangles and spirals that dotted the plateau over a vast territory. In addition, there were images of over 100 known plants and animals, as well as a scattering of incomprehensible, unrelated straight lines.

These lines especially struck the scientist. They cut in all directions without any apparent order, were absolutely straight and ran over the horizon, completely ignoring the unevenness of the terrain - through the hills and valleys.

The 60 km long sandy plain of Nazca is located 400 km south of the Peruvian capital Lima, between the cities of Nazca and Palpa. In these places, the earth does not see moisture for years. Drops of rare rain, falling on a hot rocky surface, immediately evaporate. This lifeless space is an ideal place for incorruptible burials. Later, studying all the drawings on the spot, Paul Kosok saw that the technology for their execution was surprisingly simple. It was only necessary to move the stones and the turf beneath them, exposing the soft earth, and lay them in a row. Of course, this took many years. But on the other hand, images created with great care could be preserved in this waterless arid place for thousands of years!

The themes of the drawings, as already mentioned, can be divided into two categories: these are figures and lines, and the latter are either paired, like tram tracks, or form geometric shapes. And since in many places the lines are drawn over the drawings, it is obvious that it was the drawings that were made in the beginning. The lines are very straight, and it remains a mystery how the draftsmen managed to stick to the idea so precisely and achieve the effect of even lines at such large distances.

Since the discovery of the mysterious drawings, scientists have been haunted by questions about their creators and purpose. The theories put forward are diverse and fantastic - from space aliens to the control system of the earth's population. Each new enthusiast of solving the mystery of Nazca adheres to one theory: astronomical, geometric, agricultural or irrigation, utilitarian-geographical (roads) and creative (art and). Other hypotheses are put forward, but so far none of them has a significant advantage. Even in determining the age of the desert drawings, researchers cannot come to a consensus: some believe that they were created around 200 BC. e., according to others - in 1700 BC. e.

Let's take a closer look at some of the theories regarding the Nazca drawings.

The very first - astronomical, she came up with the discoverer of the drawings, Paul Kosoku. On June 21, 1939, the scientist took the first step towards unraveling the "mystery of Nazca". At sunset, he saw how it was setting exactly at the intersection of one of the straight lines with the horizon. Observations in the following days convinced Kosok of the correctness of his guess: he found the line of the winter (in the southern hemisphere, winter corresponds to our summer) solstice. In addition, Kosok drew attention to the fact that the drawings and lines indicate the presence of certain cosmic bodies (stars and constellations) in the sky on astronomically significant days (full moons, etc.).

But to reinforce the hypothesis, it was necessary to identify all the figures of the Nazca desert with celestial phenomena. This most difficult task required great efforts, time and full dedication. Paul Kosok was lucky. He found such an assistant in the person of a modest translator from Spanish, who accompanied him on trips to the countries of South America, a German by birth Maria Reiche. It was to her that the scientist handed over the fate of his extraordinary discovery and never later repented of it. It took seven years to draw up the first approximate maps and topological plans of the plateau.

Only in 1947, with the assistance of the Ministry of Aviation of Peru, Maria was able to use a helicopter. The first time she flew, hanging overboard: she was tied with ropes, and she held the camera in her hands. Then a familiar engineer designed a special suspension for her - it became relatively safe. She worked alone, and therefore things went slowly. Maria completed the first detailed scheme of images in the Nazca desert only in 1956.

“For the ancient peoples, the positions of the Sun served as a calendar,” said Maria Reiche. - It was used to determine the arrival of spring and autumn, seasonal fluctuations in the water regime, and, consequently, the timing of sowing and harvesting. That is why we found so many lines. It is difficult to talk about the exact meaning of animal images. I only know that some of them represent entire constellations. Most of all, I want to penetrate into the way of thinking of the ancients, who left us such unusual writings. And it is also extremely important to understand how people who did not know how to fly over the pampas (local name) could design and transfer to its surface a many times enlarged picture of the starry sky? .. "

The hypothesis of the astronomical calendar was shared by most scientists around the world for decades, until the well-known American astronomer took up its verification. Gerald Hawkins, author of the monograph "Unraveling the mystery of Stonehenge". With the help of a computer, Hawkins brilliantly proved that the famous Stonehenge - a mysterious structure on the Salisbury Plain - is nothing more than an astronomical observatory.

Applying the same technique, corrected for the latitude of the Nazca Plateau, Hawkins made sure that only an incomplete 20% of the lines on the Nazca Plateau point to the Sun or. As for the stars, here the accuracy of the directions does not generally exceed the random distribution of numbers. “The computer has smashed the theory of the star-solar calendar to smithereens,” J. Hawkins was forced to admit. “With bitterness, we abandoned the theory of the astronomical calendar.” However, Hawkins's research also gave a positive result, since it was he who was the first to note the strange feature of the Nazca drawings: they were all made one line without break, which does not intersect anywhere.

The next version of the mysterious Nazca drawings is alien, it is now the most common. And it was first put forward Erich von Daniken(he also studied the English Stonehenge). He is sure that these drawings served as runways for interplanetary alien ships. His confidence in the cosmic purpose of signs is based on the fact that the drawings have the correct forms, and the lines are perfectly straight, and they can only be detected from the air.

Why are these drawings located in places where no one can see them from the ground? Or were they intended directly for gods unknown to us?

Those who watched the world-famous documentary "Memories of the Future" remember the landing of a sports plane on one of these runways. But as soon as they are visible only from an airplane, a natural question arises: "Could the ancient inhabitants of the Cordillera - the Incas - know how to fly?". Here it is appropriate to recall the ancient legend of the Incas, which speaks of "golden ship" who arrived from distant stars: “They were commanded by a woman named Oryana. She was destined to become the foremother of the earthly race. Oryana gave birth to seventy earthly children, and then returned to the stars.

This legend reports on the ability of the "sons", the Incas, "to fly over the earth on golden ships." Perhaps there is some connection between these legends and the reports of the English anthropological journal Maine, which, in particular, says: “Analysis of the muscle tissues of the preserved Inca mummies showed that they differ sharply from the local population in terms of blood composition. They have been found blood group of the rarest combination. In our time, such a blood composition is known only in two or three people in the whole world.

Another version that has an alien basis. The key to unraveling the mystery of the Nazca desert can be a huge drawing applied to the 400-meter mountain slope of the Paracas Peninsula (Peru). The drawing is known as the Paracas Candelabra, or "Andean Candelabra". Its “branches point in the direction of the Nazca desert. Like the figures of the Nazca desert, the lines of this image are notches that reach the bedrock - red porphyry.

The age of the Candelabra is at least two millennia, and the history of its origin is a mystery behind seven seals. According to the bold hypothesis of some Russian researchers, the "Candelabra of Paracas" is nothing more than a "passport of the Earth." This picture contains all the information about our planet. The left side of the picture represents the fauna, the right side - the flora. And the picture is the whole face of a person. Near the top of the mountain there is a mark resembling a nail in shape. This is a scale showing the “level of modern development of civilization” (there are six in total). If the "Candelabra" is speculatively rotated by 180 °, then a crucifixion will turn out. This is a kind of symbol - a warning that our planet may die from unreasonable human activities.

Further, the authors of this idea are trying to explain that this information was delivered to us by some kind of super-civilization from the constellation. Referring to a large number of sculptural images of a lion on Earth and in all earthly religions in particular, the authors prove that modern earthly civilization is the work of aliens from the Leo constellation.

I would like to tell you about another version that appeared relatively recently - this is an artificial system of underground water channels located in the bowels of a mountain plateau. In the city of Nazca with a population of 10 thousand people, the river of the same name flows. In terms of its composition and "fragrance", it is not inferior to the sewers of large cities, but at the same time, the inhabitants of Nazca do not lack fresh and clean water. It is taken from a system of wells, which are located exactly along the lines of mysterious drawings. And what is especially striking is that two of these underground channels run directly under the bed of the Nazca River. And the general system of irrigation canals Nazca simply cannot but arouse admiration - it is so perfect and productive. It should be noted that the source of the prosperity of the people who inhabited Nazca was precisely, therefore, this version has a real basis. But who, when and how could build such canals?

Time passes, and the Nazca drawings only become more mysterious. Not far from, in the mountains, similar images were found that were not previously known. And in this case, the drawings do not indicate the location of underground water channels.

And 1400 km from the Nazca plateau, at the foot of Mount Solitari, a giant statue of a man was discovered. They named it the Giant of the Atacama. It reaches a height of 120 meters, and it is surrounded by lines and signs similar to the Nazca drawings. There are more and more such mysterious finds every year, which confuses researchers and stimulates dreamers who put forward more and more new versions of the purpose of the Nazca drawings.

Questions, questions... So far, none of them about these mysterious objects has been answered satisfactorily (http://www.inca.nm.ru/Nasca.htm).

New drawings in the Nazca desert

Andrey Zhukov, Candidate of Historical Sciences

Today, almost everyone who is fond of riddles knows about the drawings of the Nazca desert. ancient history humanity. Scientists more than twenty years ago decided on the dating of this mysterious phenomenon, placing it around the middle of the 1st millennium AD. and attributing its creation to the local Indian culture with the same name - Nazca. But the paradox is that after 60 years of research into this ancient phenomenon, scientists are no closer to solving this greatest of the mysteries of human history, which are the Nazca images.

The Nazca Plateau, or as it is called in Peru, Pampa Nazca- This is a desert plateau, indented by numerous channels of long-dry rivers. It is located 450 km south of the capital of Peru, Lima. The total area covered with drawings stretches for more than 50 km from north to south and 5-7 km from west to east. mysterious lines cover the surface of the desert with an area of approximately 500 square meters. km. Such images made on the surface of the earth, scientists call geoglyphs. The main mystery of Nazca is the lines and stripes themselves, of which there are about 13,000 here! In addition, about 700 geometric figures are also known on the plateau, primarily triangles and trapezoids and about 100 spirals.

But there are very few well-known drawings of animals, birds, fish and insects here - just over thirty. All these images in Nazca are made, as it seems at first glance, in a fairly simple way, they are dug into the surface of a desert plateau. Those. and drawings, and lines, and stripes - the essence is just grooves in the sand and pebble soil. Their depth varies from 10 to 30 cm. But the width of individual lanes can reach 100 m, and in exceptional cases even 200 m. And the length of some lines reaches 8-10 km!

Today, there are more than thirty hypotheses trying to explain the origin of these geoglyphs, but none of them can give an intelligible answer to two main questions: how and why this gigantic "drawing board" was drawn.

Modern geodetic methods do not allow drawing a straight line up to 8 km long on rough terrain so that the deviation does not exceed 0.1%. And the ancient creators of the Nazca drawings, whoever they were, did it. Moreover, straight lines stretching for kilometers simply ignore the folds of the relief. They descend into ravines, rise to the tops of hills, and at the same time their geometric correctness and parallelism of the lateral borders are not violated at all.

Moreover, the Nazca plateau is not the only area in Peru covered with mysterious images. Just a dozen kilometers from Nazca is located small town Palp, around which on a plateau called Palpa Pampa are thousands similar stripes, lines and patterns.

These geoglyphs on the Palpa plateau became known to the general public after the publications of Erich von Däniken only in the early 90s of the last century. The Palpa plateau itself is twice as small as Nazca in area, but the variety of geoglyphs in Palpa is much greater. As in Nazca, on the Palpa plateau, the overwhelming majority of images are stripes and lines. The stripes can bifurcate, change their direction at right angles, turn into triangles. In Palpa, a strip 200 m wide was discovered. According to some researchers, there are lines here much longer than in Nazca. The size of the longest of them allegedly reaches 23 km! The logic of the ancient creators of this complex of images is still inaccessible to modern scientists.

With all the abundance of hypotheses about the origin and purpose of the geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa, today scientists have not come close to unraveling this mysterious phenomenon. It is hard to imagine that such a huge amount of work, comparable in scale only with the construction of the Great Chinese wall, was performed with some one utilitarian purpose.

The study of the grandiose complex of images of Nazca-Palpa is further complicated by the fact that it still does not exist. detailed maps, displaying the whole picture of the geoglyphs of the area. With the help of aerial photography, the Americans made fairly detailed maps of that part of the Nazca plateau, which depicts well-known animal figures. But detailed plans the entire Nazca complex, and even more so, the Palpa plateau to today no. Pilots of tourist planes say that almost every year they discover new, previously unknown geoglyphs on the plateau. But pilots are not researchers and do not capture newly discovered images. This is done by scientists of small archaeological missions from other countries, who last years stepped up their work. And here are some interesting results...

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