“Centuries before the Incas, a historic monument was created on the southern coast of Peru, unparalleled in the world and intended for posterity. In terms of scale and accuracy of execution, it is not inferior to the Egyptian pyramids.
But if there we look, lifting our heads, at the monumental three-dimensional structures of a simple geometric shape, then here we have to look from a great height at wide open spaces covered with mysterious lines and images, which are as if drawn on the plain by a giant hand. The mystery of the desert. Maria Reiche.
PLATO NASCA
Many geoglyphs of this plateau are so large that they can only be viewed from a great height. These majestic ancient monuments, some of which were created many millennia ago, contain many mysteries. It is possible that such "cult drawings" reflected some of the most ancient astronomical knowledge included in the "temple science", the secrets of which the priests passed down from generation to generation.
In 1939, American archaeologist Paul Kosok organized an air expedition to the Nazca plateau. So for the first time, sketches and photos were obtained, which allowed not only to capture strange geoglyph paintings, but also to draw up an approximate plan of the plateau for the first time. All further research of Nazca is somehow connected with the name of the German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche.
She began ground work in 1941 and a few years later achieved complete mapping of the area with the help of military aviation surveyors. In 1947, Dr. Reiche compiled an atlas of Nazca images that outlined the topographic plan of Kosok.
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The main content of the plateau, which stretches for more than 50 km from north to south and 5-7 km from west to east, is all sorts of lines and stripes. There are about 13,000 of them, in addition, at least 700 more geometric shapes are known, including various trapezoids, polygons and spirals.
The general panorama of the Nazca plateau resembles a huge drawing board, dotted with perfectly straight lines. These linear geoglyphs stretched out to the horizon over rough terrain, strictly following their direction. Even with modern geodetic methods, it would be difficult to perform such work.
The lines are grooved strips hundreds of meters long, several tens of meters wide and 25-30 cm deep. Geoglyphs overlap each other many times, which speaks of a whole era of their creation. At the same time, later images, created by other generations of builders, do not destroy their predecessors.
ASTROARCHEOLOGY
Even Paul Kosok, and then Maria Reiche, proved in their scientific works that the mutual arrangement, proportions and sizes of the "Nazca lines" obey certain and fairly strict mathematical relationships. For half a century of her unique research, Dr. Reiche came to the conclusion that the culture of the Nazca geoglyphs was unambiguously associated with astronomical observations used in astrological and cult rites.
In fact, she proposed the concept of the largest “open-air observatory” in the history of mankind. However, another well-known expert in astroarcheology, Gerald Hawkins, has a different opinion. He claims that no more than 20 percent of all geometric shapes can have "astronomical content."
PARADE OF HYPOTHESIS
Disputes on this topic continue to this day.
The first Nazca explorer, Paul Kosok, back in 1939, noticed that separate lines indicate some stars and constellations, corresponding to different phases of the moon and the points of sunrise - sunset. Based on this, he hypothesized that the Nazca geoglyphs are a grand astronomical calendar.
Maria Reiche developed Kosok's ideas and, together with her colleagues L. Dawson, G. Winkel and Zelke, believed that, in addition to astronomical purposes, Nazca figures were used in mystical rituals. She justified this by the presence of more than a hundred images of labyrinths. In Indian tradition, labyrinths mark the entrances to the underworld and its ritual connection with the sky - the sun. This is how the occult ceremonies of torchlight processions were born along the contours of the totems.
Among the versions, the idea of a "demographic valve" stands out, according to which the titanic work of laying lines was used to … control the population. That is, during periods of strong population growth, the leaders and priests occupied all able-bodied people with the hardest labor of digging grooves, which increased mortality and reduced the birth rate!
Mysterious images can be found on the Palpa Pampa plateau nearby to Nazca. It is half the size of Nazca, but it has more various images, among which there are more than a dozen only human-like creatures, while on the Nazca plateau only one such drawing is known, depicting a 30-meter "astronaut".
The geoglyph "star" is especially prominent. A six-pointed star with a 16-ray center and many strange holes is located on a kilometer square. Nearby is a smaller, 8-pointed star and a double helix surrounded by wavy lines. Local archaeologists call this drawing a "sundial".
Some archaeologists consider the famous image of the "Palpa Star" to be the prototype of the meteorological wind rose, indicating how local breezes, monsoons and trade winds blow.
IN THE SKY OF PRECOLUMBUM AMERICA
Despite the skepticism of professionals, the idea that the mysterious Nazca and Palpa plateaus were the airfields of pre-Columbian America haunts many enthusiasts.
In the late 70s of the last century, the famous American aeronaut J. Woodman suggested that the ancient aborigines of Peru could indeed fly. To prove this, he launched the Nazca community project, which brought together a large group of amateur researchers.
A painstaking archival search began, which led to a mysterious drawing on the wall of one of the tombs of Mesoamerica, built more than 2,000 years ago. It depicted a strange figure: a tetrahedron, to which was attached something resembling a rook.
This is how an amazing design arose from a tetrahedral balloon measuring 30 by 10 meters, made of fabric found in ancient burials. A gondola-boat, woven from reeds from Lake Titicaca, was attached to it on vines. The lifting force of the balloon, according to the imagination of the researchers, was given by hot air and smoke from a fire in an underground tunnel.
Surprisingly, the "Nazca air boat" really "surfaced"! She flew two hundred meters, carrying Woodman and his colleague, the Englishman J. Notgom! True, then the curious apparatus went down sharply. The balloonists dropped all the ballast, but the balloon crashed to the ground and, freed from the gondola-boat, soared again, flying a few more kilometers. The enthusiasts did not make any other attempts to see the Nazca geoglyphs through the eyes of the ancient inhabitants.
Another "air hypothesis" suggests that the natives of America were familiar with the art of gliding. The "Paracas candelabrum" is cited as evidence. This giant trident, carved on a rock near the town of Paracas on the Pacific coast, with a lot of imagination can be mistaken for … a two-keel glider. However, no one has yet undertaken its reconstruction.
This giant trident, carved on a rock near the town of Paracas on the Pacific coast, with a lot of imagination can be mistaken for … a two-keel glider.
Nevertheless, there is nothing so unusual about the flight of ancient inhabitants over the Nazca plateau. You just need to remember that on the other side of the ocean, in the ancient Chinese kingdoms, back in the II century BC. e. have successfully used manned kites. They raised observers of the enemy army (including overlooking the steppe behind the Great Wall of China), broadcast dispatches and even launched fireworks.
It is much easier to make a simple kite than a glider or a balloon, and strong winds constantly blowing over the Nazca and Palpa plateaus will easily raise it to a height, from where the whole panorama of geoglyphs will open.
Oleg ARSENOV