A few dozen kilometers north of Blythe, off the banks of the Colorado River west of Highway 95, is a group of giant geoglyphs. In total, there are six different figures in three locations, including the Blythe man and animal figures depicting snakes and four-legged beasts. The largest human geoglyph reaches 52 meters from head to toe. These figures are absolutely indistinguishable from ground level, as well as from any neighboring hill.
As with the famous Nazca Lines in Peru, the Blythe figures can only be seen from the air. This is how the Blythe geoglyphs were discovered.
Unseen by modern humans until the 20th century, these huge figures were hidden at the bottom of the desert. The Blythe figures were only discovered in 1931 by local pilot George Palmer flying over Blythe. Palmer reported the figures of two people, snakes and four-legged animals with long tails.
Palmer's discovery led to the expedition of Arthur Woodward, curator of history and anthropology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He classified the geoglyphs as "Historic Landmarks". However, without proper care and protection, the site was threatened with destruction due to weather conditions and vandalism. During World War II, Blythe was even used as a training ground for tanks, which also caused damage to the landmark. Attention! It wasn't until 1952, when the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Institution sent their in-house archaeologists here and published an extensive magazine article along with aerial photographs, that the Blythe figures became known to the outside world. Today geoglyphs are surrounded by a fence and protected by law.
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The shapes in the blight were created by removing the topsoil and rock. Thus, it was possible to expose the light-colored soil, overlapping the figures with a layer of gravel. Small particles have been washed and weathered over the centuries, leaving large stones and pebbles on the surface.
It is difficult to pinpoint the age of the Blythe figures, as there are no methods of thorough research yet. Their age can be anything from 450 to 2,000 years. Geoglyphs are believed to have been created by the ancestors of today's Native Americans along the Colorado River. According to Native American legends, the human figure may represent the creator, while the animal figures may represent the mountain lions that helped in the creation. Most likely, this is a message to the gods, prevalent in the beliefs of the period.