Nazca lines

From SkepticWiki

1 Definition
2 What are they?
3 What are they for?
- 3.1 The alien theories
- 3.2 Skeptical response
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Definition

The Nazca lines are geometric and pictorial diagrams that appear in the Nazca Plateau in Peru. The Nazcas lived between 200BCE and 600CE, but left behind little evidence of their civilization other than these mysterious lines. They would have taken centuries to carve these figures into the desert rock, some of which span the area of multiple football fields.

[edit] What are they?

A closeup view of a Nazca line, showing how it was made.

The Nazca lines cover the desert plain and generally fall into three types:

Lines and paths: Some of the Nazca lines are literally lines, straight lines and curved pathways going from one place to another in the desert.

Geometric shapes: Some of them comprise simple geometric shapes such as trapezoids and other polygons. Most of them are elongated and stretch toward the horizon when viewed from one end.

Pictographs: Some of them are pictures, mostly animals, that are quite large and can only be resolved when viewed from above at an altitude.

[edit] What are they for?

The big mystery about the Nazca lines is not what they are or how they are made. Some people claim that they could only have been made with the help of alien visitors, but in truth it would have been very easy for them to make these shapes. We know from the tapestries that survive from this era that the Nazca people had a concept of designing on a grid and then transferring the image to another medium of any scale. They could easily have done so here.

The biggest question is, why did they make them? As one might expect, those who purport they were made by or for aliens from outer space have very different explanations than do the skeptics.

[edit] The alien theories

Those who postulate that these were made by or for aliens have different explanations for each of the three types of lines:

Lines and paths: These are purported to provide navigational guidance for alien spaceships.

Geometric shapes: These are said to be the landing and takeoff runways for the spacecraft.

Pictographs: These are perhaps the hardest to explain, as there are no immediately obvious reasons why aliens would want to view these pictures from the air. The most offered explanation is that the Nazca people worshipped the aliens as gods and made these lines to appease them. It is also offered that they placed these pictures here to make their land more conspicuous and encourage the aliens to land there more often.

[edit] Skeptical response

Not surprisingly, skeptics have different views, which are more in line with Occam's Razor as they don't require the postulation of the visitation of the planet by aliens. Also, if the idea of getting the aliens' attention was the goal, they failed as only the largest lines are visible in even the most detailed satellite photos. Most of the explanation centers around the idea that the Nazcas, living in a desert, were very concerned about getting water:

Lines and paths: Following these to their end (or, their beginning) brings you to a well where water can be obtained. So these are paths to follow to get to the local wells, and may even map out the underground aqueducts the Nazcas apparently constructed to collect water during the rainy season underground where it would have less opportunity to evaporate away; these still exist to this day and still do an excellent job of collecting water.

Geometric shapes: These actually appear to line up with stars, the sun, and the moon at particular times of the year. This would have let the Nazcas follow the seasons that were so necessary for their obtaining food and water.

Pictographs: As with the alien theorists, these are the most difficult to explain. No writings of the Nazcas survive (if indeed any were made at all), so we just don't know what they were for. Like the alien theorists, skeptics believe that they were made to appease their gods (with the exception that the skeptics remove the need for aliens in doing so). However, a couple of clues in the design are left behind. One is that the designs are made with long, continuous lines; they could be drawn on paper (in Lewis Carroll fashion) without lifting the pen or crossing any other lines. The second is that they are not enclosed figures. This is most evident in the figure of "The Monkey," in which two lines come down from the base of the monkey's tail. These superfluous lines are obviously not a part of the form, so it is thought that they are entry and exit lines. This would make the figure a full pathway that could be walked, perhaps as part of a procession ritual to appease the gods and get them to send rain.