The Nazca Lines

[Cassie]

I have always been fascinated by The Nazca lines; a series of geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert, a high arid plateau that stretches more than 80 km (50 miles) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana in Peru. There are hundreds of individual figures, ranging in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks or orcas, llamas, and lizards.

The lines are shallow designs in the ground where the reddish pebbles that cover the surrounding landscape have been removed, revealing the whitish earth underneath. Hundreds are simple lines or geometric shapes, and more than seventy are natural or human figures. The largest are over 200m across. Many can only clearly be seen from an aircraft.

There are many theories about what they are, and why they were made a lot of which point to extra terrestial connections.. This Crystalinks article covers some of the main theories. (http://www.crystalinks.com/nazca.html)
For me the long straight intersecting lines are even more interesting than the human and animal figures. They do so resemble interstate highways or airport runways.
What are your theories?

[Louisvillian]

What are your theories?
Bunch of goofy people made some goofy lines in the ground.
Same thing with similar phenomena in other parts of the world. People attempting, crudely, to communicate with celestial beings of the skies, i.e. their concept of the gods.

I highly doubt the veracity of any claims of extra-terrestrial involvement.

[Xander67]

Peru has never (that I am aware of) intentionally tried to cover up any information like the US does and the UK (used to cover up)

Much of the info on ET visitations and co-operation is all being declassified..

That looks like a big undertaking for it to be have made by a bunch of goofy UFO freaks.. Especially in Peru,

not really sure what the lines are supposed to be.. looks complex though.

[The 13th Monkey]

I heard through some second hand knowledge that they were used by Shamans. The Shamans would take one of their pupils out into the middle of one of the diagrams. The pupil had to project up and out of their body. Afterwards, they had to describe the shape that they were positioned in. Then and only then, could they be considered a shaman.

[Xander67]

I guess they are like energy circuits for the earth?

[Ruby Heart]

They do resemble massive airline runways. The giant animals on the ground are also fascinating. The local Indians have stories about the lines but I don't believe they created them. How could they have done that with so much accuracy and without the help of a plane or satelite? It's been told by Erich Von Daaniken that these Indians had been living there for not for very long. Also these animal giant shapes and lines were already there when the Indians moved into the region. I suppose this: Mysterious and definately unknown.

[Xander67]

Wow!! If you look at his site the same img is displayed in his nav console at the top of the page.

http://www.evdaniken.com/index.html

[Cassie]

Bunch of goofy people made some goofy lines in the ground...
.
Well these lines are by all accounts very ancient, massive and mysterious. They have become one of the most visited tourist destinations in South America. Whoever the people were that made them were a bit more than just goofy.

They do resemble massive airline runways. The giant animals on the ground are also fascinating. The local Indians have stories about the lines but I don't believe they created them. How could they have done that with so much accuracy and without the help of a plane or satelite? It's been told by Erich Von Daaniken that these Indians had been living there for not for very long. Also these animal giant shapes and lines were already there when the Indians moved into the region. I suppose this: Mysterious and definately unknown.


Wow!! If you look at his site the same img is displayed in his nav console at the top of the page.

http://www.evdaniken.com/index.html
Interesting site. Erich Von Daaniken has some interesting ideas. The problem is that he lets his own ideas dominate the facts he comes accross and so he is given to exaggeration. I saw one documentary where one of the photos in his book was shown to be heavily edited and much smaller than the text implied. It is a shame because I think there is some truth in his theories, but he has given his critics too much amunition to hit him with.

[Xander67]

Yeah, that is what happens when you hire a PR firm to handle your public image. They like to sensationalize and attempt to make it more dynamic. Just like with everything else we hear we have to remember to filter out the spin lol.

[MsMollimizz]

...It'd been a little while so bear with me.
I read on the "disaster whatch page" http://home.att.net/~thehessians/disasterwatch.html
That global warming is even causing some changes to even
the Nazca lines were even eroding away due to the lack of
the minimal moisture in the ground. Lines are "erasing" themselves...
Can some one confirm this ?
Gentle Light
MsMolli

[Toki Wartooth]

I've not heard of this, but I hope it's not true. ...I'm also glad I decided to go before they may be being erased. :|

ETA: Well, there's this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines#Environmental_concerns).

[Xander67]

Thanks for the link Toki Wartooth!

I think it is odd how they are so fragile and being so vulnerable to weather like that. I guess that is one thing we can say about whoever/whatever created them. They did so without any damage to the ecosystem lol

[Toki Wartooth]

I wouldn't be too surprised. If these were created by such people as the Nazca, then I'm sure they'd've also been tuned in with nature. Even the Incas seemed so, judging by how they oriented a lot of their temples and cities (particularly Machu Picchu).

[ninurta2008]

Many can only clearly be seen from an aircraft.

All can be seen from the ground, if you count mountains. I've been to Peru, and the Nazca lines. I was even more stunned to be there and see them in person. They pronounce spanish different. I learned in spanish courses that ll was pronounced similar to y but its pronounced like a j there in Peru.


Haven't been to Macchu Picchu but I want to.

[Tiberias]

The most likely explanation I've come across (mind you, I'm not a Pre-Colombian expert by any stretch, it's just an at-best tangential professional interest) is that the lines are some sort of sacred pathway to be walked by either the priests or whoever wished to. There are ethnographic analogies elsewhere throughout history of this sort of thing - specific pilgrimage routes in Europe and the Levant such as that from Toulouse to Santiago do Compostela, the stations of the cross in a medieval church, processional pathways at Stonehenge or Avebury, traditions of topographically precise processions in the shrines of Ancient Greece, etc.

As for aliens and astral projection - Occam's Razor.;)