Where are the Nazca geoglyphs. Nazca Lines: “Plateau with Mysterious Tattoos. Alla Belokon - Traces of an alien civilization

Nazca, a small ancient town in the south of Peru, attracts numerous tourists from all over the world. There are no outstanding architectural sights here, but there is something that does not leave indifferent even the biggest skeptics: giant images on the earth's surface, which are more than two thousand years old. How these drawings appeared here, what they were used for is still a mystery, despite a large number of hypotheses. But thanks to objects such as the Nazca lines, Peru has become a "magnet" for researchers, mystics and everyone who is interested in still unsolved mysteries.

Story

Back in 1927, pilots who noticed on the plateau near The Pacific numerous lines and images. But scientists became interested in this discovery only a decade later, when Paul Kosok, an American historian, published a series of photographs taken from the air.

However, strange images were known much earlier. Back in 1553, the Spanish priest and scholar Pedro Ciesa de Leon, who wrote about the conquest of South America, mentioned "signs among the sands to guess the path paved." Most notably, he did not regard these drawings as strange or inexplicable. Perhaps in those days more was known about the purpose of geoglyphs? This question also remains open.

Among the scientists who studied the lines in the Nazca desert, the greatest contribution to the development and popularization of the topic belongs to the German archaeologist Maria Reiche. She worked as an assistant to Paul Cocos, and when he stopped research in 1948, Reiche continued to work. But her contribution is important not only from a scientific point of view. Thanks to the efforts of the researcher, some of the Nazca lines were saved from destruction.

Reiche described the research of the amazing monument of the ancient civilization in the book "The Mystery of the Desert", and the fee was spent on preserving the original appearance of the area and building an observation tower.

Subsequently, aerial photography of the reserve was repeatedly carried out, but detailed map that includes all figures. It still does not exist.

Description of figures

In the photo of the Nazca lines in Peru, you can see clear images of enormous size. Among them, there are about 700 regular geometric shapes (trapezoids, quadrangles, triangles, etc.). All these lines retain their geometry even on complex terrain, and the contours remain clear in places where they overlap. Some of the figures are clearly oriented to the cardinal points. Equally surprising are the clear edges of the figures, the size of which exceeds several kilometers.

But even more amazing are the semantic images. There are about three dozen drawings of animals, birds, fish, plants and even humans on the plateau. All of them are impressive in size. Here you can see:

a bird almost three hundred meters long;
two hundred meter lizard;
one hundred meter condor;
eighty-meter spider.

In total, there are about one and a half thousand images and figures on the plateau. The largest of them are about 270 m in size. But, despite careful study over the years, Nazca continues to delight with discoveries. So in 2017, after restoration work, scientists discovered another drawing - an image of a killer whale. They suggested that this image is possibly one of the oldest. Most of the geoglyphs date back to around 200 BC.

Due to the large size of the images, being on the ground, it is impossible to see them - the whole picture is revealed only from a height. From the observation tower, where tourists can climb, the view is also extremely limited - you will be able to see only two drawings. To admire the ancient arts, you need

Origin theories

Since the discovery of the Nazca lines, hypotheses have been put forward one after another. There are several of the most popular theories.

Religious

According to this hypothesis, images of such a large size were built by the ancient population of Peru so that the gods could notice them from space. Archaeologist Johan Reinhakd, for example, was inclined to this point of view. In 1985, he published research data pointing to the ancient Peruvians' worship of the elements. In particular, the cult of mountains and the cult of water were widespread in these territories. Thus, it has been suggested that the drawings on the ground are nothing more than a part of religious rites.

Astronomical

This theory was put forward by the first researchers - Coconut and Reich. They believed that many of the lines are indicators of the places of rising and setting of the Sun and other celestial bodies. But the version was refuted by the British archaeoastronomer Gerald Hawkins, who, back in the 70s of the last century, proved that no more than 20% of the Nazca lines can be associated with celestial landmarks. And given the different directions of the lines, the astronomical hypothesis looks unconvincing.

Demonstrative

Astronomer Robin Edgar did not notice any scientific background in the drawings on the Peruvian plateau. He also leaned towards metaphysical reasons. True, he believed that the numerous furrows were dug not for the purpose of worship, but as a response to the constant solar eclipses that occurred during this period in Peru.

Technical

Some researchers believe that the lines are associated with the possibility of building aircraft. As proof of this version, there were even attempts to build an airplane from the materials available at that time. A similar version is put forward by the Russian researcher A. Sklyarov in the book “Nazca. Giant drawings in the fields ”. He thinks that ancient civilization on the territory of Peru was highly developed and possessed not only aircraft, but even used laser technology.

Alien

Finally, there are those who believe that the drawings were used for aliens - as a means of communication, as a landing site for flying objects, etc. Even strange remains of unknown creatures found in these parts are cited as proof. Others, on the contrary, are sure that the Peruvian mummies, like the Nazca lines, are fakes and fraud.

Nazca Mystery Revealed?

For decades, archaeologists have been trying to find an explanation for the mysterious Naska lines. Filmed in 2009 documentary"Decoded Nazca Lines". Anyone interested in the topic will certainly be interested to watch. But the answer to the question remained open, and attempts to unravel the mystery continue. For example, a version has recently been put forward that the Nazca lines form a single whole with the aqueduct system. Pukios - a complex hydraulic system - was built for the purpose of extracting groundwater. Part of it has survived to this day. On the basis of images taken from space, it has been suggested that the lines are part of this "water race". Precisely an assumption, because the researchers were never able to explain what functional role the drawings played in the plumbing system. But, perhaps, on a beautiful day, the clue to the Peruvian miracle will still be found.

The Nazca Lines still cause a lot of controversy as to who created them and when they appeared. Strange outlines, 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 History

Strange geoglyphs - traces 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, reminiscent of 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 began researching strange shapes on a sandy surface. However, it was possible to take a photo of an unusual place only in 1947. For more than half a century, Maria Reiche has devoted herself to deciphering strange symbols, but a final conclusion has not been provided.

Today, the desert is considered a conservation 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 so far been suspended.

Description of Nazca drawings

If you look from the air, the lines on the plain are clearly visible, but walking in 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 the aviation became more developed. Small hills on the plateau distort the pictures, which are drawn by means of 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 dimensions of the printed images are quite large. So, the condor stretches for a distance of almost 120 m, and the lizard reaches 188 m in length.There is even a drawing that resembles an astronaut, the height of which is 30 m. the trench seems impossible.

Hypotheses of the nature of the appearance of lines

Scientists from different countries have tried to figure out where the lines point and by whom they were laid. There was a theory that such images were made by the Incas, but research has proven that they were created much earlier than the existence of the nationality. The approximate period, which dates 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 territory of the plateau. In a village belonging to the people, sketches were found that resemble drawings drawn 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, and therefore 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 the moment, it is not known why the Nazca lines were drawn and how the people, who did not possess the skills of writing, managed to reproduce such traces on an area of 350 square meters. km.

In 1939, an American archaeologist Paul Kosok flying over the Nazca desert, discovered strange lines and shapes. Previously, no one guessed about them, because they can be clearly seen only from a sufficiently high height. From that moment on, the study of strange figures began. German Doctor of Archeology Maria Reiche devoted her whole life to this. She also achieved the protection of the lines from destruction at the highest level. Now the lines and geoglyphs Nazca are a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

Thanks to the desert climate, the drawings have not disappeared for centuries, although they are very easily destructible: after all, they are simply the removed top layer of soil. But there is something to protect the lines from. Lines that have held out for centuries can easily be destroyed by humans, because both cars and people leave noticeable traces on the surface. And the trail running right through some of the geoglyphs Panamericana Sur creates an even greater threat.

Many of the lines stretch over 8 kilometers in length, and the figures can be as large as 250 meters. In the photo below - circular (360 degrees) photo panorama of the Nazca desert in high definition, taken from a hill by the highway.

At present, about 30 basic and hundreds of lesser-known drawings are known, about 700 geometric shapes, most of which are spirals, and about 13,000 lines of various geometries. Also, no less interesting geoglyphs were discovered north of Nazca - near the city Palpa... Due to their clear similarity, we describe them together.

The main geoglyphs of Nazca

On the map below, we have highlighted the most famous geoglyphs - drawings of the Nazca desert. Numerous lines can also be seen on the map. Please note: the figure "Astronaut" is made at a great distance from the others - on the map below on the right, moreover, on a hillside and in a different manner, this may indicate a different nature of the origin compared to the rest of the geoglyphs.

Types of Nazca and Palpa figures

Conventionally, all figures of both the Nazca and Palpa deserts can be divided into 6 types in terms of geometry:

Mysteries of Nazca and Palpa

Overlapping oddities. Multiple intersecting, overlapping lines, shapes and drawings refute the theory that the drawings were made later than the lines. Because somewhere the drawings are above the lines, and somewhere the other way around. But something else is strange: the drawings and lines located on top do not destroy the drawings and lines that are under them.
Passage through the relief. When viewed from space, all the lines look absolutely even. But if you take pictures from an airplane, you can see that often the lines go through rough terrain. In this case, it is not clear how it was possible to execute the lines so precisely, not from a height, but while on the ground.
The manner of performing drawings. Almost all drawings are made with one line, which does not intersect anywhere. The manner in which the drawings are performed strongly resembles the manner of performing zigzags, spirals and parallel lines - as if they were drawn with one ray under the control of a computer program.
Arrangement of figures. Almost all drawings are parallel or at right angles to nearby lines.
Inbound and outbound lines of drawings... Many drawings such as Hummingbird, Spider, Monkey, are drawn not as a closed line, but outgoing from somewhere and returning somewhere, as if the drawings were drawn "at the same time" with the lines. Often such entrances-outlets are located in the genital area of the depicted animals.
Location of drawings... Nazca and Palpa are not the only places in the lines. The lines are scattered over the desert part of almost all of Peru, many hundreds of kilometers from Nazca. Well known geoglyph " Chandelier"located in Paracas and clearly visible from the Ballestas Islands.
Interdependence of drawings. Thin lines suddenly turn into wide ones, the line can be continued by the drawing, and the wide line ends at the intersection of another wide one.

The lines represent a removed layer of soil from 20 to 50 cm. But there are no embankments nearby - only very minimal ones, and there are no heaps of stones in the distance. And on smooth turns of wide lines when clearing the sides, the sides on the outer circumferences of the sides should be wider than on the inner ones. In addition, it should be understood that in order to draw some large stripes, thousands of tons of such rubble must be removed from the surface.

Relief dependence. The thickening of the lines often comes with a decrease in the ground level. Thick lines are often interrupted at the foot of mountains or rivers. And some wide lines are located on the mountains and, as it were, cut off their peaks, which are almost perfectly flat.
Rows of embankments. The purpose of the rows of points - embankments is not clear. In some places, they fill wide stripes.
Uncharted artifacts. In the area of the lines, there are many strange formations - square and round depressions, geometrically evenly spaced rock formations, which scientists have not yet explored. Therefore, until this is done, it is difficult to give the final versions of the purpose of the figures.
Apart from the lines, there are no traces... To draw such lines from the ground, you need to use some kind of adaptation, you need the presence of people. All this would leave technological traces. Today you can see distinct traces from cars and people. Even for example, after Greenpeace conducted its unsuccessful action and left traces, which greatly angered the Peruvians. But the ancient lines have no traces, except for the lines themselves.

Scientists' versions

There are several main versions of the origin and purpose of the Nazca lines and geoglyphs. And they are all pretty controversial.

Astronomical version. German researcher Maria Reiche, who devoted her life to the study of figures, came to the conclusion that the drawings were made, who lived in this area about 2000 years ago. The drawings on their ceramic dishes, similar to geoglyphs, also speak for this. Radiocarbon analysis proves about the same date of occurrence of geoglyphs. The drawings, according to Reiche, represent a large astronomical calendar, an open-air observatory. The calendar was used to determine the time of agricultural work. Doctor Phillips Pitlugs, for example, claims that the image of a spider and lines diverging from it resembles a cluster of stars in the constellation Orion. Modern scholars (since the American Gerald Hawkins) dispute this version, arguing that there are so many lines that of course you can find those that resemble the arrangement of stars. But what to do with the rest is not clear.
Religious version. This version does not dispute the version of the origin, but considers release rites to be the purpose. For example, shamans walked along these lanes and called out to the souls of the dead. Or the inhabitants of Nazca tried in this way to appeal to the gods so that they would give water in the form of rains. After all, the Nazca civilization, presumably, died out precisely because of climate change, which gradually dried out previously fertile lands.
Alien scanning. This version assumes that lines and drawings, except for clearly anthropomorphic ones ("Family", "Llamas"), were drawn from a great height - only in this case they could be so even. It is also assumed that a computer program was used that could draw such perfectly adjusted figures. Perhaps alien beings took soil samples, as indicated by zigzags and spirals. And thick lines can indicate the collection of minerals from the surface. For example, there is iron ore in the rocks on the surface of the desert. There is another interpretation of this version. Antediluvian civilization, not aliens, searched for cities buried under the layers of the mud, scanning the terrain from a height. The fact that a mudflow took place in this area is evidenced by the composition of the desert soil: rounded stones in clay, and in some places peaks of former mountains stick out. The destroyed buildings of the city also say a lot about the flood.
Alien ships. This version says the lines were runways. However, it is not clear why there are so many of them, why in such a viscous soil, and why then drawings and zigzags. And no traces of a possible take-off and landing were found. But it can be assumed that the numerous lines in the sand - scanning in order to find a place for landing or take-off of ships, and since the soil is soft - the scanning continued further until the ideal location was found - in the hard mountains of Palpa. This version is supported by the fact that it is there that the stripes do not represent the removal of a couple of tens of centimeters from the surface of the soil, but as if the top of the mountain was deliberately cut and leveled.

How to observe

Observing the Nazca and Palpa lines is best of course from the plane... If you have purchased a tour to Peru, please note that the flight over the Nazca lines is included. Then you shouldn't worry about its organization. Those who travel on their own should pay attention to the fact that the flight must be registered at least a day in advance. In this case, you can spend the night in Nazca, Ica or Paracas - they are the closest to geoglyphs.

The second option is economical. When driving through Pan American Sur, look out for two observation spots. If you go from the south, then the first place is Hill, next to which there is a parking lot. Our photo-panorama was taken from the hill (at the beginning of the article). Plus observation from the hill - unlike flying on an airplane, the lines can be seen very close. In addition, some of the lines are very clearly visible from the hill.

Well, the third option is a little further north along Pan-American Sur. This is on purpose, even under Maria Reichel, made tower, from which you can see 3 shapes. On the one side arms and tree, and on the other - from afar the tip reptiles... Various souvenirs dedicated to Nazca lines and geoglyphs are sold near the tower. The entrance to the tower is paid.

Drawings of Palpa can be visited by driving a little further north, but to observe them it is better to leave Panamericana Sur.

Mysterious drawings of the Nazca desert

Have you ever seen 120-meter monkeys and a condor? What about a 180-meter lizard? And what about the "small" hummingbird 50 meters in size? A 46-meter spider? Who and why painted them on a huge canvas called the Nazca desert?Between the northern part of Chile and the south of Peru there is a plateau - a completely deserted plain, where the wind rarely blows, and it rains every few years. This is the Nazca desert. It is 25 kilometers long and 8 kilometers wide. Over 100 geoglyphs were discovered here - giant images of famous plants and animals, just geometric shapes, a scattering of incomprehensible, unconnected straight lines, which turned the Nazca desert into a giant art gallery - another mystery of our planet. Who is the artist? Why was such a titanic work necessary? After all, the drawings are difficult to capture with a gaze even from a bird's eye view! Then the question arises: what is the expediency of the work done? What value - economic, cult, military - were these drawings for people of antiquity? Or maybe not for people? This is where many theories and versions appeared trying to explain this. However, everything remains only at the level of speculation, and the true purpose of the images remains a mystery of the Nazca desert.

All patterns are formed by light lines resulting from the removal of fine gravel from the surface of the soil, which is darker than the ground below. They mainly depict animals - flying birds, a spider, a fish, a monkey. But there are also geometric patterns: rectilinear stripes and symbolic figures, triangles, trapezoids, the meaning of which is difficult to guess. In 1927, an airplane flew over the plateau in search of water sources. Water will be found there later, and then the Peruvian pilot discovered giant images. It is interesting that the mention of the Nazca lines dates back to the 16th century. In 1548, the book "Chronicle of Peru" appeared, written by the Spaniard Pedro Cieza de Leon. Here the Nazca lines got the name: "guiding signs for wanderers." But it was only in the 1920s that the “father of Peruvian archeology” Julio Tello was the first to copy the drawings. True, they did not become the object of serious research. Archaeologists then suggested that these are the remains of an ancient irrigation system. Everything changed only when, interested in what he saw, an archaeologist from the University of Long Island (USA) Paul Kosok, who had previously studied the ancient irrigation systems in Mesopotamia, arrived in Peru. Seeing Nazca from the plane, he was shocked. But then there was no sensation. The second has begun World War, and there was no time for drawings. Only in 1946, when Kosok handed over his notes to Maria Reiche, who was interested in ancient observatories, did the "canonical" history of drawings of the Nazca desert take shape, and Reiche became the main expert on this problem, having devoted 40 years to her. What did she establish? The whole difficulty is not in the creation of the drawings themselves, but in the calculations. There are no approximate measurements here, since this could lead to a distortion of the proportions of the drawings, and, apparently, the ancient Peruvians possessed some kind of equipment that does not exist today. Reflecting on the size and the perfection of proportions, Reiche argued that the "ancient artists" could have done this if they could fly. During her research, she discovered 60 figures and lines, and in 1986, the Peruvian pilot de la Torre saw previously unknown drawings in a little-explored area in the Pampa San José: 87 photographs he took showed images of animals, plants and people.

Nazca drawings date back to 500 BC. e. - 500 AD e. - before the formation of the Inca empire. The people living here did not leave any written sources about themselves. All the facts known about them were obtained by studying the burial places and the objects found there. Official science believes that this "gallery" refers to the pre-Incan Indian culture of Nazca, which flourished in the years 300-900 AD. e. Historians and archaeologists believe that the drawings were made by hand, removing the stones and laying them out with rollers along the edges of the figures. Poles and elliptical mirrors were used in the markings, and the giant images were made from small sketches. Indeed, such sketches have been discovered. With regard to the purpose of the figures, various hypotheses were expressed: either totem or ritual signs, and the lines, according to P. Kosok, were used as an astronomical calendar for household needs. Researcher D. Hawkins drew attention to the huge number of vessels with a convex bottom found in the area, which are difficult to use in everyday life. But, in his opinion, during a religious holiday, these vessels were inserted into the grooves of the drawing, and then something fuel contained in them was set on fire. After all, many ancient peoples, as you know, attached great importance to fire. In continuation of this idea, the Russian ufologist M. Gershtein suggested that this happened at night and contributed to the appearance of mirages in the sky. According to I. Koltsov, this desert was an ideal place for burials with "provision for incorruptibility", and the vessels were the "container of the soul" of the deceased. The drawings were chosen according to the importance of the person and her totem name (Spider, Monkey, Swan ...).

However, there is a very strange circumstance. Locals take clean drinking water not from Lake Nazca, but from wells located exactly along the lines of the drawings, and the irrigation system here, based on a system of artificial underground canals, two of which run directly under the bed of the Nazca River, is very perfect and productive. American scientists S. Mabi and D. Prolkes believe that some of the lines are indicators of underground water sources. Attention was drawn to the fact that the drawings in the desert and on the earthen vessels are almost identical. From this it was concluded that the deities of natural forces - heaven, earth and water - were pleased with these symbolic drawings in order to get a lot of water and a good harvest. On this, perhaps, the scientific evidence ends. The agricultural calendar hypothesis was criticized by astronomer D. Hawkins. It was not confirmed by computer calculations. In addition, according to estimates made on the basis of data from the Hawkins expedition, such a large-scale work would have taken 100,000 man-years, even if the entire population was supposed to work 12 hours a day. And who would get their daily bread? A more reasonable version was suggested by the Englishman T. Morrison. He believed that the drawings and lines were symbols of various religious groups or nationalities living in the Andes. They had a tradition of burying relatives and fellow tribesmen at the very edge of the road, so that it would be easier to get to the graves. Here they prayed and meditated. In this regard, Morrison believes that Nazca drawings could serve as caste, religious and social symbols for local residents... However, ritual objects must first of all affect the feelings of people! This is where another mystery arises: drawings from the ground are not perceived, they can be seen only when they rise into the air. In this regard, the American D. Woodman in 1977 put forward a hypothesis that the Indians knew how to make balloons, rising into the air during ritual ceremonies. This allowed them to fully appreciate the mystical meaning of the drawings. There is confirmation of this. An image of a balloon was found in one of the tombs in Nazca. Investigating this circumstance, the American B. Sporer came across an old Inca legend about a little boy who helped them in battle, flying over enemy fortifications and reporting the location of enemy troops. Flying people are depicted on many Inca fabrics. In addition, after examining four pieces of fabric found in a looted grave near the drawings, Sporer found that the ancient inhabitants of Nazca used a better weave in their fabrics than that used in the manufacture of parachutes, and stronger than in modern fabrics for balloons ...

Before moving on to the next hypothesis, it should be noted that the Nazca Desert complex is just a part of the phenomenon. Ground figures similar in technique of execution are found in the middle zone of the Andes along the entire Pacific coast of South America, and in this regard, they can in no way relate to one local Indian culture, which was the Nazca culture. One can, of course, assume that the drawings were created by hand, but if we take the general picture, given that the sizes of the figures range from 30 to 300 meters with the width of the contour line from 15 centimeters to 3 meters ... And besides, it is difficult to assume that when creating of such gigantic objects by hand, the rest of the surface would be completely intact. And no such damage was found. In this regard, the radiophysicist Alla Belokon argues that the drawings could be made only from the air by a flow of directed energy of an unknown nature, and some of their asymmetry resembles the distortions that are obtained when projected at an angle to the surface. In addition, she believes that the distortion is three-dimensional in nature, and therefore, the drawings could not be a simple enlargement from sketches on a plane. The most fascinating hypothesis was put forward by the Swiss Erich von Deniken, who connected the images of Nazca with extraterrestrial civilizations. He proposed to consider them as landmarks of the cosmodrome, set up by aliens. This idea is prompted by the image of a trident found on a 350-meter slope of a mountain near the city of Paracas on the Pacific Ocean coast, named because of the similarity to the candlestick "Paracas candelabrum". From it through the mountains and valleys to Nazca stretches a straight white line visible only from a height, along which images of jumping creatures come across. This and a number of other lines closely resemble runways. Deniken believes that Nazca could serve as a place for refueling spacecraft, since the release of unknown energies was recorded here: several points were found where the compass needle "goes crazy", and the pilots saw straight lines of many kilometers from above, giving ultra-precise landmarks on the sides of the horizon. Be that as it may, the Nazca Art Gallery is one of the most striking landmarks on our planet. But the riddle of the desert is not alone. At 1400 km from it, at the foot of Mount Satari, a giant 120-meter statue of a man was discovered, surrounded by lines and signs similar to the Nazca drawings. There are also mysterious drawings in the USA (Ohio), England, Kazakhstan, the South Urals, Africa (south of Lake Victoria), Ethiopia and a number of other places. So, in 2003, in the Sahama Natural Park in the western part of Bolivia, on an area 16 times larger than the Nazca desert, scientists discovered more than 400 geoglyphs drawn in lines 1-2 meters wide, and in some cases up to 20 kilometers long. In their opinion, giant drawings carry some important information to humanity, but, apparently, our consciousness has not yet "grown" to the level of its perception. So questions about the most famous art gallery in the Nazca desert and others like it are still open to the curious.

How to get there

Main locality The Nazca area has the logical name Nazca. The most convenient way to get here is by bus, this indispensable Peruvian transport. Buses leave from all major cities of the country, the fastest way to get to Nazca is from the city of Ica, the center of the southern coast of Peru - the journey will take 2-3 hours and cost about 30-40 PEN. Buses also arrive in Nazca from Cuzco and Arequipa; in the first case, the road will have to spend about 14 hours, in the second - “only” nine, both buses leave from the starting points at night, arriving at the place in the morning. A ticket from Cuzco will cost about PEN 90-100, from Arequipa about PEN 75-85. The drive from Lima will take about 6-8 hours depending on the route. If you want to see the Nazca lines, but are based in Lima, it is most convenient to purchase a guided tour in one of the agencies of the Peruvian capital. Tourists hit the road at 4 in the morning, visit the cities of Ballestas and Nazca itself (including its attractions), and also fly around the Nazca lines in a light aircraft. Return to Lima - around 10pm the same day. The cost of the excursion is about 800-900 PEN. Prices on the page are for June 2016.

What to travel on

You can get around the city of Nazca on foot - it is very small. A taxi ride to any distance within the city limits will cost no more than 3 PEN, and the road to the airport (from where “light boats” with tourists rise into the air) will not cost more than 4 PEN.

Considering the huge drawings on the surface of the Earth, pictures of which were taken from the air, it begs the question, could people have done this? The most mysterious place the planet is considered the Nazca plateau, which surprised scientists 100 years ago with its mysterious drawings. Until now, scientists have put forward various theories of the appearance of these drawings, but none of them gave an exact answer about the origin of these masterpieces.

Let's follow the research of scientists a little and try to find some explanations for these figures.

The Nazca plateau or pampa, as it is called, is located at a distance of 450 km from the capital of Peru - Lima. Its length is 60 km, and 500 sq. meters covered by various cryptic lines that make up mysterious drawings. The drawings present in this area are images of geometric shapes, animals, insects and people of amazing appearance... The drawings can only be seen from the air, as they are huge images.

When examining the area, it was found that the drawings were dug in sandy soil to a depth of 10-30 cm, and the width of some lines can be up to 100 meters (!). The lines of drawings can be several kilometers long, while, literally, without changing from the influence of the shape of the terrain. Lines rise and fall from hills, but their continuity and perfect evenness is not broken. The question immediately arises, who is the creator of such a picture in the desert - peoples unknown to us or aliens from distant space? But scientists have not yet been able to find an answer to this question.

To date, scientists have accurately managed to establish the age of this "painting". Scientists have carefully examined the remains of plant and organic origin found in the places of the drawings, found that the drawings were created in a period of time, starting from 350 BC. to 600 BC

But this fact is not an exact proof of the date of the appearance of the drawings, since these objects could have got here only later than the creation of the drawings. There is also another scientific theory, which says that the drawings are the work of the Nazca Indians who could have inhabited this area of Peru (even before the arrival of the Incas). After the disappearance of this people, not a single historical mention of them remained on Earth, except for burials. And therefore, scientists cannot say for sure about the involvement of this people in the drawings.

Let's take a look at the historical sources that mention Nazca drawings. They were first mentioned by Spanish researchers in their manuscripts, which date back to the 15th - 17th centuries. Nowadays, these information sources have attracted the attention of modern scientists, but the most interesting discoveries became available when the first flying vehicles were created, since the lines of the drawings add up to a single whole and reveal their secret only from a bird's eye view.

The first scientist who discovered the Nazca drawings themselves was the Peruvian archaeologist Mejia Xesspe, who saw a part of them from an elephant in one of the mountains in 1927. In fact, Nazca began to be investigated in the 40s, then the first photographs of drawings made from an airplane appeared. These studies were directed by the American historian Paul Kosok. But in fact, on the eve of the first photographs of Nazca drawings, they were discovered by pilots who were looking for water sources in the desert. They were looking for water, but they found the most mysterious riddle of our planet.

Kosok at one time put forward one of the many theories, which suggested that the drawings are nothing more than a huge astronomical calendar. For clarity, he brought similar pictures from the starry sky. It turned out that some lines show the direction to the constellations and indicate the point of sunrise and sunset. Kosok's theory was developed in the work of mathematician and astronomer Maria Reiche, who devoted more than 40 years to systematize and study the Nazca drawings. She managed to find out that the drawings in the Nazca desert were made by hand.

The first figures drawn were birds and animals, and then various lines were drawn over these figures. The scientist also managed to find sketch sketches, which were later embodied in full size. The ancient "artists" used coordinate pillars for more accurate orientation in the terrain and drawing up accurate drawings. These landmarks were located at some points of the figures. If the figures can be observed only from high heights, then the conclusion suggests itself that the people who applied them to the surface of the earth could fly. So a new theory appeared that the creators of the Nazca drawings were an extraterrestrial civilization or created an airfield for flying vehicles.

Subsequently, it turned out that Nazca is not the only place that has such images. 10 km from the plateau (near the city of Palpa) there are similar drawings and lines, and at a distance of 1400 km near Mount Solitari there is a huge statue of a man surrounded by lines and drawings similar to Nazca drawings. On the territory of the Western Cordilleras, in the immediate vicinity of Nazca, there are two painted spiral labyrinths, with different directions of turns. What is most surprising is that a cosmic ray hits this area 1-5 times a year and illuminates this area for 20 minutes. There is even an assertion of local residents that if you get into this ray, you can be cured of various diseases. Similar drawings were found in various countries of the world - Ohio (USA), England, Africa, Altai and the South Urals. They are all different, but one thing unites them, that they are not intended for terrestrial viewing.

Carrying out excavations on the territory of Nazca, scientists have found for themselves the next riddles. Drawings were found on the shards, which showed evidence that the inhabitants of the area knew about the penguins. Scientists could not find another explanation for the found drawing of a penguin on one of the shards. Also, archaeologists managed to find many underground passages and tunnels. Part of these structures is an irrigation system, and the other part belongs to underground city... Here are the tombs and ruins of underground temples.

One of the theories is the hypothesis of the origin of the Nazca drawings associated with the activities of alien civilizations. For the first time such a hypothesis was put forward by the Swiss writer Erich von Deniken. He claimed that aliens visited our planet in the Nazca region, but he is not sure that the drawings were theirs. According to his theory, the drawings are intended to summon aliens that have left our planet. The triangles informed the alien pilots of the presence of a crosswind, and the rectangles informed the landing site.

Straight lines in the form of depressions could be filled with a combustible substance and be a signaling device for the direction of the landing strips. This theory is fantastic and is not taken seriously in the scientific world, but even the writer managed to sow doubts in scientific theories of the origin of Nazca drawings. It was then that the theory of energy flows arose, which testifies to the connection between humanity and alien intelligence. One example is the huge image of the Paracas Candelabrum, a drawing on the side of a mountain on the Peruvian Paracas Peninsula.

Scientists believe the candelabrum is an information source about our planet. Information about the terrestrial fauna is hidden on the left side of the figure, and on the right side about flora. The general image is made in the form of a human face. Where the top of the picture is located, the ancient inhabitants of Nazca installed a pointer, which is a scale for the development of civilization. According to the same theory, there is an opinion that our civilization was created by aliens from the constellation Leo. It is possible that the arrangement of straight lines was created by aliens to indicate the runway for their ships.

There is other evidence for this theory. Scientists from England managed to study the constituent of the muscle mass of the Inca mummies. And the results are amazing. The blood of the Incas had no analogues with the blood groups of the inhabitants of the Earth of that historical period. This blood type is a very rare combination ...

But of course, the truth is born in the dispute. And therefore, those who reject all alien theories have found. In the early 1980s, a group of students, taking with them wooden shovels, created an "elephant" that looks like the Nazca drawings. But their conviction was not greatly influenced and in our time there are many supporters of alien participation in the creation of huge drawings.

Variants of theories for the appearance of large drawings on Earth:
Drawings of animals are created as a memory of the Flood.
The Nazca drawings are one of the ancient zodiac calendars.
The drawn figures are created for the ritual ceremonies of the culture of water, and the lines are the direction of the aqueducts.
The trajectory of the drawings was used for sprint races (although it's hard to believe in this).
Nazca lines and drawings are an encrypted message, a kind of code. It contains pi, radian degrees (360 °), decimal number, etc.
Drawings are drawn by shamans under the influence of strong hallucinogens (though the theory is funny).

No matter how many different theories of the origin and purpose of Nazca drawings are put forward, the secret remains unsolved. In addition, this mysterious plateau presents mankind with new mysteries. New explorers are constantly being sent to this area of Peru. This area is accessible to both scientists and tourists, but will a person be able to open the curtain of mystery that closes the true purpose of the drawings from us?

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