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New Nazca Geoglyph Of Strange, Tongue-Poking Creature Discovered
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| photo credit: The newly-spotted marking is thought to depict a mythical creature. Yamagata University |
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A drawing of the outline of the newly discovered geoglyph. Yamagata University
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One of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world may have any depth, after a huge and unprecedented geoglyph representing a bizarre-looking animal was spotted on the famous Nazca plateau in Peru. Dotted with hundreds of other geoglyphs - many of which can not be fully visible from the air - the area was once inhabited by the Nazca culture. Yet the fact that this pre-Columbian civilization had long since disappeared by the time the Europeans arrived in the Americas means that very little is known about how they lived and why they built these gargantuan illustrations.
The discovery was made by researchers at Yamagata University in Japan, who were able to spot from the ground thanks to the fact that he had been engraved on a slope. About 30 meters long (100 feet), the odd creature seems to be sticking her tongue and has a lot of legs and mottled marks on his body.
Researcher Masato Sakai told Discovery News that the geoglyph "certainly an imaginary or mythical creature," and suggested that it could have acted as a landmark for pilgrims heading to the Cahuachi ceremonial center nearby. This theory is supported by that the structure is located near another geoglyph which was first spotted on an adjacent slope in 2011, and the old road to Cahuachi short between.
The previously discovered geoglyph is said to represent "a scene of decapitation", adding weight to the idea that these giant prints may have played a ceremonial role, since the cutting of human head is thought to have been an important ritual activity for Nazca.
As with most of the surrounding geoglyphs, the latest discovery seems to have been constructed by removing the oxidized surface rocks to reveal darker land light color underneath. Displaced rocks were then placed around the contour of the mythical creature, to highlight its shape.
Many of the surrounding geoglyphs have also been created using the same technique - particularly those dating back to the late Paracas period, which lasted about 200 to 400 B.C.E. Based on this knowledge, Sakai told Andina that the newly discovered function "can be traced back to 2000-2500 years ago."
Since archaeologists began to take an interest in the Nazca lines way back in the 1940s, a number of theories have been advanced as to what purpose, they can be served. Some, for example, suggested that the impressive markings were somehow aligned with celestial bodies and thus acted as a kind of enormous astronomical map. Others, however, rejected the idea, instead saying they were sanctuaries.
Although we can never know for sure exactly why the Nazca lines were built, it is unlikely that sufficiently admire these amazing brands and speculate on what role they played in the life of the Nazca people .
All images via Yamagata University
