Desert in Peru with mysterious giant drawings. Giant images of the Nazca Valley: Communication with a deity or signals to spaceships? Ancient irrigation system

The drawings of the Nazca desert are simply amazing! Their lines stretch from horizon to horizon, occasionally converging or intersecting; One involuntarily gets the impression that this is a runway for ancient aircraft. Here you can clearly distinguish flying birds, spiders, monkeys, fish, lizards...
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Nazca is a desert in Peru, surrounded by low spurs of the Andes and bare and lifeless hills of dense dark sand. This desert stretches between the valleys of the Nazca and Ingenio rivers, 450 kilometers south of the Peruvian city of Lima.

“Many centuries before the Incas, on the southern coast of Peru, a historical monument was created, unparalleled in the world and intended for descendants. In size and precision of execution, it is not inferior to the Egyptian pyramids. But if there we look, raising our heads, at the monumental three-dimensional structures simple geometric shape, here, on the contrary, you have to look from a great height at wide expanses covered with mysterious hieroglyphs, as if drawn on the plain by a giant hand." The book by Nazca desert explorer Maria Reiche begins with these words. "The Secret of the Desert". Mathematician and astronomer Maria Reiche specially moved from Germany to Peru to study the mysterious drawings. Perhaps she is the main researcher and guardian of the desert plateau, where, thanks to her efforts, a protected area was created. Reiche was the first to draw up maps and plans of all lines, sites and drawings.

The giant drawings scattered between abstract figures and spirals, the size of which reaches tens and sometimes hundreds of meters, are extremely impressive. Of all the animals, the largest number are birds. Fantastic and quite reliably drawn, a total of 18 birds are depicted in the desert. But there are also completely mysterious animals, such as a dog-like creature with thin legs and a long tail. There are also images of people, although they are drawn less expressively. Among the images of people there is a bird-man with the head of an owl; the size of this picture is more than 30 meters. And the size of the so-called “big lizard” is 110 meters!

The desert area is approximately 500 square kilometers. The surface of the soil here is surprising in that it is covered with a kind of engraving that resembles a tattoo. This “tattoo” on the surface of the desert is not deep, but huge in size, lines and figures. There are 13,000 lines, more than 100 spirals, over 700 geometric areas (trapezoids and triangles) and 788 figures depicting animals and birds. This "engraving" of the earth stretches approximately 100 kilometers deep in a winding ribbon, the width of which is from 8 to 15 kilometers. These drawings were discovered thanks to photographs taken from an airplane. From a bird's eye view, it can be seen that the figures were created by removing brown stones from the light sandy subsoil, covered with a thin black layer of the so-called “desert tan”, which is formed by manganese and iron oxides.

The figures and lines are perfectly preserved due to the arid climate of the area. A wooden marker stake driven into the ground, found in the desert, was carefully studied and radiocarbon dated, which showed that the tree was cut down in 526 AD. Official science believes that all these figures were created by one of the Indian cultures of the pre-Incan period, which existed in the south of Peru and whose heyday occurred in 300-900. AD The technique for executing the lines of these huge “drawings” is very simple. As soon as you remove the top layer of dark crushed stone, which has darkened over time, from the lighter lower layer, a contrasting strip appears. The ancient Indians first made a sketch of the future drawing measuring 2 by 2 meters on the ground. Such sketches have been preserved close to some of the figures. In the sketch, each straight line was divided into its component segments. Then, on an enlarged scale, the sections were transferred to the surface using stakes and a wooden rope. With curved lines it was much more difficult, but the ancients coped with this too, breaking each curve into many short arcs. It must be said that each drawing is outlined by only one continuous line. And perhaps the greatest mystery of the Nazca drawings is that their creators never saw and could not see them in their entirety.

The question is completely logical: for whom did the ancient Indians do such titanic work? Paul Kosok, a researcher of these drawings, estimates that it took more than 100,000 years of working days to create the complex of Nazca figures by hand. Even if this working day lasted 12 hours. Paul Kosok suggested that these lines and drawings are nothing more than a giant calendar that accurately shows the changing seasons. Maria Reiche tested Kosok's assumption and collected irrefutable evidence that the drawings are associated with the summer and winter solstices. The beak of a fantastic bird, with a neck 100 meters long, is located at the point of sunrise during the winter solstice.

Some scientists put forward the version that the drawings had exclusively cult significance, but such a version is quite doubtful, because a religious building must certainly influence people, and huge drawings on the ground are not perceived at all. Hungarian cartographer Zoltan Selke believes that the Nazca sites are just a 1:16 scale map of the Lake Titicaca area. After exploring the desert for several years, he found a lot of evidence that fully confirmed his hypothesis. In that case, who was this super-giant map intended for? The mystery of the Nazca paintings remains unsolved.

VEDIC SECRETS OF THE NAZCA DESERT

The first incomprehensible lines on Nazca were discovered in 1927 by Peruvian archaeologist Mejia Xesspe, when he accidentally glanced from a steep mountainside onto a plateau. By 1940, he had discovered several more incredible ancient signs and published his first sensational article. On June 22, 1941 (the day the Great Patriotic War began!!!), the American historian Paul Kosok took off a light plane and discovered a giant stylized bird, the wingspan of which exceeded 200 meters, and next to it something resembling a landing strip. Then he discovered a giant spider, a monkey with a strangely coiled tail, a whale, and finally, on a gentle mountain slope, a 30-meter tall figure of a man with his hand raised in greeting. Thus, perhaps the most mysterious “picture book in the history of mankind” was discovered.
Over the next sixty years, Nazca was studied quite well. The number of discovered drawings has long exceeded several hundred, and the vast majority of them are made up of various geometric shapes. Some lines reach a length of up to 23 kilometers.
And today the solution to the mystery is no closer. What versions and hypotheses have not been put forward during this time! They tried to present the drawings as some kind of giant ancient calendar, but no mathematical justification was ever presented to the scientific world.
One of the hypotheses identified the drawings as some kind of designations of zones of influence of Indian clans. But the plateau was never inhabited, and who could deal with these “ger-
bami clans”, when they are only visible from a bird’s eye view?
There is a version that the images of Nazca are nothing more than an alien airfield. There are no words, a number of stripes are indeed incredibly reminiscent of modern runways and landing strips, but where is there any evidence of alien intervention? Others claim that Nazca are signals from alien intelligence.
Recently, voices have begun to be heard that Nazca is generally the brainchild of someone’s falsification. But then a whole army of counterfeiters had to work hard for decades to produce the most gigantic counterfeit in the history of mankind. How could they keep the secret in this case and why, in the end, did they become so disfigured?
The most conservative part of scientists insists that all the variety of drawings and figures was dedicated to a certain god of water: “probably! represented a kind of sacrifice to the ancestors or gods of the sky and mountains, who sent people the water so necessary for irrigating the fields.” But why was it necessary to turn to the god of water in such a remote place, where there had never been any permanent residence, no agriculture, no cultivated fields? The rain that spilled on Nazca was of no particular benefit to the ancient Peruvians.
There is an opinion that ancient Indian athletes once ran along giant ancient lines, that is, some ancient South American Olympics were held on Nazca. Let's say that athletes could run in straight lines, but how could they run in spirals and in the pattern of, for example, monkeys?
There were publications that huge trapezoidal areas were created for the sake of certain mass ceremonies, during which sacrifices were made to the gods and mass celebrations took place. But then why did archaeologists searching all the surrounding areas not find a single confirmation of this artifact? In addition, some of the giant trapezoids are located on mountain peaks, which are not so easy for a professional climber to climb.
There is even a completely absurd version that all the gigantic work was carried out solely for the purpose of a kind of occupational therapy, in order to at least do something to occupy the idle ancient Peruvians... They claim that all the images of Nazca are nothing more than a giant loom of the ancient Peruvians, who they laid out their threads along the lines, since in the pre-Columbian era the Americans did not know the wheel and did not have a spinning wheel... It was even argued that the Nazca drawings were a huge encrypted map of the world. Alas, no one has yet undertaken to decipher it.
The most cautious part of historians defines Nazca drawings and lines as certain “paths that had sacred significance along which ritual processions were carried out.” But then again, who could see these trails from the ground?
Until now, scientists have not come to an agreement on how the Nazca drawings were created, because the production of images of such a huge scale represents a huge technical difficulty even today. Only the technology for direct creation of stripes has been more or less accurately established. It was quite simple: the surface layer of stones was removed from the ground, under which the ground had a lighter color. However, the creators of the drawings had to first create sketches of future giant images on a small scale and only then transfer them to the area. How they managed to maintain the accuracy and correctness of all the lines is a mystery! To do this, at a minimum, they had to have at hand the entire arsenal of modern geodetic equipment, not to mention the most advanced mathematical knowledge. By the way, today's experimenters were only able to repeat the creation of straight lines, but were powerless in the face of ideal circles and spirals... In addition
This means that images were created not only on flat areas of land. They were applied on very steep slopes and even almost sheer cliffs! But that's not all! In the Nazca region there are the Palpa Mountains, some of which are cut off like a table, as if their tops had been gnawed off by some monster. These giant artificial sections also contain drawings, lines and geometric images.
There is also no unity regarding the time of construction. Nowadays it is customary to divide everything created on the plateau into seven conventional cultures, very spaced in time, from Nazca-1 to Nazca-7. Some archaeologists are inclined to attribute the creation of Nazca paintings to the period of time from 500 AD. to 1200 AD Others categorically object, since the Inca Indians inhabiting this region of Peru do not have even remote legends regarding Nazca, which gives grounds to attribute the time of creation of the images to almost 100,000 BC. They tried to determine the age of the stripes from the remains of fragments of clay shards found nearby. It was believed that ancient builders drank from clay jugs and then sometimes broke them. However, shards from all seven cultures were found everywhere on the same strip and, in the end, this dating attempt was considered unsuccessful.
The scientific study of Nazca today is also hampered by government restrictions. Due to the fact that after the discovery of the drawings, the plateau was subjected to a real invasion of “wild” tourists who drove all over the plateau in cars and motorcycles, spoiling the drawings, now it is strictly forbidden for anyone to appear directly on the Nazca Plateau. Nazca has been declared an archaeological park and taken under state protection, and the fine for unauthorized entry into the park is an astronomical amount - 1 million US dollars. Everyone, however, can admire the giant ancient images from the board of tourist planes that continuously circle over the mysterious plateau. But for real scientific research, you will agree, this is still not enough.
But the mysteries of Nazca do not end there. If on the surface of the plateau there are gigantic drawings that are still incomprehensible to human understanding, then in the depths of the caves there are even more incredible pukios - ancient underground water pipes in granite pipes. There are 29 giant puquios in the Nazca Valley. Today's Indians attribute their creation to the creator god Viracocha, but the canals are the work of human hands. Moreover, one of the canals was laid under the local river Rio de Nazca, so much so that its purest water in no way mixed with the dirty water of the river! From the description of an eyewitness: “Sometimes stone spirals lead deep into the earth, and watercourses have an artificial channel, lined with slabs and smoothly hewn blocks. Sometimes the entrance hole is a deep shaft that goes deep into the earth... Everywhere and everywhere these underground channels are artificial structures...” Pukios is also from the realm of eternal mysteries. Who, when and for what purpose created these gigantic water structures under a deserted plateau? Who used them?

An ancient clay figurine depicting surgery on a dinosaur.

In the capital of the province of Nazca, the town of Ica, lives the owner of the most incredible collection in the world, professor of medicine, Hanviera Cabrera. He has more than two and a half thousand figurines made of unfired clay, which the professor obtains from local Indians. The figurines depict the ancient inhabitants of Peru next to... dinosaurs and pterodactyls. At the same time, ancient Peruvians performed operations on dinosaurs, flew on pterodactyls and looked into space through a spyglass. The age of the figurines is estimated to be from 50,000 to 100,000 years, and maybe even more. As for the radiocarbon method, it gave very contradictory results. In addition to the figurines, Professor Cabrera's collection contains similar drawings on stones, including ones that depict aircraft in the starry sky. Moreover, Professor Cabrera’s collection is no exception. The famous Mexican collection of Acambaro also contains dinosaurs, including flying ones. The same is true in the Ecuadorian collection of Father Crecy. In addition, there is also the collection of Russell Burrows, who found sculptures with strikingly similar subjects in caves in Illinois. The same thing was found not long ago in Japan. Falsification in this case is impossible even theoretically! Well, and finally, the most scandalous discovery on the Paluxy River in the US state of Texas, where archaeologists discovered dinosaur bones and fossilized human traces in the same rock! This means that people already lived in the era of dinosaurs, or, conversely, dinosaurs lived in the era of people! But both of these completely change our ideas about the beginning of the human era, and therefore one can imagine how much irritation, misunderstanding and simply outright opposition these findings cause among the elite of the scientific world, who made a name for themselves on those hypotheses that are now completely crossed out by the findings of recent years!
And how can one not recall here the seemingly absurd assumptions of the Crimean academician A.V. Gokh, who says that the protein necessary to create a huge number of repeaters of the Crimean pyramids was obtained from huge dinosaur eggs. It should be admitted that the statements of the Crimean academician now look not so groundless.
Now, I think, the time has come to present to readers the hypothesis of the Emil Bagirov Institute regarding the giant geoglyphs in the Nazca desert. However, first, two more facts.
First. Quite recently, through the works of the German researcher Erich von Däniken (known to us from the sensational journalistic film “Remembrance of the Future”), a giant... classic MANDALA was discovered in Nazca! Yes Yes! The same sacred mandapa with which today's Tibetans and Hindus designate the pictures they contemplate during meditation! The same mandala that was once the sacred sign of the Aryans and one of the main Vedic symbols. Coincidence? No way!
Second. Ancient texts of the Old World everywhere tell about certain flying machines, and machines of completely earthly origin.
For example, in the “Book of the Greatness of Kings” the flights of King Solomon are described in detail: “The king and all who obeyed his commands flew in a chariot, knowing neither illness, nor sorrow, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor fatigue, and at the same time everything in one day they traveled a journey of three months... He (Solomon) gave her all sorts of wonders and treasures that one could wish for and a chariot that moves through the air and which he created according to the wisdom given to him by God...
And the inhabitants of the Egyptian country told them: in ancient times the Ethiopians visited here; they rode on a chariot like an angel, and at the same time flew faster than an eagle in the sky.” No less indicative are quotes from the famous “Mahatbharata”: “l/i then the king (Rumanvat) with his servants and harem, with his wives and nobles entered the heavenly chariot. They flew over the entire expanse of the sky, following the direction of the wind. The heavenly chariot flew around the entire earth, (flying) over the oceans, and headed towards the city of Avantis, where the holiday was just taking place. After a short stop, the king rose into the air again in front of countless onlookers, who were amazed at the sight of the heavenly chariot.”
Or here’s another: “Arjuna, the terror of his enemies, wished that Indra would send his heavenly chariot after him. And then, in a blaze of light, a chariot suddenly appeared, illuminating the gloom of the air and illuminating the clouds around, and all the surroundings were filled with a roar similar to peals of thunder...”
So, all Indian sources claim that the ancient Aryan civilization had airships - vimanas. We find echoes of these unusual means of transportation in the legends of the peoples of the Aryan area, for example, the famous Russian fairy tales about a flying ship and so on. But for the vimanas to take off and land, they needed runways and landing strips. Are there traces of them in the Old World? As it turns out, there is! At the present time, at least three are already known: one in England, the second on the Ustyurt plateau near the Aral Sea and the third in Saudi Arabia. At the same time, similar giant geoglyphs were found everywhere, as in Nazca, although in smaller quantities. And this despite the fact that no targeted searches for ancient airports have ever been carried out anywhere.
So what can we assume? After the destruction of the Tower of Babel, that is, after the collapse of the single ancient Vedic faith into several concessions, the vigorous migration of Aryan tribes began, and with it the export of Vedic religion and knowledge. Of course, the main settlement of the Aryans was by land. It spread throughout Eurasia, where the Vedic influence is felt everywhere to this day. However, most likely, some of the Aryans also used mysterious vimanas, which, as we already know, had a long flight range and could fly across oceans. It was then, most likely, that the heroic throw across Africa and the Atlantic to South America followed. But why was the landing made on Nazca? It can be assumed that for some time this area attracted the Aryans because the Nazca region is rich in deposits of iron and copper ore, gold and silver. Let us also pay attention to the fact that it is in the Nazca region that very ancient abandoned mines for the extraction of all these metals were discovered.
Apparently, for some time the Aryans from the arriving vimanas lived in these places. They brought the local residents into obedience, organized the mining of metals, introduced and spread among the ancient Peruvians the cult of the Great Goddess-First Mother, the Most Bright Sun-Horsa, the immortality of the soul and rebirth. It was then that runways and geometric signs were built, allowing vimanas to be aimed at them correctly, and underground conduits making it easier to provide water. It seems that the vimanas actively carried out the export of mined metals to Egypt or some other countries that were in the area of ​​​​the then Aryan influence. It is possible that the Aryans also used tamed local pterodactyls for short flights, which was depicted in the ancient clay figurines of Peru. Apparently there was such an experience. Suffice it to recall the same “Avesta” and “Rigveda”, numerous European-Aryan mythologies, where heroes very often use flying lizards as a completely suitable means of transportation. The same Russian heroes, for example, on occasion willingly used the legendary Serpent Gorynych for this purpose...
However, the time has come and the Aryans who settled on Nazca, having completed their mission, forever left the place, which was not very suitable for permanent residence, leaving the local residents with Vedic cults, knowledge of crafts and the firm belief that the departed people-gods will one day definitely return. It was then, apparently, that the intensive creation of many drawings began, so that the people-gods flying in the skies past Nazca would see that they were still waiting for them here, as, indeed, in other places in America, where similar geoglyphs have now been found. At the same time, they drew what, in the opinion of the Indians, those who flew away liked most, what once surprised and amused them: unusual monkeys, hummingbirds, whales, iguanas.
Fortunately, the Aryans left the secrets of the technology for creating grandiose images to the local residents. That is why, among other drawings, the Indians placed a grandiose mandala - the sacred Vedic sign of the Aryans, quite logically assuming that seeing it, the people-gods would definitely return to this land, where they were so loved and so faithfully awaited. But, alas, none of the gods returned.

Centuries and millennia passed. The foundations of the Vedic faith, once laid here by Aryan priests, over time became intricately intertwined with local cults. However, the pyramids, the cult of the Sun, and many priestly rituals today are strikingly reminiscent of their Vedic foundations. All this time, the Indians patiently waited for the fair-haired, bearded people-gods, carrying great faith and great knowledge, to return from the west from across the ocean. The time has come and bearded men clad in iron really came from the west, but instead of the long-awaited benefits they brought destruction and death. However, this is a completely different story...

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

Story

The “discoverers” of amazing drawings were pilots back in 1927, who noticed numerous lines and images on a plateau near the Pacific Ocean. 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. As early as 1553, the Spanish priest and scientist Pedro Césa de León, writing about the conquest of South America, spoke of “signs among the sands to divine the laid path.” The most remarkable thing is that he did not regard these drawings as something strange or inexplicable. Perhaps more was known about the purpose of geoglyphs in those days? 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 Kokos, and when he stopped research in 1948, Reiche continued the 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 her research into the amazing monument of ancient civilization in the book “The Secret of the Desert,” and the fee was spent on preserving the pristine appearance of the area and building an observation tower.

Subsequently, aerial photography of the reserve was carried out repeatedly, but a detailed map included all the drawings. Doesn't exist yet.

Description of the drawings

In the photo of the Nazca Lines in Peru you can see clear images of enormous size. Among them 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 where they overlap each other. Some of the figures are clearly oriented towards the cardinal directions. No less surprising are the clear edges of figures whose size exceeds several kilometers.

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

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

In total, there are approximately one and a half thousand images and figures on the plateau. The largest of them measure about 270 m. 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 may be one of the most ancient. Most geoglyphs date back to around 200 BC.

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

Origin theories

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

Religious

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

Astronomical

This theory was put forward by the first researchers - Coconut and Reiche. They believed that many of the lines were indicators of the places of sunrise and sunset 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 taking into account the different directions of the lines, the astronomical hypothesis looks unconvincing.

Demonstrative

Astronomer Robin Edgar did not notice any scientific implications in the drawings on the Peruvian plateau. He also leaned towards metaphysical reasons. Pravda 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 materials available at that time. A similar version is put forward by Russian researcher A. Sklyarov in the book “Nazca. Giant drawings in the margins." He believes that the ancient civilization in 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 by extraterrestrials - as a way of communication, as a place to land flying objects, etc. Even the strange remains of unknown creatures discovered in these parts are cited as evidence. Others, on the contrary, are sure that Peruvian mummies, like the Nazca Lines, are fakes and fraud.

Nazca Mystery Revealed?

Archaeologists have been trying to find an explanation for the mysterious Naska lines for decades. In 2009, the documentary film “Nazca Lines Deciphered” was shot. Anyone interested in the topic will certainly find it interesting to watch. But the answer to the question remains 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. Puquios, a complex hydraulic system, was built to extract underground water. Part of it has survived to this day. Based on images taken from space, it has been suggested that the lines are part of this “water goon”. Precisely an assumption, because the researchers were never able to explain what functional role the drawings played in the plumbing system. But perhaps one fine day, the answer to the Peruvian miracle will still be found.

Looking at the huge drawings on the surface of the Earth, photographs of which were taken from the air, the question arises: could people have done this? The most mysterious place on 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 about the appearance of these drawings, but none of them gave an exact answer about the origin of these masterpieces.

Let's follow the scientists' research a little and try to find some explanation for these drawings.

The Nazca plateau or pampa, as it is called, is located 450 km from the capital of Peru - Lima. Its length is 60 km and 500 sq. meters is covered with various mysterious 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 into sandy soil to a depth of 10-30 cm, and the width of some lines could be up to 100 meters (!). The lines of the drawings can be several kilometers long, while literally not changing from the influence of the shape of the terrain. The lines rise and fall from the hills, but their continuity and perfect evenness are 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 been able to accurately determine the age of this “painting.” Scientists carefully examined the remains of plant and organic origin found in the places of the drawings and found that the drawings were created in a period of time starting from 350 BC. to 600 BC

But this fact is not an accurate proof of the date of appearance of the drawings, since these objects could have come here after the creation of the drawings. There is also another scientific theory that says that the drawings are the work of the Nazca Indians, who could have inhabited this region 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 look at historical sources that mention Nazca drawings. They were first mentioned by Spanish researchers in their manuscripts, which date back to the 15th – 17th centuries. In our time, these information sources have attracted the attention of modern scientists, but the most interesting discoveries became available during the creation of the first aircraft, since the lines of the drawings form a single whole and reveal their secret only from a bird's eye view.

The first scientist to discover the Nazca paintings themselves was the Peruvian archaeologist Mejia Xesspe, who saw part of them from an elephant in one of the mountains in 1927. They began to really explore Nazca in the 40s, when the first photographs of drawings taken from an airplane appeared. These studies were led by the American historian Paul Kosok. But in fact, in anticipation of the first photographs of the Nazca drawings, they were discovered by pilots who were searching for water sources in the desert. We were looking for water, but we found the most mysterious mystery of our planet.

Kosok at one time put forward one of the many theories that suggested that the drawings were nothing more than a huge astronomical calendar. For clarity, he cited similar drawings from the starry sky. It turned out that some lines show the direction of 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 systematizing and studying the Nazca paintings. 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 on top of these drawings. The scientist also managed to find sketches, which were later realized in full size. Ancient “artists” used coordinate poles to more accurately navigate the terrain and draw up accurate drawings. These landmarks were located at some points of the figures. If the figures can only be observed from a high altitude, then the conclusion suggests itself that the people who put them on the surface of the earth could fly. Thus a new theory emerged that the creators of the Nazca paintings were an extraterrestrial civilization or created an airfield for aircraft.

It subsequently 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 the Nazca drawings. On the territory of the Western Cordillera, in the immediate vicinity of Nazca, there are two drawn labyrinths of a spiral shape, with different directions of turns. What’s 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 a claim from local residents that if you get caught in this beam, you can be cured of various diseases. Similar drawings were found in various countries of the world - Ohio (USA), England, Africa, Altai and the Southern Urals. They are all different, but one thing they have in common is that they are not intended for earthly viewing.

While conducting excavations in the Nazca territory, scientists found new mysteries for themselves. Drawings were found on the shards, which showed evidence that the inhabitants of this area knew about penguins. Scientists could not find another explanation for the found drawing of a penguin on one of the shards. Archaeologists also managed to find many underground passages and tunnels. Part of these structures is an irrigation system, and the other part belongs to the underground city. There are tombs and ruins of underground temples here.

One of the theories is the hypothesis of the origin of the Nazca paintings associated with the activities of alien civilizations. This hypothesis was first put forward by the Swiss writer Erich von Däniken. He claimed that aliens visited our planet in the Nazca region, but he is not sure that the drawings were their work. According to his theory, the drawings are intended to summon aliens who have left our planet. The triangles informed the alien pilots about the presence of crosswinds, and the rectangles informed the landing site.

Straight lines in the form of recesses could be filled with a flammable substance and serve as an indicator of 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 the scientific theories of the origin of the Nazca drawings. This is where the theory of energy flows arose, which testifies to the connection between humanity and alien intelligence. One example is a huge image of the “Paracas candelabra,” a design on a mountainside on the Peruvian Paracas Peninsula.

Scientists believe that the candelabra is an information source about our planet. The left side of the picture contains information about the earth's fauna, and the right side about the flora. The general image is made in the form of a human face. Where the top of the drawing is located, the ancient inhabitants of Nazca installed a pointer, which is a scale of civilization development. According to the same theory, there is an opinion that our civilization was created by aliens from the constellation Leo. Perhaps the composition of straight lines was created by aliens to mark the runway for their ships.

There is other evidence for this theory. Scientists from England were able to study the components of the muscle mass of Inca mummies. And the results were simply 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 a dispute. And that’s why those who reject all alien theories found it. In the early 80s, a group of students, taking wooden shovels with them, created an “elephant” that resembles the Nazca drawings. But their conviction did not have much influence, and in our time there are many supporters of alien participation in the creation of huge drawings.

Options for theories of the appearance of large drawings on Earth:
Animal drawings were created as a memory of the global flood.
Nazca drawings are one of the ancient zodiac calendars.
The drawn figures are created for ritual ceremonies of the water culture, and the lines represent the direction of the aqueducts.
The trajectory of the drawings was used for sprint races (though this is hard to believe).
Nazca lines and drawings are an encrypted message, a kind of code. It contains Pi, radian degrees (360°), decimal number system, etc.
The drawings were drawn by shamans under the influence of strong hallucinogens (admittedly, the theory is funny).

No matter how many different theories about the origin and purpose of the Nazca drawings are put forward, the mystery remains unrevealed. In addition, this mysterious plateau presents humanity with new mysteries. New researchers 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 hides the true purpose of the drawings from us?

The Nazca Desert is located in the south of Peru, 450 kilometers from Lima. This is the region inhabited by the pre-Incan Nazca civilization (1st-6th centuries AD).

The Nazca people waged war and traded, but their main activities were fishing and farming. In addition, the Nazcas were excellent artists and architects - we can judge this from the found ceramic products of this culture and the ruins of ancient cities. Many evidences of the high level of development of this civilization have been preserved, the main of which, undoubtedly, are the Nazca Lines - huge geoglyphs in the desert, visible only from a bird's eye view.

What to see

Nazca Lines

Giant desert paintings depicting animals and various objects - the Nazca Lines - were discovered in 1926. Researchers suggest that the geoglyphs were created in 300-800 by the Nazca civilization. They were called “the largest calendar in the world”, “the most gigantic book about astronomy” - their exact purpose remains unknown.

The area where the Nazca Lines are located covers 500 km2 and is located in the desert, where it rains only half an hour a year. It is this fact that has allowed geoglyphs to survive to this day.

These drawings were first described in 1548, but for many years no one paid serious attention to them. Perhaps this was due to the fact that you can only get a good look at them from a height, and they began to fly airplanes over the desert much later. In the early 1940s, during the construction of the Pan-American Highway, an American professor, invited to study coastal hydrology, regularly flew small planes over the valleys. It was he who drew attention to the strange lines forming huge drawings. The sight that unfolded shocked and amazed him. Professor Kosok and other scientists have devoted many years to studying these lines. They were able to discover a connection between the location of the lines and the sun on the days of the summer and winter solstices, as well as indications of the moon, planets and bright constellations. It seemed that the Nazca civilization had built a giant observatory here.

The technique for creating geoglyphs was very simple: the top darkened layer was cut off from the soil and folded here, along the resulting light strip, creating a roller of a darker color framing the lines. Over time, the color of the lines has darkened and become less contrasting, but we can still see the drawings left by the Nazca civilization.

How to watch
Nazca has several companies that fly sightseeing flights in small planes over the desert. This is because due to the number of people wishing to inspect the Line, there may not be places available for the desired date at the last moment.

An alternative way to see the lines is to go up to the observation deck on the Panamericana Highway (El Mirador). The cost of lifting is 2 sols (20 rubles), but you will only be able to see 2 drawings.

Palpa Lines

Unlike the Nazca drawings, the Palpa Lines consist more of human images and geometric designs. According to archaeological research, the Palpa Lines date back to an earlier period than the Nazca Lines. Flying along the Palpa Lines you can see the image of a Pelican, an image of a woman, a man and a boy, whom archaeologists nicknamed “The Family”. One of the Palpa Lines is an image of a Hummingbird - similar to one of the Nazca Lines geoglyphs. The Other Line is read by archaeologists as an image of a Dog near the Square. Near the city of Palpa you can see the famous image of the Sundial and Tumi - a ritual knife.

Ruins of Cahuachi

The most important and powerful city of the Nazca civilization was Cahuachi, a city in the Nazca Valley, 24 km from the modern city of Nazca. Excavations are still underway here. Today, all that remains of the city are:

• The Central Pyramid is 28 meters high and 100 meters wide, consisting of 7 steps. Religious ceremonies were held here.
• Step Temple 5 meters high and 25 meters wide
• 40 buildings made of adobe (unbaked brick)

Near the city there was a necropolis in which scientists found untouched burials with various objects that were customary to be placed in graves (dishes, fabrics, jewelry, etc.). All finds can be seen in the Antonini Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Antonini) in Nazca.

Necropolis of Chauchilla (El cementerio de Chauchilla)

The Necropolis of Chauchilla is located 30 km from the city of Nazca. This is the only place in Peru where you can see the mummies of an ancient civilization directly in the graves where they were found. This cemetery was used from the 3rd to 9th centuries AD, but the main burials date back to 600-700 years. The mummies were well preserved thanks to the arid desert climate, as well as the embalming technology used by the Nazcas: the bodies of deceased people were wrapped in cotton cloth, painted with paints and soaked in resins. It was the resins that helped avoid the decomposing effects of bacteria.
The necropolis was discovered in 1920, but was officially recognized as an archaeological site and taken under protection only in 1997. Before that, he suffered for many years from looters who stole a significant part of the Nazca treasures.

2-hour guided tour - 30 Soles

Entrance ticket to the Necropolis - 5 Soleils

San Fernando Nature Reserve (Bahía de San Fernando)

About 80 km from Nazca there is a reserve very similar to Paracas. Here you can also see penguins, sea lions, dolphins, and various birds. And in addition, Andean foxes, guanacos and condors are found in San Fernando.

It is difficult to get here and there are almost no tourists here.In San Fernando you can spend time alone with nature and the Pacific Ocean!

Cantayoc Aqueducts

The Nazcas were a very advanced civilization. In desert conditions, where the river is filled with water only for 40 days a year, Nazca farmers needed a system that would allow them to have water throughout the year. They solved this problem by creating a magnificent aqueduct system. One of them is the Cantayoc Aqueducts, which are located less than 5 km from the city of Nazca and are a chain of spiral wells.

When to go

Nazca is located in the desert, where it is almost always dry and sunny. December to March is the hottest time in this region, with average daily temperatures hovering around 27C. June to September are the coldest months of the year, with daytime temperatures as low as 18C.

How to get to Nazca

Nazca is located 450 kilometers south of Lima. You can get here by car along the Panamericana Highway, or by one of the many buses that go in this direction. The bus trip will take 7 hours.

Nazca Desert (Peru) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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The Nazca Desert, located off the southern coast of Peru, is one of the most amazing and mystical places on the planet. This area became widely famous thanks to the gigantic mysterious lines that form realistic drawings from a great height, as if made by the hand of an invisible giant master. The amount of art is amazing: in the Nazca desert there are more than thirty identifiable designs alone, and there are also about 700 geometric shapes and countless lines and stripes. Millions of tourists from all over the world come to see the mysterious signs every year, and the desert itself is perhaps the most visited attraction in Peru.

A little history

Hummingbird, Monkey, Dog, Whale - these are just a few of the giant drawings in the Nazca desert. The first evidence of the existence of shallow long trenches of unknown purpose dates back to the 16th century, and in 1939 it became visible from the air for the first time that these strips form perfect pictures. The first photos of the desert were taken in 1947, and since then scientists have been puzzling over the purpose of the Nazca drawings.

So far, all that is known is that the authors of the drawings (at least according to modern science) are the ancient Nazca civilization, which existed from the 1st century BC until the 8th century with its center in the ceremonial city of Cahuachi (28 km from the current city of Nazca) . In addition to desert art, the Nazcas bequeathed an extensive system of underground water canals (many of which are still used by local residents), as well as examples of ceramics and textiles, which can be seen in the Antonini Archaeological Museum in the city of Nazca.

The famous Nazca Lines are located on a section of rocky desert with an area of ​​50 by 5-7 km, occupying a total space of 500 square meters. km.

How to get there

The main settlement of the Nazca area is logically named Nazca. The most convenient way to get here is by bus, this indispensable Peruvian transport. Buses depart from all major cities in the country; the fastest way 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 from Cusco and Arequipa also arrive in Nazca; in the first case, you will have to spend about 14 hours on the road, in the second - “only” nine, both buses depart from their starting points at night, arriving at the place in the morning. A ticket from Cusco will cost about 90-100 PEN, from Arequipa - about 75-85 PEN. The trip from Lima will take approximately 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 sightseeing tour from one of the agencies in the Peruvian capital. Tourists set off at 4 am, 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 10 pm the same day. The cost of the excursion is about 900-1000 PEN. Prices on the page are as of September 2018.

How to get around

You can get around the city of Nazca on foot - it is quite small. A taxi ride to any distance within the city will cost no more than 4 PEN, and a trip to the airport (from where the light-duty cars with tourists take off) will cost no more than 5-6 PEN.

Hotels in the Nazca Desert

Hoteliers in the city of Nazca and the surrounding area, of course, could not ignore the increased popularity of the area among foreign tourists, so there are plenty of options for accommodation here. Prices start from 35-40 PEN per room without embellishment; for 50 PEN you can stay for the night comfortably, and for 90-120 PEN you can even have a blast. For budget tourists there are a lot of hostels with prices ranging from 15-20 PEN per bed. Well, to experience the authentic atmosphere of Nazca, you can stay at a private hacienda turned into a hotel.

Cuisine and restaurants

In the city of Nazca, you should not look for gourmet restaurants - after all, although it is a popular province, it is a province. But there are more than enough establishments of a worker-peasant nature here - and the food they serve is very good: the ingredients are fresh, the preparation is simple but good, and the portions are huge. Fast food includes all kinds of sandwiches and burgers, kiosks with which are located on any of the city streets. If you want to have a hot lunch, Nazca restaurants are at your service, where for 8-15 PEN you will be offered a fixed menu of soup, several main dishes to choose from and a drink.

Nazca Lines

The famous Nazca Lines are located on a section of rocky desert with an area of ​​50 by 5-7 km, occupying a total space of 500 square meters. km. In fact, they are shallow furrows a meter wide and 30-40 cm deep. Due to the fact that the surface of the soil in Nazca is darker, and the “underside” is lighter, the lines are clearly visible to the eye. But due to the fact that the drawings occupy a gigantic area, you can see them in all their glory only from the air.

Flights over the Nazca Desert start from the local airfield, where operator stands are plentiful. A seat in a four-seater Cessna (2 pilots and 2 passengers) will cost about 50-70 USD in the low season and 90-110 USD in the high season. Definitely need to bargain! The passenger will also be asked to pay an airport tax of 10-15 PEN. The flight duration is about half an hour.

You can also admire the Nazca Line from the observation tower located along the Pan-American Highway. From there you can see 3-4 drawings and a magnificent mountain landscape on the horizon. A taxi from the city of Nazca and back will cost about 55 PEN, and climbing the tower itself will cost 3 PEN.

Nazca city and surroundings

To get a complete picture of the Nazca culture, you should definitely visit the interesting Archaeological Museum of Antonini. It displays examples of ceramics and textiles recovered from archaeological sites, and in the garden there is a model of the Nazca Aqueduct and a model of the Nazca Lines.

In the nearby city of Cantalloc, it is worth seeing the system of underground Nazca aqueducts (“pucuyos”), thanks to which cotton, corn, beans and other crops are successfully grown in this arid region today. Nearby you can look at the ruins of the Inca city of Paredones.

The Chauchilla burial site is the only place in Peru where you can see mummies about 3 thousand years old “in a natural setting.” For centuries, treasure hunters have plundered ancient graves, not hesitating to leave the deceased owners of jewelry on the surface. Don’t be surprised to see skulls, bones, hair and other evidence of the frailty of human existence under your feet.