Lines In The Desert Plains Chapter 7: An investigation of the Nazca Lines

Paul Kosok an American scientist and historian traveled to Peru to see the Nazca Lines in 1941.



Paul Kosok



He observed the Sun setting directly over the long lines in the plain. He was struck by the idea that the lines could be looking at the position of the Sun and other stars at different times of the year-an immense astronomical calendar written on the ground. He began to map out all the objects in the Nazca Lines. He was joined by Maria Reiche who was a mathematician and archeologist.



Maria Reiche



She became his assistant and took an interest in his idea and spent much of her time among the geoglyphs in this new astronomical context. They advanced the theory that the lines purpose was related to astronomy and cosmology, the lines were intended to act as a type of observatory, pointing where the Sun arose and set and of other celestial bodies. When Kosok left in 1948 Rieche continued to map the Nazca Lines until she completed the work. Reiche’s protégé Phillis Pitluga an astronomer believed, based on computer aided studies of star alignments, the giant spider figure is an anamorphic (a distorted projection) diagram of the constellation Orion.

The Constellation Orion

She further suggested that the lines leading to the figure were used to track the changing declinations of the three stars of Orion’s belt, but did not take into account the other 16 lines.



The Spider

 The head, thorax, and abdomen of the spider represent the three stars in Orion’s belt, each limb accounts for two lines for a total of 16 lines altogether.

Orion's Belt

Two archeoastronomers who visited the site disagreed with her. The constellation Orion is one of the most recognizable in the night sky. It is associated with a large region of space, as well as a pattern of bright stars like Rigel, Betelgeuse and Sirius. The Big Dipper or Ursa Major, was known by the ancients as consisting of seven stars. The Pleiades the nearest star cluster , along with the Planets Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were all known to ancient man. The Maya the only PreColumbian civilization in the Americas to possess the ability to write, left behind a star calendar and a zodiac of their own and knew of all these stars and planets. So the Nazca may have had a knowledge of them too, but in their own particular way. Maybe the ancient astronauts always appeared from the direction of this constellation.

I believe a number of things took place where the Nazca Lines were made, each with a different purpose. I think what we have here is a juxtaposition of artistic objects on the desert plain with five possible reasons for their construction: Religion, cosmology, agriculture(nature cycles), irrigation, and the presence of ancient astronauts. Not all of these objects were made in one generation. The Nazca culture lasted over 700 years, and thus each generation could have added to the objects on the desert plain. It is also safe to say many did not survive the passage of time, and what we see is a large fragment of what they made. The controversial Swiss writer Erich von Danekin suggested the Nazca Lines represented higher technological knowledge indicated by the geoglyphs.



Erich von Danekin



He maintained that the Nazca Lines (ray centers) were runways. That these served as runways for the ancient astronauts. A very obvious deduction if we look at the following ray center:



Ray center that could have been used by the ancient astronauts as a landing area



There is no evidence that the Nazca had a technological knowledge that was superior to their neighbors. But the ray centers or runways indicate interesting possibilities. Maria Reiche made a determined effort to discredit theories of extraterrestrial visitors. She believed that the Nazca constructed the lines between 300 B.C.-700 A.D. This was based on the radio carbon dates of ceramic and wood remains which were left behind by the Nazca. The dating only proves the Nazca lived in the area, but the lines themselves cannot be radio carbon dated. The possibility remains that the lines already existed when the Nazca culture emerged. This latter theory would change the story considerably, but there is no evidence to support this theory.