Scientists Reveal the Mystery of the Birds on the Nazca Lines (They Aren’t What You Thought)

The Nazca Lines, a set of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca desert in southwestern Peru, are one of the great mysteries left by ancient civilizations that still intrigue many scientists. There are hundreds of figures with the shapes of animals, plants and lines traced over 2,000 years ago on the surface of the Earth and that can be seen from the sky or from nearby mountains. For decades, scientists thought they had been able to identify some of the birds drawn, but a study recently published by Japanese researchers revealed that they are not what they thought.

Today the awesome.club tells more details about this academic work that brought new data about pre-Incan civilizations. At the end of the post, we present a bonus with other geoglyphs full of riddles about the peoples of the past.

The lines occupy an area of ​​450 km² and each drawing measures more or less 300 meters. Located about 400 km from Lima, they were traced on the ground by the Nazca civilization. The first historical reference to its existence comes from the Spanish conquerors, in the mid-16th century.

The first military and civil flights made it possible to observe the entirety of the geoglyphs. For several years, anthropologists and archaeologists have tried to find some meaning for those lines. The hypotheses have always been very diverse: a giant calendar, sacred roads, centers of divine worship, indicators of places with underground water and others.

In his book ‘Were the Gods Astronauts?’, the Swiss Erich von Däniken defends the idea that they were landing strips for extraterrestrial spacecraft who were in contact with ancient civilizations to transmit to them technological knowledge. For the author, the pyramids of Egypt, the rocks of Stonehenge, in England, and the stone heads on Easter Island (moais), are other evidences of extraterrestrial life on Earth.

The mystery involves not only the meaning of the lines, but also the identity of the figures drawn. A group of Japanese scientists solved part of these questions with a work presented in the scientific publication Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. they claim that the birds are not what you imagined.

“Until now, the birds in the drawings had been identified based on general impressions or some morphological traits present in each figure. We closely observed the shapes and sizes of beaks, heads, necks, wings and legs and compared them with modern birds in Peru”, says Masaki Eda, a member of the University of Hokkaido and one of those responsible for the research.

Through an ornithological look, scientists have come to the conclusion that what were thought to be guanos are actually pelicans. Other drawings, such as the condor and the flamingo, do not have characteristics that support this claim, but they also showed no signs of birds living in Peru.

This new data also raised some questions, as although the birds that could be identified exist in the country, they are found in very distant regions. “The natives of the Nazca Civilization who drew the images could have seen pelicans while foraging for food on the coast. Our findings show that people drew exotic birds, not birds locationsand that could be a clue as to why these animals were the first subjects of the lines,” explained Eda.

The researchers still need to compare the traces of the birds that could not be identified with the drawings on ceramics of the time and with the bones found in the region.

The Atacama Giant is a large figure measuring 119 meters in length located in the Atacama Desert in Chile. It is believed to have been made between 900 and 1450 AD and represents a shaman or the Andean deity Tunupa-Tarapacá.

The Uffington White Horse is a 110 meter long figure formed by deep trenches filled with white lime located on a hill. Its name is the same as the village where it was drawn. From archaeological excavations in the region, scientists say it was made in the Iron or Bronze Age, and may be more than 3,000 years old.

Theories about its meaning are many: a tribal symbol, the possible construction of a castle, a sign for travelers, the portrait of a dragon or a mythological representation of a belief according to which the Sun was taken to the skies by a horse.

More than 450 geoglyphs have appeared in recent decades in the Amazon jungle. They were traced by indigenous tribes who lived in the region between 200 BC and 1300 AD, therefore before the arrival of Europeans. The drawings appeared due to the effects of accelerated deforestation in the State of Acre. They are still a great mystery, but the strongest hypothesis among archaeologists is that they are part of sacred rituals.

The figure drawn on these sand dunes is 180 meters long and, like the Nazca lines, is located in the Ica region of Peru. It is estimated to be around 2,500 years old. Its meaning remains an enigma, but one of the strongest theories is that it is associated with the Southern Cross, also known as ‘navigators’ cross’ for indicating its location to sailors in the Southern Hemisphere.

O Blythe Intaglios is a group of figures located in the Colorado desert. Among them, there are 3 human images (the largest is 52 meters long), 2 4-legged animals and a spiral. The age of the drawings, their creators and their meanings are uncertain. Scientists believe they are between 500 and 2,000 years old, and one of the theories indicates that they represent Mastamho, a deity of the Mojave tribe, who lived in the region.

Have you ever heard of the Nazca lines? And those other geoglyphs? If you have any theories about their meanings, share them in the comments.