Talk:Nazca lines

The pampa region linked to (around buenos aires, argentina) does not seem to be the pampa region mentioned in this article (southern peru).

Does anybody in Wikipedia remember Maria Reiche?

Maria Reiche dedicated all her life to take care and explain these lines and there is not a single line about her or her work. On the contrary there are references for ufologist, is this a serious work? Hard to believe that all crazy theories are mentioned here.

I have added a section on Maria Reich's work in preserving the lines--Crais459 09:34, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

Remove below, is this archeological article or "Fortean Times"?

Others believe that the lines are a warning of something to come, a great calamity or the end of the the world. Some believe that the lines were intended as a warning - one of the drawings depicts a monkey with only 4 fingers on one hand. This sort of deformity would have been feared, although the lines' representation of animals is, at best, inaccurate. The shape of the lines, which forms an hourglass, may also support the idea that the lines represent some sort of countdown. It is also suggested that the lines are a large star map that details the future positions of stars, perhaps hinting at a cosmically-inspired calamity.

This article 5uxx0rd hard...=

I mean, jesus, the rotten dot com article was better (not like i'm surprised ;-)). I took some stuff from the spanish article, removed that heading, changed the order around, added some verifiable info (all figures are from the spanish article, converted to miles for the sake of a one unit article, even tho i prefer SI units) and tried to cordon off the whack-job UFO stuff into the "alternate theory" section, so as to not make the article too POV. As you can tell from this post, you know where my sympathies lie in regards to the whole space aliens thing. Honestly, it's the same thing iwth the pyramids; people just don't have faith in the ability of man to accomplish anything of value without introducing some whacky deus ex machina. Why can't you believe that ancient indians could scrape gravel off of white dirt! So strange. I think i'll go back and add a link to the rotten dot com article, which is hilarious, btw, and puts these UFO guys in their place. I also added the first picture you now see, although it's a cropped version of a creative commons pic. i just cropped out some empty desert. i don't know whether this is a violation of some kind, but I wasn't about to go through all that BS about mediawiki just to crop a pic. If there's a problem, I'm terribly sorry to the person whose vacation it came from (which i think is the actual source, from what i could gather from the spanish wikipedia) GuildNavigator84 11:27, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I want to read...

...more about the "extensive network of underground canals and waterways found dating from the same period." That's a nice little bomb to drop at the very end with no more info. Sounds about more interesting than the Nazca lines, doesn't it? Can someone add more info, or a link, or better still another article? Amity150 04:16, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Any satellite images?

How comes that none of these images of birds and monkeys etc. can be seen on Google Earth? Are they too small or is the contrast too bad? If somebody has found them, a link here would be great! --'''''T'''d'''L''''' 12:47, 19 September 2006 (UTC) Shamanic Flight There is no mention of the possibility of the use of shamanic flight

in the creation of the lines; whether it be in the design process, or as part of the motivation to create the lines.

Map image

Can you tell me something about the new map I added. thanks --– Emperor Walter Humala · ^{( shout! · sign? )} 16:50, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Having a map is no doubt very helpful; I can't comment on accuracy because I don't know where any of the things are. However, I'm guessing that the item labeled 'tiger' is mislabeled; more likely a jaguar? user:66.194.72.10

In response to those who believe it wasnt done by extraterrestrial beings

although there are some that doubt that man is incapable of doing things that are deemed as "impossible" one should consider some facts --- how is it that such a primitive tribe was able to construct such very large and quite proportionate pictures without seeing as a whole what they created being that the figures are only visible from a certain distance in the sky? ---how is it possible that the iron material used to construct the figures was 100% iron considering that 100% iron material is impossible to obtain? user:76.173.162.154

Though this is a silly place to discuss this, I can't resist. First of all, the article states that iron oxide, a far cry from pure iron, was used. Secondly, I'm no Nazca Indian, but I think even I could figure out how to make the approximate shape I wanted on a huge scale without seeing it. All it takes is a coordinate system-any spot that needed to be white, and the lines connecting them, can be drawn out in miniature and the distances beween two lines calculated. Then, all it takes is some very long ropes or accurate pacing to determines which spots need to be dug. I don't know if that's actually how the Nazca did it, but it is certainly one possibility. user:66.194.72.10

First of... Think about it.... You said all they need is rope.. But you're not thinking how long of rope you would need.... We're talking miles and miles... Who could or would construct rope that long? Then you said pacing.... Again... Miles and Miles... Years and years.... Not possible... Try again..

Nazca Lines pictures

I think there should be more pictures of Nazca Lines.

A new theory. Nazca lines were simple property lines or grazing lands divisions for herders.

1.The Nazca were herders. (http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/news07/press_516e.html) The pampa was grass lands due to warmer climate. I have lived in Bolivia for 17 years and the people are very organized. Similar pie shaped modern "nucleos" can be see in San Julian, Brecha Casarabe Quechua homestead area of Eastern Bolivia. This is simply the most effecient way to mark of boundry lines for property. (see from Google earth for resemblence (N. of Santa Cruz) The lines were simply trail lines used to lead animals to and from pasture to and from a central corral. As dessertification became more accute and limite pasture more valuable the community probably organized to adminster grass lands and laid off lines to orgainize grazing rights among clans or families or communities. Defined trails to a center corral would have reduced trail erosion, something all herdering cultures in dry areas are sensetive to.

That is my theory anyway. This could be studied by looking for remenents of higher salt content at the center of the "nucleos"(salt used for animal feed supplement), or higher organic content from manure build up. 74.195.50.163 05:24, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

The animals were probably clan totems and used in ritual walking as discussed in the articleor were used to catch water as the glyphs at El Fuerte at Samaipata.

How were the lines discovered?

This article does not mention anything about how the lines were discovered by our modern civilization (Just like we know that Machu Picchu was "discovered" by Hiram Bingham). Anyone (with good sources) could add that info? --Abu badali ^(talk) 15:54, 29 June 2007 (UTC)