Nazca Lines -- An ANCIENT Alien SOS Signal?!
Is that a giant bird design carved into the earth over acres of land or are you just happy to see me?
Conspirators!
This week’s Nibble takes us to southern Peru. Why? Because in Peru, out in the Nazca Desert, there are hundreds of geoglyphs, ranging from 0.4 to 1.1 km across, whose entire shape is only visible from extremely high altitudes. The designs are wide ranging, including a tree, flower, hummingbird, spider, fish, condor, heron, monkey, lizard, dog, and human, to name a few.
So why were they created? And who were they for? Let’s find out!
So first off, how the heck were these made??
The gigantic geoglyphs have been around awhile. They are suspected to have been created by the Nazca civilization that inhabited Peru from around 500BC to 200BC. So, unlike their more modern brethren, crop circles, these glyphs have some major longevity.
But how did this ancient civilization create them? Glad you (well, I) asked!
Unlike the ancient pyramids, there isn’t exactly a huge debate on the “how did they do that?” question. Simple tools and surveying equipment available at the time, such as wooden stakes found at archaeological sites near the lines, would have done the trick. And just to be sure, an investigator of the paranormal named Joe Nickell reproduced them using the same tools and tech found at the sites.
Okay, we know the “how.” But WHY were these things created?
As this one is an unsolved mystery, theorists have had some real fun with it. Below are just some of the theories. Which do y'all like best?
The lines were created to attract extraterrestrials. Okay, makes some sense. These are clearly meant to be seen from above and, if you don’t believe that ancient civilizations had anything close to modern tech (by the way, they obviously did…), the only plausible flying machines available at the time would have been something close to a hot air balloon. Aka, if these were for the sky, then assuming they were beacons for extraterrestrials is almost logical, yes?
Note that this alien theory gained a TON of steam when a three-fingered corpse was reportedly found in a tomb near the Nazca Lines, causing some researchers to dub it a newly undiscovered species or even aliens. But once tested, the DNA was 100% human. I guess that dead guy just wasn’t a great onion chopper.
The lines were made as a tribute to the gods. This one’s a bit boring, but it is logical. Gods were/are typically thought of as living “above us.” And Nazca beliefs were likely centered around agriculture and fertility. But then again, what the heck does a monkey have to do with agriculture and fertility? Plus, at least to us at Conspiracy Nibbles, the whole “religious practice” always seems like such a cop out when we’re unsure of what ancient peoples were up to.
The lines were an astronomical map. Maria Reiche, a scientist and mathematician, mapped the lines from above and postulated that they represented constellations which could have been used as a gigantic calendar. It...kind of checks out. See, hundreds and thousands of years ago, before humans polluted the skies as if we’re trying to hotbox the Earth, the visible detail in the sky was insane. It’s why so many ancient civilizations knew just as much about the stars as we do now. So, maybe these were just a bunch of artists going nuts on some desert drawings?
The lines are an irrigation system. The lines are typically about 4-6 inches deep and 6 feet wide. It’s hypothesized that the system was designed into specific shapes to help “summon” the water in a bit of combination between ritual and science. Or maybe the irrigation system designer just liked animals?
Take your bird’s eye view
No matter what purpose the Nazca Lines were created for, one thing we can agree on is that they sure are wild. And it’s impressive that they’re still around today after all these years. Take some deeper dives below if you want to hear more on these!
The History Channel did a nice little write up on the Nazca Lines and another on a completely different set of lines near Palpa, Peru that depict more “warrior” images.
The Stuff You Missed In History Class podcast has a nice episode on the lines.
The AskAnthropologist sub-Reddit asked - you guessed it - anthropologists for an explanation.
Any other theories you can think of? Leave a comment! And don’t forget to sign up so next week’s Nibble on a giant active volcano under Yellowstone in Wyoming!
As always, stay ‘spicious.
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