|
 The Nasca lines are
geoglyphs and geometric line clearings in the Peruvian desert. They were
made by the Nasca people, who flourished between 200 BCE and 600 CE along
rivers and streams that flow from the Andes. The desert itself runs for
over 1,400 miles along the Pacific Ocean. The area of the Nasca art is
called the Pampa Colorada (Red Plain). It is 15 miles wide and runs some
37 miles parallel to the Andes and the sea. Dark red surface stones and
soil have been cleared away, exposing the lighter colored subsoil,
creating the "lines". There is no sand in this desert. From the air, the
"lines" include not only lines and geometric shapes, but also depictions
of animals and plants in stylized forms. Some of the forms, including
images of humans, grace the steep hillsides at the edge of the desert.
The
Nasca lines are communal. Their creation took hundreds of years and
required a large number of people working on the project. Their size and
their purpose have led some to speculate that visitors from another planet
either created or directed the project. Erich von Däniken thinks that the
Nasca lines formed an airfield for alien spacecraft*, an idea first
proposed by James W. Moseley in the October 1955 issue of Fate and made
popular in the early sixties by Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier in The
Morning of the Magicians. If Nasca was an alien airfield, it must have
been a very confusing airfield, consisting as it does of giant lizards,
spiders, monkeys, llamas, dogs, hummingbirds, etc., not to mention the
zigzagging and crisscrossing lines and geometric designs. It was very
considerate of the aliens to depict plants and animals of interest to the
locals, even though it must have meant that navigation would be more
difficult than a straight runway or a large clearing. Also, the airport
must have been a very busy place, needing 37 miles of runway to handle all
the traffic. However, it is unlikely spacecraft could have landed in the
area without disturbing some of the artwork or the soil. There is no
evidence of such disturbance.
The alien theory is proposed mainly because some people find it difficult
to believe that a race of primitive "Indians" could have had the
intelligence to conceive of such a project, much less the technology to
bring the concept to fruition. The evidence points elsewhere, however. The
Aztecs, the Toltecs, the Inca, the Maya, etc., are proof enough that the
Nasca did not need extraterrestrial help to create their art gallery in
the desert.
In any case, one does not need a very sophisticated technology to create
large figures, geometrical shapes, and straight lines, as has been shown
by the creators of so-called crop circles. The Nasca probably used grids
for their giant geoglyphs, as their weavers did for their elaborate
designs and patterns. The most difficult part of the project would have
been moving all the stones and earth to reveal the lighter subsoil. There
really is nothing mysterious about how the Nasca created their lines and
figures.
Some think it is mysterious that the figures have remained intact for so
many hundreds of years. However, the geology of the area solves that
mystery.
Stones (not sand) comprise the desert surface. Rusted by humidity, their
darkened color increases heat absorption. The resulting cushion of warm
surface air acts as a buffer against the wind; while minerals in the soil
help to solidify the stones. On the "desert pavement" thus created in this
dry, rainless environment, erosion is practically nil - making for
remarkable preservation of the markings.*
The mystery is why. Why did the Nasca engage in such a project involving
so many people for so many years?
G. von Breunig thinks the lines were used for running footraces. He
examined the curved pathways and determined that they were partially
shaped by continuous running. Anthropologist Paul Kosok briefly maintained
that the lines were part of an irrigation system, but soon rejected the
notion as impossible. He then speculated that the lines formed a gigantic
calendar. Maria Reiche, a German immigrant and apprentice archaeologist to
Julio Tello of the University of San Marcos, developed Kosok's theory and
spent most of her life collecting data to show that the lines represent
the Nasca's astronomical knowledge. Reiche identified many interesting
astronomical alignments, which had they been known to the Nasca might have
been useful in planning their planting and harvesting. However, there are
so many lines going in so many different directions that not finding many
with interesting astronomical alignments would have been miraculous.
modern anthropology and the lines
The Nasca lines became of interest to anthropologists after they were seen
from the air in the 1930s. It is unlikely that a project of this magnitude
was not religious in purpose. To involve the entire community for many
centuries indicates the supreme significance of the site. Like pyramids,
giant statues, and other monumental art, the Nasca art speaks of
permanence. It says: we are here and we are not moving. These are not
nomads, nor are they hunters and gatherers. This is an agricultural
society. It is, of course, a pre-scientific agricultural society, who
turned to magic and superstition (i.e., religion) to assist them with
their crops. The Nacza had the knowledge to irrigate, plant, harvest,
collect, distribute, etc. But the weather is fickle. Things might go
smoothly for years, or even centuries, and then, in a single generation
entire communities are forced to leave because of extended drought or
because of floods or tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, fires,
or whatever else Mother Nature might hurl their way.
Was this a site for worship? Was this the Mecca of the Nasca? a place of
pilgrimage? Were the images part of rituals aimed at appeasing the gods or
asking for help with the fertility of the people and the crops, or with
the weather or with a good supply of water? That the figures could not be
seen as those in the heavens might see them would not be that important
for religious or magical purposes. In any case, similar figures to the
giants at Nasca decorate the pottery found in nearby burial sites and it
is apparent from their cemeteries that the Nasca were preoccupied with
death. Mummified remains litter the desert, discarded by grave robbers.
Was this a place for rituals aimed at bringing immortality to the dead? We
don't know, but if this mystery is ever to be cleared up it will be by
serious scientists, not by alienated pseudoscientific speculators molding
the data to fit their extraterrestrial musings. |
Todo comenzó en 1.927
cuando un famoso arqueologo llamdo Mejia Xespe, fue informado sobre la
presencia de unos misteriosos jeroglificos o lineas trazadas sobre el
suelo de la costa peruana. A pesar de lo interesante que era el tema, no
se le dedicó mayor atención que el de clasificar el descubrimiento para su
posterior estudio.
 Pero fue ese mismo año, que llegó a Perú otro investigador, el doctor Paul
Kosok, quien se mostró muy atraído por estas expresiones precolombinas,
cuando en uno de sus primeros recorridos por el sur del país, al detenerse
en lo alto de una meseta, pudo observar extensas líneas multiformes en
ambos lados de la carretera, cerca de las montañas.
Grande fue su asombro cuando Kosok, el mismo día del descubrimiento, al
proyectar los trazos en su tablero de aquellos supuestos caminos, pudo ver
que uno de los dibujos adquiría la forma inconfundible de un pájaro en
pleno vuelo.
Pero ¿había encontrado la llave del enigma? Kosok entendió que se hallaba
silenciosamente esparcido en estos dibujos lo que podía constituir el
Libro de Astronomía más Grande del Mundo.
Estas misteriosas líneas, se extienden en un perímetro de 50 kilómetros de
longitud y 15 kilómetros de ancho, y en este citado perímetro están
comprendidas cuatro pampas: Palpa, Ingeni, Nasca y Socos, localizadas
entre los kilómetros 419 y 465 de la carretera Panamericana Sur. El suelo
de aquella región, que además es una de las más secas y deserticas del
mundo, es de color marrón, pero bajo esta primera capa se esconde otra de
color amarillo, asi que cuando se camina por aquellos lugares una pisada
deja una extraña y duradera mancha blanca que no deja de ser
misteriosamente inquietante.
En 1946, Kosok regresó a su país no sin antes sugerir a María Reiche, que
le había asistido en las investigaciones, continuar con el estudio de los
dibujos que él había empezado a descifrar.
María dedicaría su vida a esa labor. Según M. Reiche suman más de treinta
los geoglifos hasta hoy encontrados en las Pampas de Nasca. Se trata de
animales marinos y terrestres, figuras geométricas y humanas. Entre los
geoglifos de mayor tamaño están un pájaro de casi 300 m, un lagarto de 180
m, un pelícano de 135 m, un cóndor de 135 m, un mono de 135 m y una araña
de 42 metros.
Estas dimensiones son motivo de admiración. Reiche comenta que "hay un ave
tan grande que uno puede colocarse en la punta de una de sus alas y no se
puede ver ni la cabeza, ni la otra ala, sólo es posible percibir unas
pocas líneas sobre el suelo, se tendría que sobrevolar el área para poder
apreciarla en su conjunto". Por el contrario, la figura más pequeña
encontrada hasta el momento es un espiral que tiene un diámetro de 3
metros.
 Entre
los diseños de los animales que se perciben en Nasca figuran: una ballena,
un perro con patas y cola largas, dos llamas, diversas aves como la garza,
la grulla, el pelícano, la gaviota, el colibrí y el loro. En la categoría
de reptiles, un lagarto, que fue cortado al construirse la Panamericana
Sur, una iguana y una serpiente. Por otro lado se encuentran las
imponentes figuras del mono, la araña y el caracol, entre otros.
LOS MISTERIOS
Han surgido multitud de conjeturas. Muchas razonadas antropológica e
históricamente hablando, otras bordeando la ficción como la de Von
Daniken, quien en su libro "La respuesta de los dioses", llega a afirmar
que se podia tratar de señales y pistas de aterrizaje para naves
extraterrestres.
Lo que si es cierto es que muchos siglos antes del surgimiento del Imperio
Inca, se construyeron y realizaron las misteriosas líneas de Nasca.
Las atrevidas teorías de Von Daniken, han dado pie a otras derivadas de la
inicial ya que algunos estudiosos han creido ver la figura de un hombre
volando, y aquí comienza el ciclo de elucubraciones sobre los astronautas.
Y eso quizá sea una traspolación de viejas leyendas del lugar que nos
hablan de unos misteriosos y diabólicos hombres lechuza. Ya que en este
aspecto, a parte de raras y enigmáticas leyendas populares se tienen
pruebas palpables debido a la ceramica Nasca.
Pero M. Reiche, las define como el extraño testimonio y legado de las
antiguas culturas peruanas: "Las líneas de las Pampas de Nasca son nada
menos que una historia documental de la ciencia y de los hombres de
ciencia del Perú prehispánico. En ella se encuentra registrada una
tradición científica en donde los antiguos peruanos desarrollaron un
abecedario para anotar los más importantes acontecimientos astronómicos de
aquellos días. Las Pampas de Nasca son las páginas de un libro escrito con
este extraño alfabeto". Las líneas de Nasca son el testimonio gráfico de
la forma como aquellos seres superiores dominaron la relación entre los
fenómenos celestes y nuestro planeta.
Lo que si se sabe es que los antiguos Nascas realizaban extrañas y
enimáticas ceremonias mágico-religiosas en diversas épocas del año. Y que
se tiene tambien que asumir que los Nascas estudiaban el cosmos desde
aquellos parajes y lograron una maestría en establecer la relación cósmica
entre los fenómenos celestes y el planeta tierra. |
