A Feline in the Foothills

 

I guess cats really do have 9 lives, or at least they sure do live a damn long time. Turns out, a large image of a cat has been discovered at a UNESCO World Heritage site in southern Peru. This isn't anything out of the ordinary for this specific area as hundreds of lines like this can be found in the area depicting animals and assorted geometric shapes. UNESCO refers to this phenomenon as the "Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa". Details from their larger article found here:

"Located in the arid Peruvian coastal plain, some 400 km south of Lima, the geoglyphs of Nasca and the pampas of Jumana cover about 450 km2 . These lines, which were scratched on the surface of the ground between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, are among archaeology's greatest enigmas because of their quantity, nature, size and continuity. The geoglyphs depict living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary beings, as well as geometric figures several kilometres long. They are believed to have had ritual astronomical functions."

I find history in general fascinating, but even more-so when we can't figure out why the hell people were doing what they were doing. Like the article above mentions, they believe it has something to do with rituals, which makes sense, but to make these by hand and for them to last until modern times is truly hard for me to get my mind around. Also, just how? How could they possibly make these thousands of years ago with limited technology they had? I mean the cat is looking a little funky but still, to make these by hand by simply removing and moving rocks to show the surfaces beneath into giant images is hard to grasp mentally. 

It also gives me some hope, you know? Like there's still so much out there we have to find and discoveries like this keep that hope alive. Hear more from Johny Isla in this article here:

“It’s quite striking that we’re still finding new figures, but we also know that there are more to be found,” Johny Isla, Peru’s chief archaeologist for the lines, told the Spanish news agency Efe.“Over the past few years, the use of drones has allowed us to take images of hillsides.”

Isla said between 80 and 100 new figures had emerged over recent years in the Nazca and Palpa valleys, all of which predated the Nazca culture (AD200-700). “These are smaller in size, drawn on to hillsides, and clearly belong to an earlier tradition.”

It will be interesting if / when they do find more and what comes about these potential earlier traditions, maybe it will give us some clarity on what they mean and why they took the time to make these massive images on the Earth. Also pretty cool that drones are helping us finding items like this. I love seeing technology and history collide and when it enables us to experience things we couldn't have before I continue to look forward to what we still have to find out there.