Nueva teoría de científicos sobre la real especie de ave dibujada en las Líneas de Nasca

El estudio revela que los autores de estos geoglifos dibujaron aves exóticas, no locales, en Nasca.

El colibrí es una de las figuras más populares de los más de 2000 dibujos. | Fuente: PromPerú

Un nuevo estudio ha remecido las investigaciones previas sobre las famosas líneas de Nasca en el sudoeste de Perú.

Científicos japoneses han publicado un trabajo en la revista Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports en el que afirman que las aves relacionadas hasta el momento con las figuras no serían las correctas.

“Hasta ahora, estos pájaros habían sido identificados en base a impresiones generales o algunos rasgos morfológicos presentes en cada figura. Por eso observamos de cerca las formas y tamaños relativos de los picos, cabezas, cuellos, cuerpos, alas, colas y patas de las aves y las comparamos con las de las aves modernas en Perú”, explica Masaki Eda, del Museo de la Universidad de Hokkaido.

Por lo mismo, se aplicó un enfoque ornitológico para la identificación. Los científicos han cambiado la clasificación de la figura del colibrí a la de un ave ermitaño, y la del pájaro guano -y un pájaro previamente no identificado- como pelícanos. Los dibujos identificados como cóndores y flamencos no han encontrado argumentos para una nueva clasificación.

Debido a su pico largo y delgado, patas cortas, tres dedos en la misma dirección y cola larga con una sección central alargada, el 'colibrí' se ha reclasificado como ermitaño. En Perú, las colas largas y puntiagudas solo aparecen en ese tipo de aves. (Hokkaido University)

De acuerdo con los científicos, las personas que dibujaron estas imágenes pudieron reconocer estas aves, aunque no se encuentren en su hábitat natural: “La gente de Nasca que dibujó las imágenes pudo haber visto pelícanos mientras recolectaban comida en la zona costera. Nuestros hallazgos muestran que (los pueblos preincaicos) dibujaron aves exóticas, no locales, y esto podría ser una pista de por qué las dibujaron en primer lugar“, mencionó Eda. 

16 figuras fueron estudiadas

Los ermitaños, por ejemplo, se encuentran en los bosques en las laderas orientales de los Andes y en el norte cerca de Ecuador. Y los pelícanos viven a lo largo de la costa.

Las Líneas de Nasca se encuentran a 400 km de Lima y fueron esculpidas hace más de 2 mil años. Los científicos esperan seguir descubriendo las verdaderas identidades de las figuras mediante el análisis de cerámicas locales y hallar el mecanismo de fabricación de las enormes figuras que pueden ser vistas desde el espacio.

Imagen de la Orca descubierta en las lineas de Nazca

Se ha encontrado un "dibujo" masivo de una ballena asesina en las legendarias Líneas de Nazca de Perú. Podría ser la imagen más antigua jamás registrada en el sitio.

En 2013, los científicos encontraron lo que creían que era una representación enorme de una criatura marina a aproximadamente 250 millas al sur de Lima. Investigadores de la Comisión de Arqueología de Culturas No Europeas (KAAK) del Instituto Arqueológico Alemán colaboraron en el proyecto con otros socios, incluidos miembros del Instituto Andino de Estudios Arqueológicos (INDEA). Después de años de análisis, trabajo de restauración y debate, han confirmado que es una orca.

"Tal vez es el geo-glifo más antiguo de la era de Nasca", dijo Markus Reindel, arqueólogo de KAAK y jefe del proyecto Nasca Palpa, al periódico alemán Welt.

El geoglifo mide aproximadamente 200 pies de largo. Hay aproximadamente 1,500 más en la región, la mayoría de ellos datan de 200 aC. a 600 d.C. Además de su potencial para ser aún más viejo, la orca plantea varias preguntas inmediatas, como por qué un mamífero marino estaba siendo representado en el medio del desierto peruano. El geoglifo también presentaba misteriosos símbolos y una "cabeza de trofeo" que, según los teólogos, podría significar que la imagen tenía un propósito religioso.

Las partes de la imagen se crearon en relieve negativo, lo que significa que las áreas de suelo expuesto son las que forman las líneas reales, en lugar de pilas levantadas de piedras; este estilo es más indicativo de los geoglifos de Nazca más antiguos. Pero otras partes sí presentan una construcción de relieve positivo, que está más asociada con Paracas, una cultura separada e incluso más antigua. Las pruebas de suelo del geoglifo de la orca datan potencialmente de 200 aC. Es concebible que haya sido diseñado no solo por Nazca, sino también por los Paracas, quienes crearon geoglifos en este estilo desde aproximadamente el año 800 aC. a 200 aC

Una de las Líneas de Nazca en Perú (imagen representativa). Diego Delso / CC

Las líneas de Nazca fueron redescubiertas hace casi 100 años en el desierto del sur de Perú. Los geoglifos más grandes tienen más de 1,000 pies de largo. Su propósito sigue siendo un misterio; los arqueólogos piensan que pudieron haber sido religiosos (su tamaño colosal era mejor para ser visibles para las deidades del cielo), o quizás que eran herramientas para registrar la astronomía. La geógrafa María Reiche, que dedicó su vida a estudiar las líneas, creía que representaban constelaciones. Mientras tanto, su protegida pensó que representaban contra-constelaciones, no las estrellas, sino el espacio oscuro en el medio.

Ancient Runways and Flying Fish: Did the Nazca Culture Take Flight?

The Nazca lines are still mysterious even after decades of being carefully studied. Archaeologists believe they know how they were made, but why they were made remains uncertain. Recently, researchers have suggested that the lines were related to fertility rituals involving the availability of water, but there are some people who still see something different in lines that are very long and straight. Some alternative thinkers argue that the straighter lines represent runways for ancient airports. Although it is possible that this is the case, the evidence found to support this position is insufficient so far.

Were the Nazca Lines Airports for Ancient Aliens?

The Nazca designs consist of a variety of figures. Some are recognizable as animals, such as spiders and monkeys, while others are more abstract. There is also a subset of figures that consist simply of straight lines. Some of them are built at the tops of hills and appear to stop at the edges of cliffs. Unlike the other designs that are clearly figural, these resemble runways in their length and straightness. This has led some fringe theorists to suggest that these lines were ancient air strips or airports. Some people even suggest that the lines made on hills were specifically created for launching gliders.

Nazca Lines, Nazca, Peru. (Diego Delso/ CC BY SA )

There are two main groups which say that these particular Nazca lines represent runways - those who believe that the Nazca geoglyphs were made by visiting extraterrestrials and those who believe that the Nazca people had flight technology and used it to make the lines. Proponents of both views point to the Tolima artifacts: gold figurines that sometimes resemble jet planes, as further evidence that ancient South Americans either possessed flight technology themselves or encountered flight technology produced by someone else, such as ancient aliens.

  •  Twenty Four more Ancient Geoglyphs Discovered in Nazca, Peru

  •  The Enigma of the Nazca Lines: Strange Theories and Unanswered Questions

Aerial view of the "Owlman" aka "Astronaut", the most enigmatic geoglyph of the Nazca Lines in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru.

Aerial view of the "Owlman" aka "Astronaut", the most enigmatic geoglyph of the Nazca Lines in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. (Diego Delso/ CC BY SA )

The main problem with the extraterrestrial explanation is that there is no other clear evidence that suggests alien visitation. There is no evidence of crashed spaceships, spacecraft parts, rare metal alloys not normally found on earth, or anything else that could not have come from this planet - no indisputable evidence at least. Furthermore, analysis of the lines shows they were made by delicately removing topsoil to create these designs. A spaceship landing would probably have disrupted this fragile configuration.

There is no evidence of parts of the lines being disrupted because of exhaust from landing spacecraft and you would expect such evidence to remain since the desert is not very windy. This is, in fact, why the Nazca lines have not been obscured by windblown material. Based on these facts, it is unlikely that extraterrestrials made any of the Nazca lines, including the alleged runways.

Artist's impression of UFOs over a desert.

Artist's impression of UFOs over a desert. ( Public Domain )

Runways for Forgotten Nazca Aircraft?

The Nazca lines would not have been hard for the Nazca people to make and experimental archaeology has shown that a team of people can make such lines within a few hours to a few days using only the technological means known to have been available to the ancient Nazca through archaeological evidence. As a result, Occam's razor is friendlier to the idea that the Nazca culture made the lines - we have evidence that they lived in the area at the time and could have constructed the lines - whereas we don't have evidence that extraterrestrials were ever present.

Since it is most likely the Nazca people themselves made all the lines, some fringe theorists have logically concluded that the Nazca civilization must have had flight and other advanced technology because of the supposed runways. Proponents of this view point to Nazca geoglyphs that look vaguely mechanical, resembling windmills and hooks, to bolster their case.

  •  New Study suggests Nazca Lines formed Ancient Pilgrimage Route to Cahuachi Temple

  •  Greenpeace treads on ancient Nazca lines site to urge renewable energy

Although this hypothesis is probably more likely, there are still problems with it. We must remember that just because a design looks one way to us, doesn't mean that it looked that way to the Nazca. For example, they may have been using a particular style of art to represent natural features such as plants and animals that just by coincidence causes them to resemble machines to us since we live in the age of machines.

Since its discovery in the 1920s, the necropolis had been ransacked by grave robbers many times. Fortunately, a law was finally put in place to protect the area in 1997.

This Ancient Cemetery Has Remains Strewn About That Seem Perfectly Preserved

Around 200 A.D., the Chauchilla Cemetery was established in Nazca, Peru.

However, if you were to visit the ancient burial ground, you'd immediately see that it is anything but ordinary. What's special about this place is that although the last person was laid to rest here sometime close to 1,000 A.D., the bodies are amazingly well-preserved.

Since its discovery in the 1920s, the necropolis had been ransacked by grave robbers many times. Fortunately, a law was finally put in place to protect the area in 1997.

Wikimedia Commons

But despite the destruction caused by greedy people, many of the bodies inside the open-pit graves are still in the same positions that they were put into when they died.

Wikimedia Commons

Read More: These Fully Furnished Mansions Are Downright Gorgeous, But Also Full Of Dead Bodies

The hot, dry climate of the Sechura Desert is part of the reason why the corpses were mummified.

Wikimedia Commons

The other is that Nazca customs called for the dead to be wrapped in cotton and painted with resin before being "buried."

Wikimedia Commons

Archeologists have found wooden posts at the site that also contributed to the mummification, as they were used to dry the dead bodies.

Wikimedia Commons

The preservation is so extraordinary, in fact, that some of them still have their hair and skin even after being dead for over a thousand years.

Places can be cursed by terrible events, people can be cursed by scorned strangers, and even sports teams can find themselves the victim of bad mojo

By Greg Newkirk

Curses are frightening things. They can take hold in an instant or wait decades to strike, take on all manner of devious phenomena from back luck to death, and they don’t discriminate between those ignorant of their existence and those who know better. Places can be cursed by terrible events, people can be cursed by scorned strangers, and even sports teams can find themselves the victim of bad mojo, but the most common curse comes from removing haunted objects from their rightful place. These types of cases never seem to end well.

Recently, while in the middle of an online discussion about my experiences with The Crone, a cursed object in the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult which requires special handling, I received a reply from an individual who mentioned that her grandmother brought back a curse from Nazca when she’d stolen a mummified hand from an ancient Peruvian burial ground. Thanks to her transgression, she and her entire family were victims of an angry poltergeist until her death.

Naturally, I had to hear the whole, chilling story. Here, presented for the first time in public, is a frightening first-hand account of why you never steal from a cemetery, much less one guarded by ancient spirits.

When I was a kid, my grandma lived with us. Now, we always had paranormal activity in the house, but it really intensified when I was around 8. It was only recently that I put two and two together and I’m pretty sure that this is why the activity increased then.

She’d always go on trips around the world. Back in the 70s, when I was 8, she went to the Amazon with my aunt. One day they went to an ancient burial ground. The ruins were in Peru’s Chauchilla Cemetery, near Nazca. Later that night, back at the hotel, my grandma showed my aunt a “souvenir” that she’d gotten. Out of her purse, she pulled a fucking HAND. Yeah, she’d found a skeletal hand at the burial ground and thought it would be a good idea to take it. My aunt freaked the hell out and insisted that it be returned, so the next day they talked to their tour guide, and they arranged to go back to the burial ground.

Chaucilla Cemetery via Don Macauley [CC BY-SA 2.0]

But the damage was done. One thing that happened was that immediately, my grandma developed some nail fungus. It was only on her thumbnails and big toenails. The nails grew in thick and yellow-brown, and no treatments were ever successful in getting rid of it. She’d kept in contact with several people from the tour, and two even came to visit us, but she was the only one this happened to.

And the other thing was not just that the activity in the house increased, but it was…evil. Just a very dark entity. Whenever it came around you could just feel the air change and would be filled with dread. The dogs would go crazy. Sometimes it was physical.

This entity stayed with my family for 30 years and through several moves, and it finally stopped when my grandma passed away. When I read the Week in Weird story about The Catskills Crone, all that I could think was that I hope you’re better at appeasing angry spirits than my grandmother was.

My grandparents (paternal) didn’t live with “us,” I lived with them. They raised me from the age of 2. We are very religious – Irish and Italian Catholic. All of us on my father’s side are gifted – psychic, sensitive, empath, medium, etc. This is probably why spirits always find their way to us; I’ve had experiences for as long as I remember and continue to. But this one was the only inherently evil one. (Here’s where I tell you that my hands are shaking as I type this and my dog just let out a growl for no reason the actual second I typed the word “evil”…)

There was always “stuff” going on in that house. Lights/faucets/the gas stove burners turning on, toilets flushing themselves, the shower would turn on…I saw shadow people in my room, something would poke me when I was trying to sleep, objects disappearing/reappearing. It was just “normal” to us. So when that “thing” came around, it was just another day at the office, so to speak. It was never really addressed.

I remember the first time. I don’t recall how long it was after the Amazon trip, but my grandparents went to church one night and left me home alone. I was just minding my own business, playing with the record player, and suddenly I felt this…presence. The air became heavy and I felt like I was being covered in darkness and I was suddenly SCARED OUT OF MY MIND. I looked over my shoulder but I didn’t see anything. The thing that strikes me as odd now is that we had three dogs, including a St. Bernard and a Shepherd, and they didn’t make a sound! I just remember the four of us running out to the garage, where I stayed until my grandparents came home. I told them what happened and once again it was brushed off.

Chauchilla Cemetery via Wikipedia

So this went on for years. Same situation. Now another scary thing is that my grandmother would often see something running into my room. I always knew when she’d see it because she’d call out my name, kind of with a questioning inflection, but with an edge. And then something would happen – something would get knocked over or move in my room, or sit on the bed, and my dogs would go crazy. And at least a couple times I was pushed off my bed. I’d run out, screaming, but again…brushed off, everything’s fine, go back to your room.

Now here’s what completely disturbs me, and will probably disturb you, too. The description my grandmother gave of this thing was half-man, half-goat. She was definitely bothered by this, but I don’t think she knew what to do. It was the 70s/80s and no one talked about this stuff, and we certainly couldn’t talk about it with the church.

A lot of times I would also wake up in the middle of the night with that feeling. And then something would be on top of me, holding me down and trying to strangle me. Now, I know all about sleep paralysis, and am conducive to reasonable explanations (I always try to debunk things first) but I really don’t think this was paralysis since I felt the evil presence at the same time. Also, I think with paralysis, you can’t actually see what’s holding you down, and I did. I could see it. It was a skeleton, with its bony hands around my neck. It only ever happened in that house.

I couldn’t get out of that house fast enough, not just because of that, but because my grandmother was bipolar and I couldn’t deal with her anymore, so after high school I joined the military. My grandparents moved to be closer to my aunt. One time when I was home I remember watching my grandmother from my bedroom window. She was in the backyard, watering the grass, and I saw her get pushed from behind. The thing was there in that house, too. It was in the guest bedroom. A lot of times I’d walk by and I could see the light on under the door. Of course I had to go turn the damn light off, and I was scared to fucking death. I was so afraid the door would slam shut behind me. It never did, but it was definitely in there. I forgot to mention, this happened in the first house, too. Always the back bedroom where I’d have to run in and turn out the light.

Chauchilla Cemetery via Wikipedia

My grandpa died and grandmother moved across the country to her home state, because my aunt had stopped speaking to her when grandpa died. (Pretty much everyone in the family stopped speaking to her at some point or another.) I helped her; I was out of the military by this time. I only stayed for about 8 months before returning to my home state, and I don’t remember anything happening there, but there was definitely a strange, heavy feeling in that house. And the light – of course the light in the third bedroom was always turning on there, too. A year later I moved back there because she was bugging me, but I got my own apartment.

Then she and I had a falling out, and it was my turn to stop speaking to her. By this time my aunt was speaking to her again, so she moved back across the country and bought a house there. And that it where I encountered IT again, for the final time (I hope and pray).

I hadn’t spoken to her for 7 years, but one day I had a feeling that her time on earth was coming to an end, so I reached out. I flew out and spent three days there. She had a really nice house in the sunny desert, but it was dark and oppressive. I’ve looked at houses on her street on Zillow, and they’re so bright inside. Hers was not. I remember calling my boyfriend at the time and telling him I was never coming back there.

I was back 7 weeks later – for her funeral. A couple days before the service, I was up at her house (about an hour away from my aunt’s, who I was staying with) cleaning out the house. It was very late, about 10pm. I was in the kitchen cleaning out the fridge, and suddenly – I FELT IT. FML. I looked to my right, through the living room and down the hall. The hall was completely pitch black. I couldn’t see the night light. I could no longer see the streetlights coming in through the windows. Just black, getting blacker and getting closer. It was now in the entrance hall so I couldn’t go out through the front door. I left everything where it was, all the lights on, and ran into the garage. I opened the automatic door halfway, then closed it and ran out, rolling under it and onto the driveway. I refused to go back there.

So that was 18 years ago, and there have been no more encounters, but I did have a dream about it about four years ago. It was terrifying. I happened to be alone in the house that night and I wouldn’t go back to sleep. I just laid there motionless for hours, praying for daylight.

Curses are no laughing matter. Even if it was poor grandma who stole the ancient artifact, timeless spirits don’t forgive easily. Even when the bones of the dead were returned to the Chauchilla Cemetery, the dark entity maintained its terrifying grip on granny, ensuring that she felt the effects of her choices until death. Fortunately, it appears her family was able to escape judgement.

Moral of the story? Don’t take what isn’t yours.

Got a witness report of your own to share? Drop me a line at [email protected], tweet me @nuekerk, friend me on Facebook, or start a conversation in the comments below!