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  Nazca Animal Figures: Man/Monkey/Hands
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Unlike most Nazca symbols, the
astronaut is located on the side of
a hill and is visible from the
desert below. |
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The famous astronaut is
distinctly different from many of the Nazca sysmbol, and
falls into the same group as the hillside bird. |
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Because of the inclined position of the astronaut, it
may have been subjected to more erosion than the flat
symbols on the desert below
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Class
2 Geoglyph - Monkey/Hands Group |
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Part
of the monkey's tail viewed from
ground level |
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Uniquely Nazca ... |
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One of the extraordinary and unique features of the
geoglyphs of the greater Nazca region is
their approach to design. Many of
the geoglyphs are constructed using a
continuous line style: where a single
line forms the complete figure without
ever crossing itself. This has
lead many scientists to believe that
these symbols served a ceremonial
purpose - that the people of these
ancient cultures "walked" the lines to
perform some ritual - starting at a
point, then following the entire shape
of the symbol until its end. |
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Class
2 Geoglyph - Monkey/Hands Group |
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It's
not precisely clear what the hands
figure represents. But it is
clear that it was done in the same
style as the monkey - an imprecise
design, far less precise than the
spider/spiral group (the most
precise), or the humming birds (also
more precise). It may
represent an incomplete design, or
was an abandoned botched attempt, or
either a human or animal. Some
have called it a frog or toad based
upon the "hands" which could be hind
legs of a frog. Unfortunately,
we will never really know what this
symbol represents. |
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The
hands are located along side of the
tree figure (along the Panamerican
highway), and easily visible from
Maria Reiche's observation tower. |
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Why So Many Photos? |
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The
goal of our website is to present multiple
views of each symbol for three reasons:
1) the lines are extremely difficult to
photograph due to lighting conditions and
the condition of the geoglyph itself,
2) to provide better context of
the symbol, showing some of its surrounding area,
and
3) because different views provide a
better understanding of the style of design
and perhaps a greater appreciation of the
genius of the constructors.
more science
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A
recent discovery of a hillside Nazca
figure in the distinctive Paracas
style - some have called it a baby
emerging from a womb, but it appears
to show a representation of
lightning and might be more
consistent with the new Aurora
theory |
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An
typical Paracas design for
comparison |
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 More
Nazca Information |
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» |
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Nazca Plateau Main Lines & Symbols
Chart - Click On An Item To View |
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 For Your Information |
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Image
Quality |
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A note about
image quality: images of lines and
symbols taken by air or from satellite
images are adjusted to improve contrast and
visibility of the artifact (line or symbol).
The results vary from image to image.
We apologize for the quality of some of the
images, but it is due to the original source
images, and the difficulty of
photographing subject object.
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