New Geoglyph Found near Nazca Lines

The 98-foot (30 m) long mythical animal in the Nazca Desert, Peru. Aerial View

A team of scientists from Japan has discovered a completely new geoglyph in the Nazca Desert, southern Peru.

The newly-discovered geoglyph appears to represent a creature sticking out its tongue.

The geoglyph is 98 feet (30 m) long and is located about 10 miles (16 km) from the famous Nazca Lines.

Yamagata University researchers Masato Sakai and Jorge Olano made the discovery.
“The depicted animal exhibits spotted markings on the body and has many legs, and is therefore inferred to represent an imaginary or mythical creature,” the scientists said.

“This geoglyph was created by (i) removing surface stones of darker color to expose the underlying whitish ground and (ii) piling up the removed stones to shape the animal image like a relief,” they added.

“This is a typical technique during the Late Paracas Period (400-200 BC).”

About five years ago another geoglyph was discovered nearby.

The Mythical Animal, Archaeological Construction of the Geoglyph

“We interpret this geoglyph, which represents a pair of anthropomorphic figures, as a scene of decapitation,” Dr. Sakai and Dr. Olano said.

“It was created using the same technique as the newfound geoglyph.”

‘Because both geoglyphs were located on the slopes, they could easily be identified on the ground level,” the scientists said.

“Between these two geoglyphs was found an ancient path leading to the ceremonial center of Cahuachi.”

“We suspect that the geoglyphs were probably related to the pilgrimage to Cahuachi.”

 Yamagata University Finds 24 New Geoglyphs On Nazca Plateau – HeritageDaily

Source: http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/geoglyph-nazca-lines-03900.html