Archaeologists have discovered new rock lines in the Chincha Valley in southern Peru, that predate the famous and misterious Nazca Lines by centuries and likely once marked the site of ancient fairs.
The lines were likely created by people of the Paracas, a civilization that arose around 800 B.C in Peru. The Paracas culture predated the Nazca culture, which came onto the scene around 100 B.C. The Nazca people are famous for their fantastic geoglyphs, or rock lines, built in the shapes of monkeys, birds and other animals.
"The new lines date to around 300 B.C., making them at least 300 years older than the oldest Nazca lines", said Charles Stanish, the director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles,
“They used the lines in a different way than the Nazca,” Stanish said while adding, “They basically created these areas of highly ritualized processions and activities that were not settled permanently.”
Stanish and his team found 71 geoglyph lines (rock lines), 353 rock cairns and large ancient mounds in the Chincha Valley, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of the Peruvian capital of Lima, reported
livescience.com.
"The lines are effectively a social technology," Stanish said. "They're using it for certain purposes. Some people have said the lines point out sacred mountains. Sure, why not? The lines [might] point out sacred pyramids. Why not? The lines could [also] be used to point out processions," Stanish said of both the Nazca and Peru lines.
In that way, Stanish said, the lines are like pottery: one invention used for multiple purposes.
"Native Americans in this part of the world were extremely ingenious," he said.
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Published: 5/7/2014