2,300-Year-Old Peruvian Rock Lines Mark Ancient Fairs
- 10 years ago
Ancient lines of rocks discovered in the Chinca Valley, about 125 miles from Lima, Peru are believed to predate the famous animal shaped geoglyphs called the Nazca Lines by hundreds of years.
Ancient lines of rocks discovered in the Chinca Valley, about 125 miles from Lima, Peru are believed to predate the famous animal shaped geoglyphs called the Nazca Lines by hundreds of years.
Researchers say the older rock lines probably indicate the location of ancient fairs, or social gatherings, along with marking cosmic cycles like the placement of the setting sun on the day of the June solstice.
The lines were built by the Paracas civilization, which emerged in present day Peru around 800 B.C.
Experts say most of the lines date to some time around 300 B.C.
Charles Stanish, the director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles who worked on the study is quoted as saying: "They used the lines in a different way than the Nazca. They basically created these areas of highly ritualized processions and activities that were not settled permanently."
Archaeologists surveyed the area and found rocks put together in the shape of circles and rectangles, along with man-made mounds and frames of pyramid structures among the 71 geoglyph lines, and 353 stacked rock cairns.
Ancient lines of rocks discovered in the Chinca Valley, about 125 miles from Lima, Peru are believed to predate the famous animal shaped geoglyphs called the Nazca Lines by hundreds of years.
Researchers say the older rock lines probably indicate the location of ancient fairs, or social gatherings, along with marking cosmic cycles like the placement of the setting sun on the day of the June solstice.
The lines were built by the Paracas civilization, which emerged in present day Peru around 800 B.C.
Experts say most of the lines date to some time around 300 B.C.
Charles Stanish, the director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles who worked on the study is quoted as saying: "They used the lines in a different way than the Nazca. They basically created these areas of highly ritualized processions and activities that were not settled permanently."
Archaeologists surveyed the area and found rocks put together in the shape of circles and rectangles, along with man-made mounds and frames of pyramid structures among the 71 geoglyph lines, and 353 stacked rock cairns.