2.+The+Theories

The Theories

Although the Nazca lines were only first discovered approximately 70 years ago, many theories have been presented as to how these lines came about. One of the more famous theories was that of [|Maria Reiche], who believed that the lines were connected to astronomical events. Maria Reiche is quite well known for her research and contribution in the Nazca lines. Reiche was known as the 'saviour' of the Nazca lines because she donated a large amount of money to the preservation of the desert. Reiche spent her life in Nazca studying the lines and how they were made. Reiche believed that the overturned rocks were used to outline the shapes and patterns to make the shapes straight and perfectly symmetrical.

Maria Reiche studied how some of the lines matched up with the Solstice. She claimed that the lines agreed with the fact that the moon is observed before the sun. She also believed that the lines were connected with "heavenly bodies" and were used to mark harvest times. This is a plausible theory until in my opinion, it begins to fall apart. The lines COULD have been used to mark the solstices and harvesting times, but what about the giant figures carved into the desert? How could a monkey, a spider, or even what appears to be an astronaut represent anything astronomical? Reiche's explanation for one of the figures, the monkey, was that it coincided with the big dipper. My argument is, if this were so and monkeys represented the big dipper, what did the other figures represent? The monkey geoglyph, in my opinion, looks nothing like the Big Dipper and we have no evidence that ALL of the lines match with something from the stars. If anything the monkey looks as though it is perhaps representing some kind of abstract god; it shows no link with the constellations. Reiche's theory was tested, however it was proven that most of the lines didn't match up with any astronomical events (only 20% did) and it was determined that the small amount that did were only so by chance. Maria Reiche however wasn't the only person to think the lines were representing something from the stars. Author [|Erich Von Daniken] believed that the Nazca lines were made under the instructions of aliens. Von Daniken believed that the lines were landing strips for alien [|aircraft]. Maria Reiche even had her own personal statement to make against Daniken's theory stating "I'm afraid the spacemen would have gotten stuck". Reiche pointed out that the ground was far too soft for anything to land. However Daniken has pursued his extraterrestrial theories in other areas of the world, not just the Nazca lines. This theory is unlikely, and not just because we have searched our solar system for many years now and have not come up with any signs of alien activity. One question that is brought to mind is, if the lines are alien landing strips, why have they not come back to use them yet? And further more why would aliens need landing strips made to look like monkeys and spiders? It is more likely that they are representations of art, which in point brings us to our next theory.

Another theory that has been bouncing around is that the Nazca lines are representations of art or ancient [|metaphors.] The previously linked website argues that many of the lines show geometric shapes and angles. Chances are however that if I were to pick up a giant sheet of paper and make straight unbroken lines randomly on it, there would be several shapes and angles that I never had the intention of drawing. The fact that the animal shaped geoglyphs could be representations of art is also a little shaky as a theory due to the fact that the pictures seemed to have been created at a later, more recent time period, suggesting that the lines had another purpose before the figures were drawn. Another some what popular theory is one given by Markus Reindel, who stated that the lines all lead to ground water or represented subterranean waterflow. This was easily countered by the fact that not all of the lines lead to water. There have been many other theories about why the Nazca lines were created but for the purpose of this wiki, I am only presenting the few mentioned above as I could argue all night about the flaws and truths each make.