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168 mysterious new geoglyphs discovered in Peru’s Nazca Lines
By Brooke Steinberg
December 20, 2022 8:48am Updated
Scientists Discover 168 Mysterious Nazca Geoglyphs in The Desert Sands of Peru. About 50
of the large-scale drawings are of human-like figures -- with one even resembling Homer Simpson.
Yamagata University
Scientists have discovered 168 new geoglyphs in the soil of Peru’s desert — almost doubling the known instances of ancient Nazca Lines in the area.
Peruvian and Japanese researchers from Yamagata University spent two years scanning the UNESCO World Heritage site on Peru’s southern Pacific coast using aerial photos, drones and field surveys.
The drawings portray humans, camelids, birds, killer whales, felines, snakes and more. About 50 of the large-scale drawings are of human-like figures — with one even resembling Homer Simpson.
While it’s hard to know exactly when the geoglyphs were made, clay pots found near the lines point to a time between 100 B.C. and 300 A.D. — between 2,100 and 1,700 years ago.
Most of the Nazca Lines can only be seen from the air, and have mystified scientists for years. But the recently discovered figures are smaller, averaging between 6 feet and 19 feet in length, and can be seen from the ground, Masato Sakai, a professor from Yamagata University who led the study, told Reuters.
The drawings portray humans, camelids, birds, killer whales, felines, snakes and more.
Yamagata University
“These geoglyphs were created by removing black stones from the surface of the earth to expose a white sandy surface below,” a statement from Yamagata University said.
Some information currently being gathered by the researchers will be analyzed by artificial intelligence programs, which will be able to depict patterns more quickly and effectively than the human eye and inform the lines’ preservation.
By 2019, archaeologists had discovered a total of nearly 200 geoglyphs in the area. These new drawings bring the official number of known Nazca Lines to 358.
While it’s hard to determine exactly when the geoglyphs were made, clay pots found near the lines point to a time
between 100 B.C. and 300 A.D.
Yamagata University
An archaeologist previously told the Guardian that he believed scientists had only found 5% of all the Nazca Lines out there.
The scientists at Yamagata had been granted permission from Peru’s Ministry of Culture to tally as many of the geoglyphs as possible, planning to map out the entire length and width of the desert canvas.
An archeological park to protect the geoglyphs was established in the Aja area near the downtown of Nasca City in 2017.
These new drawings bring the official number of known Nazca Lines to 358.
Yamagata University
“As many as 36 of these geoglyphs were discovered in the Aja area, near the city of Nasca. The discovery of 41 geoglyphs in this area was previously announced by Yamagata University in 2014 and 2015, which led to the creation of an archaeological park in 2017 in collaboration with the Peruvian Ministry of Culture to protect them. With this discovery, a total of 77 geoglyphs are now known to be concentrated in this archaeological park,” the statement from Yamagata University said.
The purpose of the Nazca Lines still remains unknown, according to Nazca Lines research program’s head archaeologist, Jorge Olano. Despite being mysterious, they have been interpreted in many ways, including that they’re meant for gods in the sky or that they’re supposed to reflect the stars for astronomical purposes.
Myanmar military trumpets white elephant as sign of right to rule
Author: AFP|Update: 04.01.2023 08:25
RTL
Myanmar's junta considers a rare white elephant recently born in western Myanmar as an auspicious sign
/ © MYANMAR MILITARY INFORMATION TEAM/AFP/File
Though it is a pariah on the world stage and battling fierce domestic opposition to its rule, Myanmar's junta has found grounds for optimism -– the birth of a rare albino elephant.
Since seizing power, the junta has crushed democracy protests, jailed ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and been accused of committing war crimes in its bid to quell dissent.
But the birth of the elephant -- more milky-grey than white -- in western Rahkine state last year is being portrayed by junta-controlled media as fortuitous.
Ancient rulers regarded white elephants as extremely auspicious, and their appearance was taken as a symbol of righteous political power.
The pale pachyderm will feature on a special postage stamp released this week to mark the 75th anniversary of Myanmar's independence from Britain, state media said on Tuesday.
A set of gold commemorative coins bearing the animal's image is also already being cast for the occasion, another report said.
Once feted by Myanmar's former junta, a rare albino elephant now lives in an out of the way compound
in commercial capital Yangon / © AFP
The tusker tot's highest-profile engagement so far was a meeting with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in October, when the senior general bestowed it a name at a televised ceremony.
"Rattha Nandaka" comes from the ancient Pali words for "country" and "happiness."
To bolster the credentials of its newfound good omen, state media has insisted the beast has an almost impeccable pedigree.
Strange behaviour for a devoutly Buddhist country!
According to the experts quoted, it possesses seven of the eight standard characteristics for an albino elephant, including "pearl-coloured eyes" and a "plantain branch-shaped back".
- 'The Powers of Nature' -
In Myanmar, where astrological charts are drawn at birth and fortune-tellers consulted for both daily and political decisions -- the craze for white elephants goes back hundreds of years.
Traditional chronicles tell of kings in Thailand, Laos and Myanmar -- then known as Burma -- warring to capture the beasts from rivals.
The ruinous cost of keeping them in appropriately lavish style gave rise to the modern expression in which a "white elephant" is a useless, if beautiful, possession.
In superstitious Myanmar, astrological charts are drawn at birth and fortune-tellers consulted
for both daily and political decisions / © AFP/File
One creature inherited by a 19th century Burmese king was waited on by thirty servants and dressed in a "fine red cloth plentifully studded" with rubies and diamonds, according to a visiting British official.
The king, who had usurped his brother, "would gladly hail the capture of a real white elephant in his own day as an assent from the Powers of Nature to his own legitimate royalty," the envoy added.
But the fortunes of the creatures are tied up with the ruler under whom they were captured.
Two elephants, once feted by a former junta, are now confined to a damp, out-of-the-way compound in commercial hub Yangon where they receive few visitors.
"Rattha Nandaka" will spend its days in a special compound for white elephants in military-built capital Naypyidaw.
But with swathes of the country still ravaged by fighting and the junta widely reviled, his birth has been met with public scepticism and scorn.
"It seems like they forgot to put suncream on," one social media user wrote about the baby elephant's more grey than albino appearance.
"Now it's black."
Black or white, another wrote, the baby was "now a prisoner".
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