The Nazca lines in Peru: – Appeared during road works

The Nazca Lines in Peru are known for the hundreds of figures and drawings made by the ancestors of the Inca Indians between 1500 and 2000 years ago.

UNESCO refers to the Nazca Lines as one of the greatest mysteries in archeology. The white sands of the desert landscape are covered with dark pebbles, and the stones have been removed to create animal drawings and geometric figures.

Among the pictures that you can see are a hummingbird, a monkey and a killer whale.

Now another animal has joined the ranks of the illustrations on the hillside, 400 kilometers from the capital of Peru, Lima.

COLIBRIUM: This illustration should look like a hummingbird. Photo: Shutterstock

BIG: The Panama Highway crosses the lines here, because you hadn’t discovered the drawings when you made the road. They are so big that you have to see it from the air to see the illustration.
Photo: AP

CONDOR: This must look like the Duck Condor bird. Photo: AP

Photo: Shutterstock

THE SPIDER: Do you see that it looks like a spider? Photo: Reuters

THE ASTRONAUT: This geoglyph is called Astronaut, because many people think that it looks like a person in astronaut clothes. Photo: Reuters

NEED A FRIENDLY HAND? Many people think that this looks like two outstretched hands. Photo: AFP

THE CHRONICLE: This geoglyph is called a candelabra geoglyph. Photo: Shutterstock

I kept disappearing

A huge cat appeared during work to improve the path to one of the hills that gives a better view of many of the illustrations.

“The figure was barely visible and was on the verge of disappearing because it is located on a fairly steep hill that is the victim of natural erosion,” the Peruvian Ministry of Culture said in a press release last week, according to The Guardian.

In recent weeks the at least 2,000-year-old geoglyph has been cleaned and restored, so that a cat can now be seen with its body in profile and its face facing the public.

Too old

The cat should be 37 meters long and the lines in the figure are 30 to 40 centimeters thick.

– It is quite surprising that we still find new characters here in the desert. At the same time, we know there is still more that we haven’t found, Peru’s chief pharmacist Johny Isla told the Spanish news agency Efe.

In recent years, between 80 and 100 new figures have been found in the Nazca and Palpa valleys. All of these were made 1500-2000 years ago.

The archaeologist says that the cat that has now been found was made even before these. When comparing with other figures they have found, this one is made in the same style as figures made over 2000 years ago.