Figures On The Plain

The aerial photographs below show some of the human-like figures that were drawn on the Nazca Plain. There are similar ones to these found in the Islands of Prydein (Britain), where, as at Nazca, some have been etched into the sides of hills. The steep slopes on which they were drawn makes some of the geoglyphs in Prydein visible from the ground, unlike most of the landscape drawings at Nazca which are only visible from the air.

Human-like figures with huge eyes – it is a mystery as to whether they are depicted wearing some form of head-dress, or if it is supposed to be sun’s rays shining out from the heads. Although like most drawings on the pampa they cover hundreds of square feet in area, they are markedly different in style from most of the geoglyphs at Nazca. Possibly they are depictions of the builders, or could represent personifications of certain heavenly bodies.

These figures are similar to ones that have been found in several parts of Britain. The huge eyes seem to be a common feature of geoglyphs wherever they are found all over the world. Other researchers into the mysteries of the past have regarded these as depictions of ‘Owl Men’, and the owl was sacred to many ancient peoples. Again, these figures can only really be appreciated from the air.

It is said that these human-like figures represent the builders of the geoglyphs. In Britain they are referred to as ‘dodmen’, and are depicted with sighting staffs in their hands. They were regarded as the ‘landscape surveyors’ of ancient times, and would have been astronomers, or astronomer-priests, probably weilding great power and influence over their respective communities.

The unmistakable human figure below is 65 feet high, and has been drawn on the spur at the end of a plateau. A number of figures similar to this were found by Maria Reiche on several slopes, and it has been suggested by others who have visited Nazca that these figures might depict the local chieftain or astronomer-priest.

Unfortunately, most orthodox archæologists appear for some reason not to want to even comment about these magnificent ancient achievements, other than to point out that the artistic style of the various animal and human-like figures drawn on the pampa is much different to that found on the local pottery discovered during various excavations in the Nazca area.

Maria Reiche was helped by many individuals and organisations during her more than 50 years of study at Nazca, and most of this was done on foot. Aerial photographs slowly became available to her courtesy of the Peruvian Government. They had originally been taken for surveying purposes, and it should be remembered that she bagan this work long before helicopters were around commercially.

Occasional flights from Arequipa to Lima by the Health Ministry provided Maria Reiche with an opportunity to take many more photographs with a 35mm camera of some of the new drawings that continued to be discovered almost each time anyone flew over the area. Even so, most of her work was painstakingly conducted on foot.

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