Drawings in the Peruvian Nazca desert. Nazca Desert

Early years

Diesel has repeatedly emphasized that he ethnic origin is "mixed": the mother has English, German and Scottish ancestry, and the father was most definitely of another race, possibly also mixed.

In 1970, the mother remarried, and her black stepfather, Irvin Vincent, took the three of them to live with him in New York. This is how Vin got half-brothers and sisters, Tim and Samantha. My stepfather was a theater manager and acting teacher, and he constantly took the children to theatrical performances and movie premieres, which largely determined the boy’s future hobby.

Mark first appeared on stage at the age of 7 thanks to a funny incident. Together with his brother Paul and other boys, he broke down the door and made his way into the New City Theater for some hooligan purposes. As it turned out, a rehearsal was going on in the theater at that time, but director Crystal Field did not call the police, but instead invited the children to try themselves as actors and read the proposed text.

Mark coped with this task best, and Field involved him in the production of the play “The Dinosaur Door”, promising him $20 for the performance. The young artist continued to appear on the stage of this theater until he was 17 years old and managed to significantly develop his acting skills. “I always knew that I would be a movie star,” Diesel later admitted, “I knew it even in early childhood.”

As a teenager, Mark was tall and thin, which earned him the nickname “Worm,” and he was not at all popular with girls. Terribly embarrassed by his “ridiculous” physique, he began to play sports and regularly pump up his muscles. At the age of 17, having acquired impressive muscles, he left the theater and got a job as a bouncer at the Tunnel nightclub in Manhattan.

It was then that the young man radically changed his image: he shaved his head bald and began calling himself “Vin Diesel.” Over the three years of working at the club, Diesel acquired a wealth of experience communicating with the opposite sex and no less wealth of experience in street fights. The combat training of those times helped him subsequently create the on-screen image of a “tough guy.”

I fought probably more than five hundred times, almost every day, and these were not beautiful staged fights

Young Vin Diesel breaksdancing (1994)

The Dream Factory did not greet the ambitious young man kindly. Despite all his efforts, no offers for film roles were received, and Diesel got a job in a TV store. Here he worked for a whole year and achieved some success, but during this time he did not get any closer to his dream - to work in cinema. So he decided to leave Los Angeles and return to New York.

The beginning of a film career

Diesel got excited about this idea and wrote the script for the film “Vagabonds,” but soon realized that he couldn’t make it into a full-length film on the first try, and wrote another script, the short film “The Many Faces.” Then he independently produced the filming, played the main role in this film, and even wrote the music for it himself.

“The Many Faces” – an autobiographical short film by Vin Diesel

The film was completed in 1994 and was largely autobiographical - its hero, an actor named Mike, could not get the role due to the fact that he belonged to a mixed race and in appearance did not fit any type invented by the directors. After a private screening, the film was selected for participation in the Cannes Film Festival in 1995.

After this, Diesel returned to Hollywood and got a job at a TV store to save money to shoot his original idea, the film “Tramps,” which he eventually succeeded in doing. In this full-length drama, he again played the main role - his hero was a hardened drug dealer who changed under the influence of pure love.

Vin Diesel sells toys in a TV store (1994)

The film was shown in 1996 at the American independent film festival Sundance, but, despite positive reviews, it did not bring significant profit to the creator. However, it was thanks to “Vagabonds” young actor noticed famous director Steven Spielberg invited him to a supporting role in his film Saving Private Ryan (1998) with Tom Hanks and Matt Damon.

This was Diesel's first work in a big movie, and he was delighted. Later, this film received 5 Oscars, and Diesel himself, along with his co-stars, was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award in the category “Best Performance by a Group of Actors.” “Vagabonds” helped again: thanks to participation in the Sundance festival, Diesel was invited to voice the main character in the cartoon “The Steel Giant” (1999), directed by Brad Bird.

The rise of a film career

The filming was not easy for Diesel: he injured his shoulder while performing a stunt, and also injured his eye with one of the special contact lenses, thanks to which his eyes glowed in the dark.

The film received several awards and nominations, the duo of Diesel and Walker were awarded the MTV Movie Award for Best Acting Team, and Diesel was also nominated in the Best Actor category. However, during the filming of the sequel, Vin Diesel and the production company disagreed on his fee, and therefore Paul Walker remained the only leading actor in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

In the same year, the gangster drama “Dodgeball” was released, in which Diesel played one of the main roles along with John Malkovich, Seth Green and Dennis Hopper, and in 2002, the adventure thriller “XXx” directed by Rob Cohen, in which he Samuel Jackson became the filming partner. And although the actor himself liked his new role as a superspy in the spirit of “007,” critics reacted rather coolly to the film.

The film is charming in its frivolity, and Vin Diesel has more than enough muscle for the title character, but the attempt to breathe new life into the spy thriller genre falls flat.

In 2003, the American-German action film “Loner” was released, in which Diesel played the main role and also acted as an executive producer. The following year, 2004, the second film in the Chronicles of Riddick series was released, and in it the actor also combined playing the leading role and producing.

Based on this successful film, they were soon created cartoon and a computer game, and Diesel voiced his character in them.

After that, he changed his role for a while and tried himself in the comedy genre: this is how the films Bald Nanny: Special Assignment by Adam Shankman (2005) and Find Me Guilty by Cindy Lumet (2006) were released.

The laurels for the second comedy mainly went to the director, who “managed to discern the serious dramatic potential of Vin Diesel, who had previously been neglected, considered only capable of an action movie.”

Soon, the third part of “The Fast and the Furious” was released – “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”, but contrary to the expectations of fans, the hero of Vin Diesel appears in this film only in the episode at the very end.

Soon after this, the actor faced a difficult choice: he had the opportunity to take part in the filming of the thriller “Hitman” by Xavier Jeans or fantastic action movie"Babylon AD" directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. Reluctantly, Diesel was forced to abandon Hitman, and the main role was successfully played by Timothy Olyphant instead. The project chosen by the actor, “Babylon AD” (2008), despite the meticulous filming process and lengthy post-production, actually failed - it never recouped its budget, which amounted to a huge sum of 70 million US dollars, and even the director himself subsequently admitted that the film was “generally not worth watching.”

In 2009, Diesel focused on working on the next installments of "Fast and the Furious", combining producing and playing his own role as Dominic Toretto, which again became the main one. Thus, in 2009, the short promotional film “Bandits” and the associated main film “Fast and Furious 4” were released, in 2010 “Fast and the Furious 5” was released, in 2013 “Fast and Furious 6” was released, where the combat team Dwayne Johnson joined, and in 2015 - “Fast and Furious 7”.

Fast and Furious 7: Vin Diesel vs. Jason Statham

It was planned that the seventh film would be released a little earlier, already in 2014, but this was prevented tragic death in a car accident, Paul Walker, the actor who played the second main role, who was also a close friend of Vin Diesel.

Fast & Furious 8 was released in 2017 and featured Jason Statham instead of Paul Walker and stars Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron in cameos.

In 2013, the third film in the Riddick series was released, and in 2015, the fantasy action film The Last Witch Hunter, in which Diesel's filming partners were Rose Leslie and Elijah Wood. The film was negatively reviewed by the press as "moody and slow".

A sequel, XXx: World Domination, was released in 2017, the third film in the series, and again features Diesel as the lead actor and producer, despite not having participated in the second film in 2005.

In addition, the actor worked on the set of films based on comic books published by Marvel Comics – “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Part 2" (2017). Here he played the role of Groot: he is an animated character, and Diesel served as his motion capture model and also subsequently voiced him.

Vin Diesel voices Groot

Personal life of Vin Diesel

Vin Diesel is a very loving and caring father, he is crazy about his children and spends all his free time with his family. The eldest daughter Haniya tries to be like her father in everything and is seriously involved in sports - Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo. Son Vincent studies at primary school, he is very similar to his father in appearance and has already begun to participate in school theatrical productions. In addition, the actor became godfather to Meadow Ryan Walker, the daughter of his late colleague and friend.

Diesel maintains strong and warm relationships with his mother, brothers and sister throughout his life. His twin brother Paul and half-siblings Tim and Samantha work with him in film, with Paul editing and Samantha and Tim helping with production.

The actor carefully monitors his health and appearance: he spends a lot of time in the gym, maintains a bronze skin tone using a solarium, and eats a healthy diet with plenty of protein foods and vegetables.

Vin Diesel workout

His hobby is video games, especially the famous game Dungeons & Dragons. In 2002, he created Tigon Studios and began producing his own game, Wheelman. main character which speaks in his voice.

In 2017, Forbes magazine named Vin Diesel third in the list of the most highly paid actors– he earned $54 million, behind only Mark Wahlberg (68 million) and Dwayne Jones (65 million).

Vin Diesel nowVin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson had a conflict

In both films, Diesel, as before, will act as the main producer and leading actor. True, in the fall of 2017 it became known about serious friction between Diesel and Dwayne Jones, who wants to become the new face of the franchise, so changes in plans are still possible.

Who is Rudolf Diesel? This is a German engineer who created the diesel engine. This invention turned out to be very valuable and promising. These days, diesel is associated with trucks, tractors, ships and, of course, cars. The inventor himself was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal for outstanding technical and scientific achievements. This is very high reward. It was received by 30 Nobel laureates.

It would seem that the inventor, who enjoyed enormous prestige, should have lived a happy and cloudless life. But we must not forget that our world is extremely unpredictable. It is dominated by greed, cruelty, and immediate selfish interests. It was these factors that became fatal for a passionate person who devoted all his time to the development of technical progress.

September 29, 1913 was fatal for Rudolf Diesel. On the specified date, the inventor’s life was interrupted. But to this day it is unknown whether he committed suicide or was killed. To understand the true essence of this person, let's first get acquainted with his short biography, and only then consider the chronology of events of the tragic day, which became the last for the German engineer who created the diesel engine.

Brief biography of Rudolf Diesel

This man's full name is Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (1858-1913). He was born in Paris, where his parents, German emigrants, owned a small book binding workshop. The income from the workshop was small but stable. However, as already mentioned, our world is extremely unpredictable.

In 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began. After stubborn battles and the siege of Paris German troops On March 1, 1871, they entered the capital of France. But the Diesel family was no longer there. They wisely moved to London, and settled their 12-year-old son in the Bavarian city of Augsburg with relatives. There the boy entered the Royal Zemstvo School and graduated with honors in 1873.

After this, he became a student at the Technical School and showed himself so well in his knowledge of technical sciences that he was offered to continue his studies at the Munich University. technical university. A scholarship was allocated for this cause, and the young man agreed. The acquired knowledge was not wasted. In the early 90s, Rudolf Diesel developed a new heat engine and patented his invention in early 1893.

In the same year, he began to put his invention into practice while working at the Augsburg Engineering Plant. The work of the young inventor was financed by Friedrich Krupp and the Sulzer brothers. The first working engine was created in 1897. Its power was only 20 hp. With. at 172 rpm, but the efficiency exceeded the similar indicators of an internal combustion engine and a steam turbine. It was big success, and the Diesel engine began to be used in some countries. However, Germany was slow on this issue.

This situation prompted Rudolf Diesel to create his own plant in 1898. But you shouldn’t look at this man as a hardened businessman. He was poorly versed in financial matters and had no business acumen at all. It’s just that the inventor was surrounded by people interested in big profits. So they took upon themselves all financial and organizational issues. And the talented engineer invented and received patents.

In principle, things did not go badly at first. In 1900, a subsidiary was opened in London. In 1903, the first ship with a diesel engine was launched. In 1908, compact diesel engines appeared. They began to equip trucks and railway locomotives. But the products were produced in such small quantities that the enterprise turned out to be unprofitable.

By the age of 50, the inventor began to have health problems. And soon the financial crisis struck and made Rudolf Diesel bankrupt. Germany could have helped its talented engineer with finances, but, as already mentioned, the Germans were extremely skeptical about the invention of the diesel engine. However, military experts planned to install such units on submarines, but were in no hurry to do so.

But the inventor needed money, and he decided to improve his financial situation in England. He had completely new technical developments that were supposed to radically improve the quality of diesel engines. And Rudolf proposed these technical solutions to the British.

At the beginning of the 20th century, steamships were one of the main types of transport

They seized on them, since by this time they had already built a plant that was supposed to mass produce diesel engines. In September 1913, the inventor was invited to England. And on September 29, Rudolf Diesel stepped onto the deck of the steamship Dresden, moored in the seaport of the Belgian city of Antwerp. It was from the shores of the Scheldt that this ship was supposed to deliver the German engineer to the shores of Foggy Albion.

Chronology of the last day of Rudolf Diesel's life

After the steamship Dresden set sail from the pier and headed for England, the inventor climbed to the upper deck. There he struck up a conversation with two men of quite respectable appearance. They were subsequently questioned by the police. The gentlemen explained that the conversation was mainly about politics. Everyone felt that a big war was coming, so the conversation revolved around international relations.

After being on deck, the trio went to the restaurant. There the men sat down at a separate table and had dinner. At 10 o'clock in the evening, Rudolf Diesel said goodbye to his new acquaintances and went to his cabin. On the way I met a steward and asked to wake him up at 6:15 am.

In the cabin, the engineer opened the suitcase, took out his pajamas and carefully laid them out on the bed. He put his pocket watch on the nightstand next to the bed. All this was later established by the investigation after examining the cabin. But this, in fact, is where all the information about the last day of the life of the diesel inventor ends. It is unknown what he did after he put the watch on the nightstand.

Early in the morning at 6:15 a.m. the steward knocked on the passenger's cabin. But I didn’t receive any answer. Then the employee began to knock louder. But the answer was silence. What could the steward do? He took a bunch of keys from his pocket and opened the ill-fated cabin. When I entered it, I discovered that there was no passenger. On the untouched bed lay neatly straightened pajamas, and on the nightstand a pocket watch glinted in the light of the rising sun. It was not difficult to guess that no one spent the night in the cabin.

Investigation and versions

The steward reported to the captain that the passenger was missing, and the ship raised an alarm. Soon one of the crew members found a hat and cloak on the deck. Steward said that these things are very similar to those worn by Rudolf Diesel. They interviewed everyone who was on night watch, but people did not see or hear anything. Further investigation was handed over to the English police.

Investigators boarded the ship as it docked and tried to piece together the scene from the previous night. All passengers and crew members were interviewed. Particular attention was paid to two gentlemen who talked and dined with the inventor. The steward was thoroughly questioned. But all this did not give any results.

A version was put forward that the German engineer felt unwell while in the cabin. He put on his hat, threw on his cloak and went out onto the deck. There he leaned on the railing, but apparently he felt even worse. The man lost his balance and fell over the fence into the sea.

However, the ship's captain pointed to the deck railing and said that its height was almost one and a half meters. If a person loses consciousness or balance, he is simply not able to roll over such a height. In any case, he would have remained lying on the deck.

A version of suicide was also put forward. But everyone who saw Diesel on that tragic day said that he was in an extremely complacent mood. The man looked into the future with optimism and was full of the brightest hopes. Moreover, he did not leave a suicide note, and for some reason, before leaving on deck, he took his pajamas out of his suitcase. All this somehow did not fit in with the desire to die. Thus, the investigation stalled and was unable to offer a single viable version.

Postal and passenger ship "Dresden". It was on it that Rudolf Diesel disappeared on September 29, 1913.

10 days after the tragedy in the North Sea near Norway, the crew of the fishing boat Koerzen discovered the body of a drowned man. They brought it on board, but it was badly decomposed. Therefore, according to maritime tradition, the body was returned to the sea. Only those items that were in the corpse's clothing were left on board. This is a wallet, ID card, pocket knife, glasses case.

On October 13th, these things were shown to the inventor’s son, Yugen. He stated that they belonged to his father. And literally a week later, Martha, Yugen’s wife, opened the package that Diesel gave her before sailing to England. He said that the package would need to be opened in a week. But Martha delayed and opened it only at the end of October. The package contained 200 thousand German marks.

Why did the inventor give this money to his son's wife? Did he feel his life was in danger, or was he planning his suicide, or did he decide to disappear, never to be seen or heard from again? There is no specific answer here, but you can imagine anything.

In 1915, when the First World War was already raging, an American journalist from the New York World newspaper wrote: “There is no doubt that Rudolf Diesel was thrown overboard by the Germans. They wanted to keep the diesel engine design secret so they could use it on their submarines. And the engineer was bringing completely new developments to England, which no one knew about yet. The German command could not allow this, so the inventor was liquidated.”

Indirect evidence of this statement is the rumor that, allegedly, already at the end of the war, a German officer was captured by the British. During interrogation, he stated that, on instructions from German intelligence, he personally eliminated Diesel by throwing him into the sea. But this is just a rumor, and how much truth there is in it is unclear.

To date, it is only reliably known that Rudolf Diesel disappeared from the ship Dresden. The reason for his disappearance is unclear. The body has not been found, there is only witness's testimonies fishermen There are various rumors, but they cannot be considered as official evidence. The case of the disappearance of the inventor was closed immediately after the outbreak of the First World War. But as for the diesel engine, it is extremely popular in the world, and people don’t even think about who they owe this technical excellence to.

Rudolf Diesel - great German inventor (1858-1913).

This man wrote one of the brightest pages in the history of not only the automotive industry but also all technical progress of the 20th century, creating an engine that conquered the world, an engine that everyone knows today. When they say “diesel”, no one perceives this word as a surname, only as a car.
Beginning of the 20th century. Tall, handsome, immaculately dressed, beginning to turn gray, Mr. Rudolf Diesel rightfully declares: “I have so far surpassed everything that existed before me in mechanical engineering that I can safely say that I am at the head of technical progress...” At that time he had oil wells in Galicia, a beautiful car, a luxurious villa in Munich and a huge fortune.

Rudolf Diesel - born in German family, who emigrated to France, about which there is an entry in the birth register of the prefecture of the VI arrondissement: “Rudolph Diesel Chrétien (Christian) Charles was born in his parents’ apartment at 38 rue Notre-Dame de Nazareth on March 18, 1858.”
In 1870, due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, the entire family was deported to England, from where Rudolf's parents sent him to finish his education in Germany - first to Augsburg, and then to the Higher Technical School in Munich, which Rudolf graduated with honors.
A great success for him was the patronage of the famous engineer Carl von Linde, who got Diesel a job in the Paris branch of his company in 1880.
For many years, Rudolph worked on creating an engine in which air would be compressed in such a way as to create the temperature necessary for ignition when combining air with fuel.
In 1890, Linde's company transferred Diesel to the Berlin branch. Here he presented calculations and theoretical basis his idea, received a patent in 1892. In 1897, a 25 horsepower engine was demonstrated. The highly efficient engine attracted the attention of the Krupp company, Augsburg engineering plants and many others.
Diesel engine is four-stroke. The inventor found that the efficiency of an internal combustion engine increases by increasing the compression ratio of the combustible mixture. But you cannot compress the flammable mixture too much: compression causes it to overheat and ignite prematurely. Diesel decided to compress not a combustible mixture, but clean air. And only towards the end of compression, when the temperature reached 600-650 ° C, liquid fuel was injected into the cylinder under strong pressure. Of course, it immediately ignited, and the gases, expanding, moved the piston. Thus, Diesel managed to significantly increase engine efficiency. In addition, there was no need for an ignition system. The Diesel engine is very economical; it runs on cheap fuels.

The first such engine was built in 1897. Fame came to Diesel. His internal combustion engine was finding new uses. Many countries invited the inventor. In 1910, Diesel was enthusiastically greeted by Russia, and a little later by America.
Also in 1897, the first diesel engine was created at the Augsburg plant. It was an engine three meters high, which developed 172 rpm, had a single cylinder diameter of 250 mm, a piston stroke of 400 mm and a power of 17.8 to 19.8 hp, while consuming 258 g of oil per 1 liter. With. at one o'clock. Its thermal efficiency was 26.2%, much higher than that of steam engines.
Thus, this engine received popular recognition and when it was presented at the 1898 steam engine exhibition in Munich, licenses for its production were sold out like hot cakes. Thus, Diesel immediately became rich. It should be noted that not a single diesel engine has yet worked.

But all this ends when the first diesel engines appear, which turn out to be unable to work due to many deficiencies made at the factories. After all, diesel production required high precision manufacturing of parts, as well as the use of new heat-resistant materials, which many existing enterprises at that time could not afford.
In Germany, a wave of harsh criticism is rising against Diesel and his invention. Some manufacturers are beginning to argue that diesel cannot be mass produced. All this is fueled by coal magnates and envious colleagues. The Augsburg factory owned by Diesel went bankrupt, and they stopped paying him royalties on patents.
As a result, Diesel was forced to turn to other countries for help. He was able to establish relations with industrialists in France, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Russia and America.
Alfred Nobel was a major oil industrialist in the 70-80s. XIX century bought from Rudolf Diesel the rights to manufacture and sell his engines in Russia. And in 1898, Emmanuel Nobel reoriented the production of the St. Petersburg Nobel plant to the production of diesel engines.
Also in 1908, Diesel tried to create a diesel engine for use in cars. A prototype of this was installed on a truck, but all tests failed due to the desire to bring the size and weight of a diesel engine to the characteristics of a gasoline engine, and as a result, the inventor had to retreat from this idea.
Despite this failure, Rudolf Diesel regained recognition in his homeland, where, in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II, he was awarded a diploma conferring the honorary title of Doctor of Engineering. He was also involved in the creation of a new secret weapon- a flamethrower, and dealt with incendiary mixtures. At the same time, he continued to improve the design of a reversible four-stroke marine engine and achieved positive result. This work of his attracted interest in Great Britain, where he was invited in August 1913.
On the evening of September 29, 1913, the liner Dresden, with Rudolf Diesel on board, left Antwerp harbor. At 11 pm, after dinner at the restaurant, the scientist wished his companions Good night and went to his cabin. In the morning it turned out to be empty. All searches on the ship were unsuccessful. It was only ten days later that the crew of a small Belgian pilot boat discovered the body. The sailors removed the ring from the swollen fingers of the deceased, found a wallet, a case for glasses, and a pocket first aid kit in his pockets, and the corpse, following maritime custom, was buried at sea. The son of Rudolf Diesel, who arrived in Belgium on call, confirmed that all these things belonged to his father.
This year-long death entailed a sea of ​​​​gossip and different versions. To this day, the death of Rudolf Diesel remains one of the mysteries of the twentieth century. But it is no secret to anyone that this man made a huge contribution to the development of scientific and technological progress of all mankind.
Not many scientists and engineers strive to ensure that their surname is written in lower case. This happens when the fruits of their creativity associated with the name of the author become so widespread that people gradually forget that the name of the object is associated with a specific surname. Many modern people, pronouncing the common word “diesel”, do not in any way associate this type of internal combustion engine with a specific person. Rudolf Diesel is a famous German designer who immortalized his name with the completely original design of a power unit he invented, which became no less widespread than conventional carburetor internal combustion engines.
And although his life ended so tragically, for many years he was subjected to attacks and persecution, his name was also associated with some mythical spy stories, nevertheless, it is this engine that triumphantly marches across the planet, propelling cars, planes, tanks, and submarines. The ill-wishers have passed away, no one remembers or pronounces their names, but Diesel lives in his creations, and although he is often written with a small letter - I see the highest justice in this, for the blessed memory of the man Rudolf Diesel, whose deeds and inventions have become property humanity...

The Nazca Plateau today is a lifeless desert, covered with stones darkened by heat and sun and cut by the beds of long-dried water streams; one of the driest places on Earth. It is located 450 km south of Lima, the capital of Peru, 40 km from the Pacific coast, at an altitude of approximately 450 m. Rains fall here on average once every two years and last no more than half an hour.

In the twenties, with the beginning of air travel from Lima to Arequipa, strange lines began to be noticed on the plateau. Lots of lines. Straight as an arrow, sometimes stretching to the very horizon, wide and narrow, intersecting and overlapping, combining into unimaginable patterns and scattering from centers, the lines made the desert look like a giant drawing board:

Since the middle of the last century, serious study of the lineages and cultures that inhabited this region began, but the geoglyphs still kept their secrets; versions began to appear that explain the phenomenon outside the mainstream of academic science, the topic took its rightful place among unsolved mysteries ancient civilizations, and now almost everyone knows about the Nazca geoglyphs.

Representatives of official science have repeatedly stated that everything has been solved and deciphered, that these are nothing more than traces of religious ceremonies, or, in extreme cases, traces of the search for water sources or the remains of astronomical indicators. But just look at pictures from an airplane, or better yet from space, and fair doubts and questions arise - what kind of rituals were these that forced the Indians, whose society was in the earliest stages of development, to live in small villages and hamlets, forced to constantly fight for survival, to delineate hundreds of square kilometers of desert with geometric shapes, many kilometers of straight lines and giant design images that can only be seen from a great height?
Maria Reiche, who devoted more than 50 years to the study of geoglyphs, notes in her book that, given the colossal amount of work carried out, the creation of lines should have been the central task of the society inhabiting this area at that time...

Although it is worth noting that in more specialized works, archaeologists do not adhere to such categorical conclusions about the complete solution to the lines, mentioning religious ceremonies only as the most likely version that requires further research.

And I propose to touch this amazing mystery again, but maybe just a little more closely, as if from another dimension; do something similar to what P. Kosok did in 1939, when he first hired an airplane specifically to fly over the desert.

So, a little necessary information.

1927 Official discovery of the lines by Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Meia Xespe.

1939 Research into geoglyphs begins by historian Paul Kosok of Long Island University in New York.

1946 – 1998 Study of geoglyphs by German mathematician and archaeologist Maria Reiche. Arriving for the first time with Paul Kosok as a translator, Maria Reiche continued her research into lines, which became the main work of her life. Largely thanks to this courageous woman, the lines continue to exist and are available for research.

1960 Beginning of intensive study of geoglyphs by various expeditions and researchers.

1968 Publication of the book “Chariots of the Gods” by Erich Von Denikin, where a version of the traces of extraterrestrial civilizations is expressed. The beginning of the widespread popularity of the Nazca geoglyphs and the tourist boom on the plateau.

1973 Expedition of the English astronomer Gerald Hawkins (author of a monograph on Stonehenge), the results of which showed the inconsistency of the astronomical version proposed by P. Kosak and M. Reiche.

1994 Thanks to the efforts of Maria Reiche, the Nazca geoglyphs are included in the List world heritage UNESCO.

Since 1997, the Nazca-Palpa project, led by Peruvian archaeologist Joni Isla and Prof. Markus Reindel from the German Archaeological Institute with the support of the Swiss-Liechtenstein Foundation for Foreign archaeological research. The main version based on the results of work since 1997 is the already mentioned ritual actions associated with the cult of water and fertility.

Currently, a GIS-geographic information system (digital 3-dimensional display of geoglyphs combined with archaeological and geological information) is being created with the participation of the Zurich Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry.

A little about the versions. The two most popular have already been mentioned (rituals of the Indians and traces of extraterrestrial civilizations):

First, let’s clarify a little the meaning of the term “geoglyphs.” According to Wikipedia, “a geoglyph is a geometric or shaped pattern applied to the ground, usually over 4 meters long. There are two ways to create geoglyphs - by removing the top layer of soil along the perimeter of the pattern or, conversely, pouring crushed stone where the pattern line should go. Many geoglyphs are so large that they can only be seen from the air." It is worth adding that the overwhelming majority of geoglyphs are completely unambiguously interpreted drawings or signs, and from ancient times to this day people have applied and are applying geoglyphs with specific goals– religious, ideological, technical, entertainment, advertising. Nowadays, thanks to technological progress, application methods have significantly improved, and, ultimately, both the illuminated runway and the artificial islands in the United Arab Emirates can be considered modern geoglyphs:

According to the above, it is not entirely correct to consider the Nazca lines (the number of giant drawings is only a fraction of a percent of the number of lines and geometric figures) as geoglyphs, due to the unknown purposes for which they were drawn. After all, no one would think of considering, say, agricultural activities or a transport system as geoglyphs, which from a great height also look like geometric patterns. But it so happened that in official archeology and in popular literature the Nazca lines and drawings are called geoglyphs. We will not break traditions either.

1. LINES

Geoglyphs are found throughout most of the West Coast. South America. In this chapter we will look in detail at the geoglyphs in the Nazca region, and information about other regions can be found in the appendix.

The following map shows in blue areas where the lines are clearly visible in Google Earth and have a similar structure; the red rectangle is a “tourist place” where the density of lines is maximum and most of the drawings are concentrated; The purple area is the area of ​​distribution of lines considered in most studies, when they say “Nazca-Palpa geoglyphs” they mean this particular area. The purple icon in the upper left corner is the famous geoglyph "Paracas Candelabra":

Red rectangle area:

Purple area:

The geoglyphs themselves are a rather simple thing - stones covered with a dark desert tan (oxides of manganese and iron) were removed to the side, thereby exposing a light layer of subsoil consisting of a mixture of sand, clay and gypsum:

But often geoglyphs have a more complex design - a recess, an ordered boundary, stone structures, or simply piles of stones at the ends of lines, which is why in some works they are called earth structures.

Where the geoglyphs reach the mountains, a lighter layer of rubble was exposed:

In this chapter we will mainly consider that large part of geoglyphs, which includes lines and geometric figures.

Based on their form, they are usually divided as follows:

Lines and stripes ranging in width from 15 cm to 10 meters or more, which can stretch for many kilometers (1-3 km are quite common, some sources mention 18 km or more). Most of the drawings are drawn with thin lines. The stripes sometimes smoothly expand along the entire length:

Truncated and elongated triangles (the most common type of geometric shapes on the plateau after lines) of various sizes (from 3 m to more than 1 km) - they are usually called trapezoids:

Large areas of rectangular and irregular shape:

Often lines and platforms are recessed, according to M. Reiche, up to 30 cm or more; recesses near the lines often have an arched profile:

This is clearly visible on almost buried trapezoids:

Or in a photo taken by a member of the LAI expedition:

The shoot place:

Lines almost always have clearly defined boundaries - basically it is something like a border, very precisely maintained along the entire length of the line. But boundaries can also be heaps of stones (for large trapezoids and rectangles, as in Fig. 15) or heaps of stones with varying degrees of order:

Let us note the feature due to which the Nazca geoglyphs have become widely known - straightness. In 1973, J. Hawkins wrote that some multi-kilometer straight lines were made at the limit of photogrammetric capabilities. I don’t know how things are now, but you have to admit, it’s not bad at all for the Indians. It should be added that often the lines follow the relief, as if without noticing it.

Examples that have become classics:

View from the plane:

The centers are clearly visible on map 6. Map of the centers compiled by Maria Reiche (small dots):

American researcher Anthony Eveny in his book "Between lines" mentions 62 centers in the Nazca-Palpa region.

Often the lines are connected to each other and combined in various combinations. It is also noticeable that the work proceeded in several stages, often lines and figures overlap each other:

It is worth noting the location of the trapezoids. The bases usually face river valleys, the narrow part is almost always higher than the base. Although where the elevation difference is small (on flat hilltops or in the desert) this does not work:

A few words need to be said about the age and number of lines. It is generally accepted by official science that the lines were created in the period between 400 BC. e. and 600 AD This is based on fragments of ceramics from different phases of the Nazca culture, which are found in dumps and piles of stones on the lines, as well as radiocarbon dating of the remains of wooden posts considered to be markers. Thermoluminescence dating is also used, which shows similar results. We will touch on this topic further below.

As for the number of lines - Maria Reiche registered about 9,000 of them, currently the figure is mentioned from 13,000 to 30,000 (and this is only on the purple part of map 5; no one counted similar lines at Ica and Pisco, although there are obviously them there far less). But we must take into account that we see only what the time and care of Maria Reiche (now the Nazca Plateau is a nature reserve) left us, who mentioned in her book that before her eyes, areas with interesting lines and spirals are being planted under cotton crops. Obviously, most of them were buried by erosion, sand and human activity, and the lines themselves sometimes cover each other in several layers, and their true number may differ by at least an order of magnitude. It makes sense to talk not about the number, but about the density of lines. But here it is worth noting the following.

Considering that the climate, as archaeologists indicate, was wetter during this period (and in Google Earth it is clear that the ruins and remains of irrigation structures go much deeper into the desert), the maximum density of geoglyphs is observed near river valleys and settlements (Map 7). But you can find individual lines in the mountains and far in the desert:

At an altitude of 2000 m, 50 km west of Nazca:

Trapezoid from a group of lines in the desert 25 km from Ica:

And further. When compiling a GIS of some areas of Palpa and Nazca, it was concluded that, in general, all lines are built in places accessible to humans and what is happening on the lines (but not the lines themselves) can be seen from remote observation points. I don’t know about the second, but the first seems to be true for the vast majority of lines (there are inconvenient places, but I haven’t encountered any impassable ones), especially since Google Earth allows you to rotate the image this way and that (purple area on map 5):

The list of obvious features could be continued, but perhaps it’s time to move on to the details.

The first thing I would like to start with is a significant amount of work done, to put it mildly, not very well:

The bulk of the photographs were taken within the purple area on map 5, which was most exposed to the invasion of tourists and various kinds of experimenters; According to Reiche, there were even military maneuvers here. I tried as much as possible to avoid clearly modern traces, especially since it is not difficult - they are lighter, go on top of ancient lines and do not have signs of erosion.

A few more illustrative examples:

The ancients had strange rituals - would it be worth doing so much work on marking and clearing that you would then give up everything halfway or even at the final part? It is interesting that sometimes on completely finished trapezoids there are often heaps of stones, as if abandoned or forgotten by the builders:

According to archaeologists, work on the construction and reconstruction of the lines was carried out constantly. I will add that this rather concerns only certain groups of lines located near Palpa and in the valley of the Ingenio River. All kinds of activity did not stop there, perhaps even during the time of the Incas, judging by the numerous stone structures around the bases of the trapezoids:

Some such places are sometimes marked by anthropomorphic and rather primitive images-geoglyphs, reminiscent of ordinary cave paintings (historians attribute them to the style of the Paracas culture, 400-100 BC, the predecessor of the Nazca culture). It is clearly visible that quite a few people trampled there (including modern tourists):

It must be said that archaeologists generally prefer to study such places.

Here we come to one extremely interesting detail.

You have noticed that I constantly mention piles and structures made of stone - they were used to make borders, left them arbitrarily on the lines. But there is another type of similar elements, as if included in the design of a significant number of trapezoids. Notice two elements at the narrow end and one at the wide end:

This is an important detail, so here are some more examples:

In this image from Google, several trapezoids have similar elements:

These elements are not recent additions - they are present on some unfinished trapezoids, and are also found in all 5 regions indicated on the map. Here are examples from opposite ends - the first from the Pisco region, and two from the mountainous area east of Nazca. Interestingly, on the latter these elements are also present inside the trapezoid:

Archaeologists have recently become interested in these elements, and here are descriptions of these structures on one of the trapezoids in the Palpa area (1):

Stone platforms with walls made of stones held together with mud mortar, sometimes double (the outer wall was made of the flat sides of the stone, giving it a grand appearance), filled with rock, among which there are fragments of ceramics and food remains; there was a raised floor made of compacted clay and stone inlays. It has been suggested that wooden beams were laid on top of these structures and used as platforms.

The diagram shows pits between the platforms, where the remains of wooden (willow) pillars, presumably massive, were found. Radiocarbon analysis of one of the pillars showed an age of 340-425 AD, a piece of a stick from a stone platform (another trapezoid) - 420-540 AD. e. Also, pits with the remains of pillars were found at the boundaries of trapezoids.

Here is a description of a ring structure found near the trapezoid, which archaeologists believe is similar to those found at the base of trapezoids:

The method of construction is similar to the platforms described above, with the difference that the interior of the wall was also given ostentation. It was shaped like the letter D, with a gap on the flat side. A flat stone placed after the reconstruction is visible, but it is noted that there was a second one, both used as supports for the stairs to the platform.

In most cases, these elements did not have such a complex structure and were simply heaps or ring structures of stones, and a single element at the base of a trapezoid could not be read at all.

And more examples:

We dwelled on this point in a little more detail, because it is quite obvious that the platforms were built together with trapezoids. They can be seen very often on Google Earth, and the ring structures are very clearly visible. And it is unlikely that the Indians specifically looked for trapezoids in order to build platforms on them. Sometimes even a trapezoid is barely discernible, but these elements are clearly visible (for example, in
desert 20 km from Ica):

Large rectangular platforms have a slightly different set of elements - two large piles of stones, one located on each edge. Perhaps one of them is shown in the National Geographic documentary "Nazca Lines: Deciphered":

Well, a definite point in favor of rituals.

Based on our orthodox version, it is logical to assume that there must be some kind of markup. There really is something similar and is very often used - a thin central line running through the center of the trapezoid and sometimes extending far beyond. In some works of archaeologists it is sometimes called the centerline of the trapezoid. It is usually tied to the platforms described above
(begins or passes next to the platform at the base, and always exactly comes out in the middle between the platforms at the narrow end), the trapezoid may not be symmetrical relative to it (and the platforms, respectively):

This is true for all selected areas of map 5. The trapezoid from Ica Fig. is indicative in this regard. 28, the center line of which seems to shoot a line from piles of stones.

Examples of different types of markings of trapezoids and stripes, as well as different types of work on them in the purple area (we called them mattresses and punched tape):

The marking in some of the examples shown is no longer a simple delineation of the main axes and contours. There are elements here, as it were, of scanning the entire area of ​​the future geoglyph.

This is especially noticeable on the markings for large rectangular areas from the “tourist site” near the Ingenio River:

Under the platform:

And here, next to the existing site, another one was marked:

Similar markings for future sites on M. Reiche’s layout are clearly readable:

Let’s take note of the “scanning markings” and move on.

Interestingly, the markers and those who carried out the clearing work sometimes seemed unable to coordinate their actions sufficiently:

And an example of two large trapezoids. I wonder if it was intended that way, or if someone got something wrong:

Given all of the above, it was difficult not to try to get a closer look at the actions of the markers.

And here we have a few more extremely interesting details waiting for us.

To begin with, I will say that it is very indicative to compare the behavior of modern transport and ancient markers using a thin line. The tracks of cars and motorcycles run unevenly along one direction, and it is difficult to find straight sections of more than a couple of hundred meters. At the same time, the ancient line is always practically straight, often moves inexorably for many kilometers (checked in Google with a ruler), at times disappearing, as if coming off the ground, and reappearing in the same direction; occasionally can make a slight turn, change direction abruptly or not so much; and in the end either rests on the center of the intersections, or smoothly disappears, dissolving into a trapezoid, intersecting lines or with a change in relief.

Often the markers seem to lean on piles of stones located next to the lines, and less often on the lines themselves:

Or this example:

I have already spoken about straightforwardness, but I will note the following.

Some lines and trapezoids, even distorted by the relief, become straight from a certain point of observation from the air, as has already been noted in some studies. For example. The line walking slightly in the satellite image looks almost straight from a viewing point located a little to the side (still from the documentary "Nazca Lines. Deciphered"):

I am not an expert in the field of geodesy, but, in my opinion, drawing a line on rough terrain along which an inclined plane intersects the relief is a rather difficult task.

Another similar example. On the left is a photo from an airplane, on the right from a satellite. In the center is a fragment of an old photo of Paul Kosok (taken from the lower right corner of the original photograph from the book by M. Reiche). We see that the entire combination of lines and trapezoids is drawn from a point close to the point from which the central photograph was taken.

A next photo it is better to view it in good resolution (here - Fig. 63).

First, let's pay attention to the under-cleared area in the center. The methods of working manually are very clearly presented - there are both large piles and small ones, a dump of gravel at the borders, an irregular border, not very organized work - they collected here and there and left. In short, everything that we saw in the section on manual work.

Now let's look at the line crossing the left side of the photo from top to bottom. A radically different style of work. The ancient construction aces seem to have decided to imitate the work of a chisel fixed at a certain height. With a jump over a stream. Straight and regular boundaries, leveled bottom; They didn’t even forget to reproduce the subtleties of the breakage of the trace of the upper part of the line. There is a possibility that this
water or wind erosion. But examples of all types of impact environment in the photographs it is enough - it does not look like either one or the other. And it would be noticeable on the surrounding lines. Here there is rather a deliberate interruption of the line by approximately 25 meters. If you add the concave profile of the line, as in old photographs or from the photo in the Palpa area, and tons of rock that needs to be shoveled (the width of the line is about 4 m), then the picture will be complete. Also indicative are four perpendicular thin parallel lines clearly applied on top. If you look closely, you can see that on uneven terrain, the depth of the lines also changes; looks like a mark drawn along a ruler with a metal fork on a piece of plasticine.

For myself, I dubbed such lines t-lines (lines made using technology, i.e., taking into account the use of special methods for marking, performing and monitoring work). Similar features have already been noted by some researchers. Photos of similar lines are on the website (24) and similar behavior of some lines (interruption of lines and interaction with the terrain) is noted in article (1).

A similar example, where you can also compare the level of work (two “rough” lines are marked with arrows):

Which is remarkable. The unfinished rough line (the one in the center) has a thin marking line. But I have never seen markings for t-lines. As well as unfinished t-lines.

Here are some more examples:

According to the “ritual” version, they were supposed to walk along the lines. In one Discovery documentary, they showed the internal compacted structure of the lines, presumably resulting from intensive walking along them (the compaction of the rock explains the magnetic anomalies recorded on the lines):

And in order to trample like that, they had to walk a lot. Not just a lot, but a lot. It is only interesting how the ancients determined the routes in Fig. 67 to trample the lines approximately evenly? And how did you jump 25 meters?

It’s a pity that the photos with sufficient resolution cover only the “tourist” part of our map. So for other areas we will be content with maps from Google Earth.

Rough work at the bottom of the photo and the t-line at the top:

And these t-lines stretch in a similar way for about 4 km:

T-lines were also able to make turns:

And such a detail. If we return to the t-line, which we discussed very first, and look at its beginning, we will see a small expansion, reminiscent of a trapezoid, which further develops into a t-line and, very smoothly changing the width and sharply changing direction four times, intersects itself , and dissolves into a large rectangle (the unfinished area is clearly of later origin):

Sometimes there was some kind of malfunction in the work of the markers (curves with stones at the end of the stripes):

There are also large trapezoids, similar to the work of markers. For example. A well-made trapezoid with border-borders seems to grow by pushing the boundaries from the marking line-dent:

Another interesting example. A fairly large trapezoid (about two-thirds of the entire length in the picture), made as if by moving the cutting edges of the “cutter” apart, and in the narrow part one of the edges stops touching the surface:

There are enough oddities like this. The entire discussed area of ​​our map for the most part, it seems, represents the creativity of those same markers, well mixed with rough, unskilled work. Archaeologist Haylen Silverman once compared the plateau to a scribbled blackboard at the end of a busy school day. Very well noted. But I would add something about joint activities between the preschool group and graduate students.

There are attempts to make lines by hand in modern times by means available to the ancient Nazcans:

The ancients did something similar, and perhaps in exactly these ways:

But in my opinion, t-lines resemble something else. They are more like the mark of a spatula, with the help of which they imitated the Nazca drawings in one of the documentaries:

And here is a comparison of t-lines and the stack trace on plasticine:

Something like this. Only their spatula or stack was a little larger...

And one last thing. A note about markers. There is a recently opened religious center of the ancient Nazcans - Cahuachi. It is believed that he is directly related to the construction of the lines. And if we compare, on the same scale, this same Cahuachi with a section of desert marked out a kilometer away from it, the question arises: if the desert was drawn by the Nazcan surveyors themselves, then they invited Cahuachi to mark
migrant workers from backward mountain tribes?

It is impossible to draw a clear line between unskilled work and T-lines and draw any conclusions using only photographs of a “tourist” area and Google Earth maps. We need to watch and study on the spot. And since the chapter is devoted to material that claims to be factual, I will refrain from making comments about such sophisticated rituals; and therefore we finish the discussion of t-lines and move on to the final part of the chapter.

Line combinations

The fact that the lines form certain groups and combinations has been noted by many researchers. For example, prof. M. Reindel called them functional units. A few clarifications. Combinations do not mean simply superimposing lines on top of each other, but as if combining into one whole through common boundaries or obvious interaction with each other. And in order to try to understand the logic of creating combinations, I propose to begin by systematizing the set of elements that the builders used. And, as we see, there is not much variety here:

There are only four elements. Trapezoids, rectangles, lines and spirals. There are also drawings, but a whole chapter is devoted to them; here we will consider them a type of spirals.

Let's start from the end.

Spirals. This is a fairly common element, there are about hundreds of them and they are almost always included in combinations of lines. There are very different ones - perfect and not quite, square and intricate, but always double:

The next element is lines. Basically these are our familiar t-lines.

Rectangles - they were also mentioned. Let us note only two things. First. There are relatively few of them and they always try to be oriented perpendicular to the trapezoids and gravitate towards their narrow part, sometimes as if crossing them out (map 6). Second. In the Nazca River valley there is a significant number of large broken rectangles, as if superimposed on the beds of dried up rivers. In the drawings they are indicated mainly in yellow:

The boundary of such a site is clearly visible in Fig. 69 (bottom).

AND last element– trapezoid. Along with lines, the most common element on the plateau. A few details:

1 - Location relative to stone structures and types of boundaries. As already noted, very often stone structures are difficult to read, or they are not there at all. There is also some functionality of trapezoids. I would not like to militarize the description, but an analogy with small arms. The trapezoid, as it were, has a muzzle (narrow) and breech, each of which interacts with other lines in a fairly standard way.

For myself, I divided all combinations of lines into two types - collapsed and expanded. The trapezoid is the main element in all combinations. Collapsed (group 2 in the diagram) is when the line comes out of the narrow end of the trapezoid at an angle of about 90 degrees (or less). This combination is usually compact, with a thin line often returning to the base of the trapezoid, sometimes in a spiral or pattern.

Expanded (group 3) - the outgoing line almost does not change direction. The simplest unfolded one is a trapezoid with a thin line, as if shooting from a narrow part and stretching over a considerable distance.

A couple more important details, before we move on to examples. In folded combinations there are no stone structures on the trapezoid, and the base (wide part) sometimes has a series of lines:

It can be seen that the last row in the last example was laid out by caring restorers. A snapshot of the latest example from the ground:

In those deployed on the contrary, very often there are stone structures, and the base has an additional trapezoid or trapezoids of a much smaller size, joining (sequentially or parallel) to the place of a single platform (possibly moving it beyond the main one):

Maria Reiche was the first to describe a collapsed combination of lines. She called it a "whip":

From the narrow end of the trapezoid at an acute angle in the direction of the base there is a line, which, as if scanning the surrounding space in a zigzag (in this case, relief features), curls up into a spiral in close proximity from the base. Here's a collapsed combination for you. We substitute different variations of these elements and get a very common combination in the Nazca-Palpa region.
Example with another zigzag option:

More examples:

Examples of larger and more complex folded combinations in a characteristic interaction with a rectangular platform:

On the map, multi-colored stars show easily readable folded combinations in the Palpa - Nazca area:

A very interesting example of a group of collapsed combinations is shown in the book by M. Reiche:

Attached to the huge folded combination, to the narrow part of the trapezoid, is a micro-combination that has all the attributes of a regular folded one. The more detailed photo shows: white arrows - the kinks of the zigzag, black - the mini-combination itself (the large spiral near the base of the trapezoid in M. Reiche is not shown):

Examples of collapsed combinations with pictures:

Here you can note the order in which the combinations are created. The question is not completely clear, but many examples show that the scanning lines seem to see the mother trapezoid and take it into account with their trajectory. In combination with a monkey, a sawtooth zigzag seems to fit between the existing lines; it would be much more difficult from an artist's point of view to draw it first. And the dynamics of the process - first a trapezoid with a garden of all sorts of details, then a thinning t-line, turning into a spiral or pattern, and then disappearing altogether - in my opinion, is more logical.

I present to you the champion of rolled combinations. The length of only the visible continuous and very well made part (combination of lines near Cahuachi) is more than 6 km:

And here you can see the scale of what is happening - Fig. 81 (drawing by A. Tatukov).

Let's move on to expanded combinations.

There is no such relatively clear construction algorithm here, except for the fact that these combinations cover a significant area. You could even say that these are rather different ways of interaction of lines and groups of lines with each other. Let's look at examples:

Trapezoid 1, which in turn has a small “ignition” trapezoid, with its narrow part rests on a hill, on which an “explosion” occurs, or a connection of lines coming from the narrow ends of other trapezoids (2, 3).
The remote trapezoids seem to be connected to each other. But there is also a serial connection (4). Moreover, sometimes the connecting center line can change its width and direction. Unskilled work is indicated in purple.

Another example. Interaction of an axial line about 9 km long and 3 trapezoids:

1 – upper trapezoid, 2 – middle, 3 – lower. You can see how the axial reacts to the trapezoids, changing direction:

Next example. For greater clarity, it would be better to view it in detail in Google Earth. But I'll try to explain.

Trapezoid 1, very roughly made, into which trapezoid 2 “shoots” at the narrow part, is connected to the base of trapezoid 3 (Fig. 103), which in turn “shoots” with a well-made line into a small hill. This is trapezology.

In general, such shooting at distant low hills (sometimes at distant mountain peaks) is quite common. According to archaeologists, about 7% of the lines are aimed at hills. Here, for example, are trapezoids and their axes in the desert near Ica:

And one last example. Combining a common border using rectangular areas of two large collapsed combinations:

You can see how the trapezoid, which shoots in a straight line, is deliberately ignored.

That, in brief, is all I would like to say about combinations.

It is clear that the list of such compounds can be continued and developed for a very long time. At the same time, in my opinion, it would be wrong to consider that the plateau is one big mega combination. But the conscious and deliberate unification of some geoglyphs into groups according to certain characteristics and the existence of something like a general strategic plan for the entire plateau is undoubtedly. It is worth noting that all of the deployed combinations mentioned above occupy an area of ​​several square kilometers each, and this cannot be built in a day or two. And if we take into account all these t-lines, correct borders and platforms, kilotons of stones and rock, and the fact that the work was carried out according to the same patterns throughout the entire area of ​​the mentioned region (map 5 - more than 7 thousand sq. km), over a long period of time and sometimes in very unfavorable conditions, unpleasant questions arise. It is difficult to judge to what extent the cultural society
Nazca was able to do this, but the fact that this required very specific knowledge, maps, tools, serious organization of work and large human resources is obvious.

2. DRAWINGS

Phew, looks like we're done with the lines. For those who can’t fall asleep from boredom, I promise it will be much more fun. Well, there are birds, little animals, all sorts of piquant details... Otherwise, everything is sand - stones, stones - sand...

Well, let's begin.

Nazca drawings. The most insignificant, but the most famous part of the activity of the ancients on the plateau. First, a little explanation of what type of drawings will be discussed below.

According to archaeologists, man appeared in these places (the Nazca-Palpa region) quite a long time ago - several thousand years before the formation of the Nazca and Paracas cultures. And all this time, people left various images that were preserved in the form of petroglyphs, drawings on ceramics, textiles and clearly visible geoglyphs on the slopes of mountains and hills. It is not within my competence to delve into all sorts of chronological and iconographic subtleties, especially since there are now enough works on this topic. We'll just look at what these people drew; and not even what, but how. And as it turned out, everything is quite natural. In Fig. 106, the top group is the earliest and most primitive petroglyphs (rock paintings); lower – images on ceramics and textiles of the Nazca – Paracas cultures. Middle row – geoglyphs. IN this region similar creativity so many. The part on the head that looks like a sombrero is actually a forehead decoration (usually golden rice. 107), as I understand it, is some kind of insignia used in these parts and very often found in many images.
All such geoglyphs are located on slopes, clearly visible from the ground, made in one way (clearing the platforms of stones and using piles of stones as parts) and are quite in the style of the lower and upper rows. In general, there are enough similar activities around the world (1st column of Fig. 4).

We will be interested in other drawings, as we will see below, which differ in many respects from those described above in style and method of creation; which, in fact, are known as the Nazca drawings.

There are a little more than 30 of them. There are no anthropomorphic images among them (the primitive geoglyphs described above overwhelmingly depict people). The sizes of the drawings range from 15 to 400(!) meters. Drawn (Maria Reiche mentions the term “scratched”) with one line (usually a thin marking line), which often does not close, i.e. the drawing has, as it were, an entrance and exit; sometimes included in a combination of lines; Most of the drawings are visible only from a considerable height:

Most of them are located in a “tourist” place, near the Ingenio River. The purpose and evaluation of these drawings are controversial even among representatives of official science. Maria Reiche, for example, admired the sophistication and harmony of the drawings, and the participants modern project"Nazca-
Palpa" under the leadership of Prof. Markus Reindel believe that the drawings were not intended as images at all, but were created only as directions for ritual processions. As usual, there is no clarity.

I suggest not to be loaded with introductory information, but to immediately delve into the topic.

In many sources, especially official ones, the question of whether the drawings belong to the Nazca culture is a settled issue. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that in sources with an alternative focus, this topic is generally silent. Official historians usually refer to comparative analysis drawings in the desert and iconography of the Nazca culture, made by William Isbell back in 1978. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the work, I had to get involved myself, fortunately it’s not ’78.
There are now enough drawings and photographs of ceramics and textiles from the Nazca and Paracas cultures. I mostly used the excellent collection of drawings made by Dr. K. Klados, posted on the FAMSI website (25). And this is what turned out. This is the case when it is better to look than to talk.

Pisces and Monkey:

Hummingbird and Frigatebird:

Also a hummingbird with a flower and a parrot (as the character depicted is usually called), which may not be a parrot at all:

Well, the remaining birds: condor and harpies:

The fact, as they say, is obvious.

It is obvious that the designs on textiles and ceramics of the Nazca and Paracas cultures and the images in the desert sometimes coincide down to the details. By the way, there was also a plant depicted on the plateau:

This is cassava, or yucca - one of the main foodstuffs in Peru since ancient times. And not only in Peru, but throughout the tropical zone of our planet. Like our potatoes. To taste too.

At the same time, it is worth noting that on the plateau there are drawings that have no analogues in the Nazca and Paracas cultures, but more on that a little later.

Well, let's see how the Indians created these wonderful images of theirs. There are no questions about the first group (primitive geoglyphs). The Indians were quite capable of doing this, given that there is always the opportunity to admire the creation from the outside, and if something happens, to correct it. But with the second (drawings in the desert) some questions arise.

There is an American researcher, Joe Nickell, a member of the Skeptics Society. And one day he decided to reproduce one of the drawings of Nazca - a 130-meter condor - on a field in Kentucky, USA. Joe and his five assistants armed themselves with ropes, pegs and a cross of boards that allowed them to draw a perpendicular line. All these “devices” could well have been among the inhabitants of the plateau.

The "Indians" team began work on the morning of August 7, 1982 and finished it after 9 hours, including a lunch break. During this time, they marked 165 points and connected them to each other. Instead of digging, the testers covered the contours of the figure with lime. Photographs were taken from an airplane flying at an altitude of 300 m.

“It was a success,” Nickell recalled. “The result was so precise and neat that we could easily recreate a much more symmetrical pattern in this way. It seems that the Nazca people marked out many fewer points than we did, or used a more crude method, measuring distances, for example, by steps, not by rope" (11).

Yes, indeed, it turned out very similar. But we agreed to take a closer look. I propose to compare the modern condor with the creation of the ancients in more detail:

It looks like Mr. Nickell (his condor on the left) got a little carried away with his assessment of his own work. The remake is walking around. I marked in yellow the fillets and axes, which the ancients undoubtedly took into account in their work, and Nickell did it as it turned out. And the proportions that have floated a little because of this give the picture on the left some “clumsiness”, which is absent in the ancient image.

And here the next question arises. To reproduce the condor, Nickell apparently used a photograph as a sketch. When enlarging and transferring an image to the surface of the earth, errors will inevitably occur, the magnitude of which depends on the transfer method. These errors will be expressed, accordingly, in all sorts of “clumsies” that we observed in Nickell (which, by the way, are present on some modern geoglyphs from the middle column of Fig. 4). And a question. What sketches and transfer methods did the ancients use to obtain almost perfect images?

It can be seen that the image, in this case of a spider, is deliberately devoid of complete symmetry, but not in the direction of an uncontrolled loss of proportions due to imperfect transfer, as in Nickell’s, but in the direction of giving the drawing life and comfort of perception (which greatly complicates the transfer process). One gets the impression that the ancients had no problems with the quality of transference at all. It should be added that Nickell fulfilled his promise to create a more accurate image, and drew the same spider (footage from the National Geigraphic documentary "Is it Real? Ancient Astronauts"):

But you and I see that he drew his own spider, very similar to the Nazcan one and the same size, but simpler and symmetrical (for some reason the photo from the plane could not be found anywhere), devoid of all the subtleties that are visible in the previous one photos and which Maria Reiche admired so much.

Let's put aside the often discussed question of the method of transferring and enlarging drawings, and let's try to look at the sketches, which ancient artists could hardly have done without.

And then it turned out that the higher-quality drawings that Maria Reiche made by hand in the middle of the last century practically do not exist. All that is there is either stylization, without taking into account the details, or a deliberate distortion of the drawings, showing, according to the artists, the primitive level of the Indians of that time. Well, I had to sit down and try to do it myself. But the matter turned out to be so exciting that I couldn’t tear myself away until I drew all the available images. Looking ahead, I will say that without a pair pleasant surprises it didn't work out. But before I invite you to
gallery of "Nascan" graphics, I would like to note the following.

At first I didn’t quite understand what made Maria Reiche so carefully search for a mathematical description of the drawings:

And this is what she wrote in her book: “The length and direction of each segment were carefully measured and recorded. Approximate measurements would not be enough to reproduce such perfect outlines that we see with the help of aerial photography: a deviation of just a few inches would distort the proportions of the drawing. Photographs taken in this way help to imagine how much work it cost the ancient craftsmen.The ancient Peruvians must have possessed equipment that even we do not have and which, together with ancient knowledge, was carefully hidden from the conquerors as the only treasure that could not be kidnap"(2).

I fully understood this when I started drawing. It was no longer a question of sketches, but of getting close enough to what is on the plateau. Any minimal shift in proportions almost always resulted in a “clumsiness” similar to what we saw in Nickell, and the lightness and harmony of the image was immediately lost.

A little about the process. There is enough photographic material for all the drawings; if some detail was missing, you can always find the desired photo from a different angle. Sometimes there were problems with perspective, but this was solved either using existing renderings or a photo from Google Earth. This is what the working moment looks like when drawing the “anhike” (in this case, 5 photographs were used):

And then, at one fine moment, I suddenly discovered that with a certain skill in working with Bezier curves (developed in the 60s for automotive design and which became one of the main tools computer graphics) the program itself sometimes drew the contours quite similarly. At first this was noticeable on the roundings of the spider’s legs, when without my participation these roundings became almost identical to the original ones. Further, with the correct positions of the nodes and when they were combined into a curve, the line sometimes almost exactly followed the contour of the drawing. And the fewer nodes, but the more optimal their position and settings, the greater the similarity with the original.

In general, a spider is practically one Bezier curve (more correctly, a Bezier spline, a sequential connection of Bezier curves), without circles and straight lines. During further work, a feeling arose that grew into confidence that this unique “Nascan” design is a combination of Bezier curves and straight lines. Almost no regular circles or arcs were observed:

Was it not Bezier curves that Maria Reiche, a mathematician by training, tried to describe by making numerous measurements of radii?

But I truly became inspired by the skill of the ancients when drawing large drawings, where there were almost ideal curves of enormous sizes. Let me remind you once again that the purpose of the drawings was an attempt to look at the sketch, at what the ancients had before drawing it on the plateau. I tried to minimize my own creativity, resorting to finishing the damaged areas only where the logic of the ancients was obvious (such as the tail of a condor, the protruding and clearly modern rounding on the body of a spider). It is clear that there is some idealization and improvement of the drawings, but we should also not forget that the originals are gigantic, more than once restored images in the desert, which are at least 1500 years old.

Let's start with the spider and the dog without technical details:

Frigate fish and bird:

A little more about the monkey. This pattern has the most uneven outline. First I drew it the way it looks in the pictures:

But then it became clear that despite all the accuracy of observing the proportions, the artist’s hand seemed to tremble a little, which is also noticeable on the straight lines belonging to the same combination. I don’t know what this is connected with, perhaps with the very uneven terrain in this place; but if the line in the sketch is made a little thicker, then all these irregularities will be hidden inside this thicker line. And the monkey acquires the standard geometry for all drawings. I attached spider monkeys, the prototype of which, according to many researchers, is depicted by the ancients. It is impossible not to note the balance and
accuracy of proportions in the figure:

Further. I think there is no need to introduce the trinity of a lizard, a tree and “nine fingers”. I would like to draw your attention to the lizard’s paws - ancient artist very accurately noticed the anatomical feature of lizards - a palm, as it were, turned out in comparison with a human one:

Iguana and hummingbird:

Anhinga, pelican and harpy:

A rhinoceros dog and another hummingbird. Pay attention to the grace of the lines:

Condor and parrot:

The parrot has an unusual line. The fact is that this drawing has always confused me with its incompleteness, which is unusual for Nazcan images. Unfortunately, it is very badly damaged, but in some photographs this curve is noticeable (Fig. 131), which is like a continuation of the drawing and balances it. It would be extremely interesting to look at the entire drawing, but, unfortunately, I can’t help. I draw your attention to the masterly execution of the curves on the contours of these rather large images (people are visible in the photograph of the condor). The pathetic attempt of modern “experimenters” to add an extra feather to the condor is clearly visible.

And here we come to some climax of our opening day. On the plateau there is a very interesting image, or rather, a group of drawings, spread over more than 10 hectares. It is clearly visible on Google Earth, in many photographs, but is mentioned in very few places. Let's look:

The size of a large pelican is 280 by 400 meters. Photo from the plane and the working moment of drawing:

And again, a perfectly executed (if you look at Google) curve over 300 meters long. An unusual image, isn't it? It smells like something alien, slightly inhuman...

We’ll definitely talk about all the oddities of this and other images later, but for now let’s continue.

Other drawings, of a slightly different nature:

There are images, sometimes quite complex, with characteristic roundings and requiring markings to maintain proportions, but at the same time devoid of apparent meaning. Something like signing a newly acquired pen:

The “peacock” pattern is interesting because of its combination of the right wing with the line (although this may be the work of restorers). And admire how skillfully the ancient creators inscribed this drawing into the relief:

And so that our review of the drawings is complete, a few words about the undrawn images. Recently, Japanese researchers found more drawings. One of them is in the following picture:

Located in the south of the plateau, near the Nazca River. It is unclear what is depicted, but the handwriting in the form of graceful, regular curves drawn along the rugged terrain with T-lines about one and a half meters wide (judging by the car tracks) is clearly visible.

I have already mentioned the trampled area near Palpa, where the lines are adjacent to primitive geoglyphs. There is also a small, very interesting drawing (marked with an oblique arrow) depicting a creature with a large number of fingers or tentacles, mentioned in studies, but, unfortunately, not entirely visible in the photographs:

A few more drawings, maybe not as high quality, but made in a style different from primitive geoglyphs:

The following drawing is unusual in that it is drawn with a thick (about 3 m) t-line. It is clear that it is a bird, but the details are destroyed by the trapezoid:

And at the end of the review, a diagram that contains some drawings on approximately the same scale:

Many researchers have paid attention to the asymmetry of some drawings, which, logically, should be symmetrical (spider, condor, etc.). There were even suggestions that these distortions were caused by the relief, and there were attempts to straighten these drawings. And indeed, with all the scrupulousness of the ancients to details and proportions, it is somehow not logical to draw the condor’s paws of clearly different sizes (Fig. 131).
Please note that the paws are not copies of each other, but are two completely different patterns, each including a dozen precisely executed fillets. It is difficult to imagine that the work was carried out by two teams speaking different languages ​​and using different drawings. It is quite obvious that the ancients deliberately avoided symmetry, especially since on the plateau there are absolutely symmetrical
images (more on them later). And so, while sketching, I noticed one amazing thing. The ancients, it turns out, drew projections of three-dimensional images. Let's look:

The condor is drawn in two planes intersecting at a slight angle. The pelican appears to be in two perpendicular. Our spider has a very interesting 3-D appearance (1 – original image, 2 – straightened, taking into account the planes in the picture). And this is noticeable in some other drawings. For example - a hummingbird, the size of its wings shows that it is flying above us, a dog, turning its back to us, a lizard and “nine fingers”, with different sizes palms (Fig. 144). And look how cleverly the three-dimensional volume is laid out in the tree:

It's like it's made from a piece of paper or foil, I just straightened out one branch.

It would be strange if no one had noticed such obvious things before me. Indeed, I found one work by Brazilian researchers (4). But there, through rather intricate transformations, a certain three-dimensional physicality of the drawings was established:

I agree with the spider, but not quite with the others. And I decided to make my own three-dimensional version of some drawing. Here, for example, is what “nine fingers” made of plasticine look like:

I had to play tricks with the paws; the ancients depicted them in a slightly exaggerated way, and no creature walks on tiptoes. But in general, it turned out right away, I didn’t even have to think about anything - everything is in the drawing (a specific joint, the curvature of the body, the position of the “ears”). What’s interesting is that the figure initially turned out to be balanced (standing on its feet). The question automatically arose, what kind of animal is this? AND
In general, where did the ancients get the subjects for their wonderful exercises on the plateau?

And here, as usual, a few more interesting details await us.

Let's turn to our favorite - the spider. In the works of various researchers, this spider is identified as belonging to the order Ricinulei. The entry-exit lines seemed to some researchers to be a genital organ, and the spider of this particular order of arachnids has a genital organ on its leg. This is not actually where the delusion comes from. Let's take a break from the spider for a minute, look at the next drawing and I
I will ask the reader to answer the question - what are the monkey and the dog doing?

I don’t know what seemed to the respected reader, but all my respondents answered that the animals were recovering from natural needs. Moreover, the ancients unambiguously showed the gender of the dog, and the genitals are usually depicted in a different configuration. And, it seems, it’s the same story with the spider - the spider, however, doesn’t fix anything, it just has an entrance and exit on its paw. And if you look closely, it turns out that this is not a spider at all, but something more like an ant:

And certainly not Ricinulei. As someone joked on the “ant” forum, it’s a spider ant. Indeed, the spider has a cephalothorax, and here the ancients clearly identified the head and body with eight legs characteristic of an ant (the ant has six legs and a pair of mustaches). And what’s interesting is that the Indians themselves did not understand what was drawn in the desert. Here are the images on the ceramics:

They knew spiders and drew them (on the right), and on the left, it seems, our spider ant is depicted, only the artist did not coordinate with the number of legs - there are 16 of them on the ceramics. I don’t know what this really means, but if you stand in the middle of the forty-meter drawing, in In principle, you can understand what is depicted on the ground, but you may not notice the roundings at the ends of the paws. But one thing is for sure - there is no such creature on our planet.

Let's move on. Three drawings raise questions. The first is the "nine fingers" shown above. The second is a rhinoceros dog. A small Nazca image, about 50 meters, for some reason unloved and rarely mentioned by researchers:

Unfortunately, I don’t have any thoughts about what this is, so let’s move on to the remaining image.

Big pelican.

The only drawing that, due to its size and ideal lines, looks absolutely the same in the drawing as in the desert (and in the sketches of the ancients, respectively). Calling this image a pelican is not entirely correct. A long beak and something similar to a crop does not mean a pelican. The ancients did not identify the main detail that makes a bird a bird - its wings. And in general this image is non-functional from all sides. You can't walk on it - it's not closed. And how to catch the eye - jump again? Due to the specificity of the parts, it is inconvenient to view from the air. It doesn’t really fit in with the lines either. But, nevertheless, there is no doubt that this object was created intentionally - it looks harmonious, the ideal curve balances the trident (apparently transverse), the beak is balanced by diverging straight lines behind. I couldn’t understand why this drawing left a feeling of something very unusual. And everything is very simple. Small and subtle details are separated over a considerable distance, and in order to understand what is in front of us, we must move our eyes from one small detail to another. If you move a considerable distance away in order to take in the entire picture, then all this small detail seems to merge and the meaning of the image is lost. It seems that this drawing was created for perception by a creature with a different size of the “yellow” spot - the zone of greatest visual acuity in the retina. So if any drawing claims to be unearthly graphics, then our pelican is the first candidate.

The topic, as you noticed, is slippery, you can fantasize as much as you like, and I initially doubted whether to raise it at all or not. But the Nazca plateau - interesting place, you never know where the hare will jump out from. And the topic of strange images had to be raised, because quite unexpectedly an unknown drawing was discovered. At least I couldn't find anything about it on the web.

The drawing, however, is not entirely unknown. On the website (24) this drawing is considered lost due to damage and a fragment of it is given. But in my database I found at least four photographs where the lost details can be read. The drawing is indeed very badly damaged, but the location of the remaining parts, fortunately, allows us to assume with a high degree of probability what the original image looked like. Yes
and experience in drawings didn’t hurt.

So, the premiere. Especially for readers of "Some Observations". A new inhabitant of the Nazca plateau. Meet:

The drawing is very unusual, about 60 meters long, a little not in the standard style, but definitely ancient - as if scratched across the surface and covered with lines. All details are readable, with the exception of the lower middle fin, part of the outline and the remaining internal drawing. It can be seen that the drawing has been erased in more recent times. But most likely not intentionally, they were simply collecting gravel.

And again the question arises: is this the fantasy of ancient artists, or did they spy a similar fish with a similar arrangement of fins somewhere on vacation on the Pacific coast? Very reminiscent of the recently discovered relict lobe-finned coelacanth. If, of course, coelacanths swam in schools off the coast of South America at that time.

Let's put aside the oddities in the drawings for a moment and consider another, albeit extremely small, but no less interesting group of images. I would call it regular geometric symbols.

Estrella:

Grid and ring of squares:

The image from Google Earth shows another one that has been started, and a larger ring of squares:

Another picture, I call it “Estrella 2”:

All images are made in similar ways - points and lines significant for the ancients are marked with stones, and light areas cleared of stones play a supporting role:

As you can see, in the ring of squares and on “estrella”-2, all significant centers are also lined with stones.

We continue our series of stories about mysterious ancient objects. Today we will tell you about the Nazca geoglyphs in Peru, created many centuries before the rise of the Inca Empire, and which are the most important evidence of the existence of a mysterious ancient culture in Peru. These lines and geoglyphs are located on the Nazca plateau and reach tens of meters in length, so they are only visible from the air.

The German scientist Von Daniken, in his book “Answer to the Gods,” claims that these lines were created as signals for the landing of alien spaceships. And the German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche called these patterns a strange confirmation of the existence of the ancient Peruvian culture:

“The Nazca Lines are nothing less than the documented history of ancient Peruvian science. The ancient inhabitants of Peru created their own alphabet to describe the most important astronomical events. The Nazca Lines are pages of a book written in this strange alphabet.”

You can watch from the air various figures, such as large giant spiders, lizards, llamas, monkeys, dogs, hummingbirds, etc., not to mention zigzags and geometric designs. There are many unanswered questions regarding these lines. For example, how they remain intact after hundreds of years, or how they were created in such sizes, accurately recreating all the proportions.

In 1927, Mejia Hespe, a student of the famous Julio Tello, the father of Peruvian archaeology, reported mysterious, incomprehensible geoglyphs on the territory of the Peruvian plateau. Initially, this was not given any importance; scientists were studying other more significant sites, such as Machu Picchu

In the same year, US researcher Paul Kosok arrived in Peru, who was very attracted ancient history Peru. On one of his first trips to the south of the country, he stopped at the top of a plateau and saw vast lines on both sides of the road. After careful examination, he was amazed to find that one of the figures depicted perfect shape bird flight. Kosok spent almost 20 years researching the Nazca Lines; in 1946, he returned home, offering to study the drawings of the Nazca tribes to the German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche. Maria devoted her entire life to this work.

Maria Reiche studied the Nazca Lines for 50 years. She explained how these lines were used by ancient Peruvian astronomers - they were a giant solar and lunar calendar, buried in the sand, legends and myths of the local people.

The lines themselves are applied to the surface in the form of furrows up to 135 centimeters wide and up to 40-50 centimeters deep, while white stripes are formed on the black rocky surface. The following fact is also noted: since the white surface is heated less than the black one, a difference in pressure and temperature is created, which leads to the fact that these lines do not suffer in sandstorms.

The hummingbird has a length of 50 meters, the spider - 46, the condor stretches from beak to tail feathers for almost 120 meters, and the lizard has a length of up to 188 meters. Such enormous sizes of the drawings are admirable; almost all the drawings are made on this huge scale in the same manner, when the outline is outlined by one continuous line. The true form of the images can only be observed from a bird's eye view. There is no such natural elevation nearby, but there are medium-sized hills. But the higher you rise above the plateau, the smaller these drawings become and turn into incomprehensible scratches.

Among other animals captured by Nazca are a whale, a dog with long legs and tail, two llamas, various birds such as herons, pelican, seagull, hummingbird and parrot. Reptiles include alligator, iguana and snake.

All geoglyphs are located on the map, with detailed names. Click to enlarge

So who created the Nazca geoglyphs? Locals or aliens? This is a giant solar and lunar calendar or guidelines spaceship? It is impossible to know the answers to these questions, since the Nazca lines are one of the largest