Track drawing methods

1999/08/01 Ezpeleta Arenaza, Txema | Ruiz-Larrea, Isabel - Irakaslea eta ikertzaileaFisika Aplikatuko Saila II, EHU Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biologia
• Geografia

There are several theories about the method that the lines used. Some researchers believe that it was enough to upload one or two members of the author team to a mound
and then give orders to the rest of the team.

Another option, simpler than the previous one, is to use a long rope; binding the rope with force from both ends can be made straight lines. Ropes can also be used to draw more complex figures. Let's see, for example, how the spiral can be made. In one of the points of the plain will be located first the stone that has been given circular shape.

The winding of a long rope around the stone will then be done, the length of which will be equal to the value of the outer radius of the spiral. The free end of the rope will be tied at the waist of a person who must slowly turn around the stone to release it from it. If we do, checking that the rope is always on the porch, the person will draw the perfect loop through the feet on the ground. Finally, the companions must make guidelines along the aforementioned route.

As for the figures of animals and plants, it is evident that they would have to make it more difficult. In these cases, the most common practice would be to establish a scale factor as large as you would like to a small image. For María Reiche,
the Nazcatarras had a unit of length (equivalent to approximately 1.10 meters) that was also divided into smaller units and used to establish relationships between different scales. As has been said, before they made a small image of the animal, placed it inside a grid and then represented it on the ground in the proportion they wanted.

The lengths of the lines, in general, are selected according to certain standards. For example, in some places you can see the following model: 23 straight lines were drawn from a central point, besides representing two solstice lines and an equinox line. It should be assumed, therefore, that by placing a rod at this central point, these groups of lines were used as a calendar. It is also easy to verify that most land lines have a length of 182 m and 26 m of normal length.

But there are also researchers who resort to more difficult explanations. In them, it is worth mentioning that some researchers point out that the inhabitants of the Nazca used the hotair balloon.