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Following in Indiana Jones' Footsteps: Aerial Views of the Mysterious Nazca Lines

Indy takes a quest,
Nazca Lines lead to the Grail,
Adventure awaits.

Nazca Lines and Indiana Jones

Paramount has released yet another new movie trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. One of the shots that is worth noting involves a plane flying over the Nazca Lines (seen left), one of Peru's main tourist attractions.
The film will take Indiana Jones across New Mexico, Connecticut, Mexico City and the jungles of Peru as he battles for the crystal skull.
See also: Nazca Lines and Indiana Jones Video.

Archaeologists explore Peruvian mystery

Press release issued May 22, 2008. Source University of Bristol

Indiana Jones may be flying over the Nazca Lines in Peru in his latest Hollywood adventure, but two British archaeologists have been investigating the enigmatic desert drawings for several years.

Dr Nick Saunders from Bristol University and Professor Clive Ruggles from the University of Leicester are locating and measuring the lines with high-precision GPS, photographing the distribution of 1,500-year old pottery, and painstakingly working out the chronological sequence of overlying lines and designs.

Funded by the Anglo-Peruvian Cultural Association in Lima, their research hopes to unlock the purpose of the dazzling but confusing array of desert drawings.

Bizarre explanations, such as alien visitations, ancient landing strips, and astronomical calendars are being replaced by serious archaeological and anthropological ideas.
Professor Ruggles and Dr Saunders agree with other experts that some lines were pathways across the desert, others had a more religious significance, while some appear associated with desert scars caused by flash-floods, and are probably linked to the veneration of water.

“Identifying which lines came first, whether they were spiritual or functional, and exactly how they were used during a thousand years of prehistory is a great challenge,” said Dr Saunders. “The treasure is not gold but insight, and the mystery is cultural not extraterrestrial.”

Nazca Lines Miytery, University of Bristol

  

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Last updated: May 23, 200