A team of Japanese archaeologists, researchers at Yamagata University, have discovered 24 new geoglyphs in Nasca that could be among the oldest in the area.
These geometric shapes drawn on the floor were found a kilometer and a half north of the city of Nasca, and include a figure resembling a llama and other less recognizable representations from the III and V centuries BC, according to Japanese university scientists.
If the date are confirmed to correspond to the late Paracas period, it would be older works than some of the most famous Nazca Lines, like the figures of hummingbird or the monkey. The largest of the geoglyphs found has zoomorphic appearance and is about 20 meters long.
These discoveries have already been communicated to the Government of Peru and were presented at a press conference in Yamagata (northern Japan).
The team from the Asian university began investigating on the ground in Nasca in 2004, and since then they have found a total of 41 of these geometric figures, which have been recognized as World Heritage by UNESCO.
These geoglyphs are currently threatened “by the expansion of urban areas,” warned the Japanese archaeologist Masato Sakai, head of research, who also emphasized the need to “preserve” figures and “share its importance with the local population,” he told collected by the Japanese agency Kyodo.
Despite their age, these famous and enigmatic figures were not discovered until 1930 because the desert surface only allowed the designs to be seen in its entirety from the air or from some surrounding hills.
