Jammer Wrote:
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> How would you suggest it got compacted? Earth
> rollers? Perhaps giant compasses compacted it as
> they drew the circles and arcs?

Perhaps. Perhaps by the builders walking to work. You see, you omitted to address the issues I discussed in some depth.
Accessing and exiting the lines, compounded by the fact that in such a case, Nazca turns out to be the supreme labyrinth. But, all that has nothing to do with design, don't you see? It has nothing to do with Geometry as an exact discipline.


> And "they aren't wide enough to be processionals"?
> Most of them are wider than the tile mazes in
> medieval churches, plenty wide enough to be a
> procession way.

And some are so narrow, the procession would fall out of the groove like ducks at a shooting gallery.

> There is one even more telling piece of data,
> where the swept ways open up into wider spaces,
> the compaction is only near the edges. The
> procession (dancers? marchers? will we ever know?)
> worshipers kept close to the boundaries to
> preserve the pattern for their gods. I didn't
> dream this whole thing up.

No, someone else did. The greater compaction could also have come later if processions did dare to trace the lines, which they traditionally worshiped. This still has nothing to do with planning the design.

> There have been several
> illuminating articles in World Archaeology
> magazine. There is a particularly good piece in
> the most recent issue.

Brand new, and already archaeological rubbish!

> As for praying being a waste, I say nay-nay.
> The more precious a resource the more mandatory
> divine intervention is. If you only get 6"
> of rain a year, you MUST get those 6".

Pardon? If you only get 6" of rain per year, you must die! Nazcans did not rely on rain. As I said that would be stupid in the driest area on Earth. Instead Nazcans had built a series of so called "puquios" - spiral stone-wall staircases descending to lateral tunnels leading to aquifers, deep beneath the ground, running along faults in the Nazca valley from the nearby big mountains like Cerro Blanco (with the biggest sand dune of the world).
But, these are not where the lines are.

An interesting link to a much sounder theory than the hogwash you came up with is here:
[209.85.173.132]
"When one thinks of the Nasca Lines, it is the large cluster of geoglyphs, both geometric and representational, on the Pampa de San José that comes to mind. This is the area where the tourists come to fly over the pampa and view the lines. Most people do
not realize that the entire valley is covered with geoglyphs !!!! (sic), many of which have not been adequately recorded. During 1996 and 1997, David Johnson, accompanied by
archaeologist Donald Proulx, geologist Paul Salchert, volunteer Richard Schmidt, and a
crew of Peruvian assistants, visited large sections of the lower Rio Grande, Nasca, Las
Trancas and Taruga valleys. Often, in the most remote areas, huge geoglyphs were
spotted, and in virtually every case, they pointed to faults which conducted water into or
across the region. <snip>"

The most elaborate roadsigns in the world!

In the meantime, Johnson and his team hope that this new found knowledge will be of
benefit to the people of the valley who are currently suffering from the lack of adequate
water resources. Once the most productive aquifers can be identified, wells with pumps
can be installed which should revolutionize agricultural productivity in the area

This just adds sophistication to an element of the equation. Are there any precedents for such perfect spotting of water sources deep beneath the surface? Big arrows are big arrows, but you can still choose from where to point them, right? So this fact does not interfere with the greater design, but rather enhances the whole.

> > "Let me give you a hint, and a warning my
> friend: even the minutest dose of geometry may
> > prove lethal to a fan spoiled by the dramatic
> accounts of the past
> > even the minutest dose of geometry may prove
> lethal to a fan spoiled by the dramatic
> > accounts of the past - Nazca as a landing
> ground for spaceships, Atlantis sinking and
> > boats escaping to Egypt, the Earth crust
> sliding dramatically, nuclear weapons exploding
> > over India, time-travel by Nostradamus,
> druids dancing at Stonehenge - why would you
> > pore over Geometry, and give yourself a
> headache?"
>
> But I believe in none of that garbage, nor can you
> link to any post I ever stated support of any of
> it. Please link to a SINGLE post I've ever made,
> or retract such a smokescreen.

Wow! Gushing feelings! But, I was referring to the public in general, you know the adoring fans, you brought up.

> I am discussing a single subject (Nazca Lines) and
> the impact of soil compaction likely proving
> worship processions, and YOU discharge an entire
> blunderbuss of unassociated gibberish to dissemble
> rather than discuss the impact of the data.
>
> I am a licensed engineer by trade. Geometry,
> Algebra, even some serious calc doesn't give me
> any fears, I use it all frequently.

Good!

> But taking what I do know and transposing it,
> forcing it onto builders of 45 centuries ago
> because some pretty pictures fit... THAT scares
> me.

"Some pretty pictures fit" ... How?
Smartly, intelligently, meaningfully, that scares you!. Please, don't leave out the details. Good thing for me to know that you can discuss the designs themselves, since you are an expert. Why don't you?

> First, I would demand to see some separate
> evidence they knew and used the math.
> Do you find it interesting that a written record
> of math/builders exercise from almost a millennium
> later than the GP is far more basic than you
> propose they knew and used 2,500bce. (The Rhind
> Papyrus).
> Like others, have you dismissed this as proving "a
> secret knowledge that was kept secret".

I have instances proving otherwise, plus there is an independent body of proof running contrary to your assertions.

Jiri

Quoting some enterprizing rascals:

"Cerro Blanco "a perfect sand dune to practice Sandboard, Dune Buggy!!!!(sic), Paragliding, Atv´s tours!!!!(sic), Downhill mountain bike, Trekking and Camping on the sand slopes. We are the first travel agency running adventure tours supporting the environment !!!!! (sic), flora and fauna of this dune."