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Comment by janpmz | Hacker News Reader

The Nazca lines in Peru seem to align with the shadows of the mountain, I made two videos to demonstrate it: https://x.com/janBuild/status/1796472554905022785

In the second video, you can see that the shadow seems to align with a curved line during summer solstice: https://x.com/janBuild/status/1796473232658518133

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You should definitely make the video more visual and add some helper lines. I watched the video 20+ times and still don't think they align (of course it's an approximation but still).

Not sure I see it? Maybe would help to have someone highlight specific lines/shadows. I can maybe see it if I let my brain see some alignment and ignore the mostly not-aligned bits.

That's what I see:

https://i.imgur.com/s1uihNT.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/dVrC8eC.jpeg

Hmm yeah these particular shadows don't look that well aligned to me, but the hypothesis certainly warrants more searching

Hmmm... I'm not an astronomer, and I wondered if they might have once been more-exact. It seems that while Earth's orbit has long term variations (eccentricity, obliquity, precession) the shortest of those cycles is still quite a lot longer than the estimated age of the Nazca lines. (Precession with a 26ky cycle, Nazca lines at 1.5 to 2.5ky.)

Interesting! The area is at the tropics so there's not much shadows for the majority of the day. And it seems as if its only very early in the morning where these shadows occur. A small change in time and the shadow changes greatly. Equally a very small variation in elevation of the mountain and plain may give different results.

Interesting. Could they have used the shadows as for of ruler to keep things straight?

Wow. Did you just crack the mystery?!

Wow! This is an awesome observation

Wow, is this a novel theory? That is the first time I’ve heard of it.

the shadow of the smaller and smaller peaks seems to also touch/trace thinner and thinner lines, these lines seem very different compared to the actual animal depictions in other Nazca lines. Could these lines be explained by diffrent rates of photosynthesis / occasional vegetation debsity variations selectively protecting the soil from erosion?

One nature demarcates curves, humans and animals will adapt to them in their choice of path.

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