essay
A statistical examination of the radial line azimuths at Nazca
lines of nazca • 183 • Published In 1990 • Pages: 245-269
By: Ruggles, C. L. N. (Clive L. N.).
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Based on archaeoastronomical approaches to British megalithic structures, the author makes a statistical study of Nazca line azimuths, hoping to reveal at least some of the purposes of creating the lines. Lines radiating out from three centers were more regular than expected, and there are fewer lines pointing east and more pointing north than expected. Most line centers have at least one wide line oriented in the upstream direction, but avoid pointing to two prominent features in the landscape: Cerro Blanco and Cerro Portachuelo. Lines were not clearly oriented to the solar arc, though some line centers may have been oriented to stars or constellations.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Climate
- Visual arts
- Sacred objects and places
- Ethnometeorology
- Ethnogeography
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Nazca
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2015
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Andes
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeoastronomer
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2013
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1984
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 2200-524 BP (200 BC-AD 1476)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- "Pampa" (Nazca Lines), El Ingenio and Nazca districts, Nazca, Ica, Peru
- NotesAdditional notes
- Clive L. N. Ruggles
- For bibliographical references see document 12:Aveni (1990, References cited…)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 89084667
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Nazca culture
- Social structure--Peru--History
- Nazca Lines Site (Peru)