Saturday, March 04, 2006

Not So Labour-Intensive, Apparently

After 3 straight hours of the Rugrats this morning, I was desperate for something different. I told Willow we were going to watch one of my shows (i.e., documentaries) and she protested. I looked through all the documentaries I had stored up on the DVR, and for one reason (Samurai swords? Too gory.) or another (Caligula... oh, let's wait about 15 years before she needs to know any of that) I discarded them. Then, I found one that was interesting enough for me and palatable for her and it was about the Nasca geoglyphs in southern Peru ( http://www.unmuseum.org/nazca.htm )

Day 4: The Nasca lines were not gouged or carved into the earth. They were created by simply moving the volcanic rock on top of the yellow clay off to the sides.

Archeological teams have proven that even some of the larger geoglyphs could be created in 48 hours even with the tools available to the Nasca people. And it is interesting why the lines have lasted so long - the heat of the day warms the clay and creates a heated barrier against the wind - so the stones don't mess up the lines.

4 comments:

chris said...

Very interesting. Willow is going to grow up with some very eclectic taste. ;-) I love that she can go from Rugrats to geoglyphs without batting an eye! Take care and have a great weekend, Jo! :-)

Anonymous said...

Dear Jo,
Number one, them there lines were constructed by aliens to guide their spaceships in for a soft landing.
Number two, mum and I need a paperback copy of the latest Stirling novel.

Love dad

Jo said...

Uh, Sure Dad...

Which Stirling novel? The one I just finished was the newest hardcover. The latest paperback is the one before this, _Dies the Fire_.

love,
Jo

Anonymous said...

We read 'Dies the Fire' so actually I think it's the hardback - but I should check at the library first.
Love & Hugs