This decipherment follows the previous "Location" posting relating to the "Next" Great Google Earth Image Mystery for Archaeology, Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy Buffs.
At Nazca,
the "Mystery Rock" image is located via Google Earth and Digital Globe
(these clipped images -- used here as "fair use" for research -- are copyrighted in their base image by Google Earth and Digital Globe)
at
latitude 14°39'5.29"S
and
longitude 75°14'17.89"W
The Mystery Rock is located in the utmost northernmost corner
of the entire flatland part of the complex of Nazca Lines,
where the mystery rock is virtually lodged between two "horns", as it were,
as shown by the pin location in the image below clipped by us from Google Earth. It is on the outer perimeter of the so-called Nazca Lines "fields".
We show the "Mystery Rock" in larger size below as deciphered by us showing that this rock, nearly the size of a football field, shows stars of Andromeda and Pisces to the right of the "horns" of Triangulum and Aries and to the left of the Great Square of Pegasus, and does so by drawing the stars via anthropomorphic figures and cupmark-like markings. There is no doubt about the depiction of this general part of the sky, but issues remain as to the precise identification of individual stars and figures, and this will require substantiation by others.
Below we show the correspondence of stars and anthropomorphic figures and cupmarks (via cupules) on the ground at the Nazca Mystery Rock, using star positions via Starry Night Pro, http://astronomy.starrynight.com/. Click the image to see it in larger format.
Via the above image one can see that the Nazca Mystery Rock has a male head profile drawn in the stars with the crown of the head at Delta Andromedae and a female head profile just below that with the eye at about the level of Zeta Andromedae, while most of the stars marked are stars of Pisces between the "upper" fish of Pisces to the left and the Great Square of Pegasus to the right, with the stars Eta Piscium marking the lower left corner and Gamma Pegasi (Algenib) marking the lower right hand corner of the Mystery Rock star group.
A fish, perhaps a depiction of a Peruvian Anchoveta, is pictured in the bottom middle. As the Wikipedia writes:
An additional figure is pictured on the rock at the right bottom, but hard to identify. We think perhaps it could be a child, i.e. the child of the man and woman previously mentioned. To the left, by the way, the man seems to have his hair tied in a long pig-tail, which could be seen as a serpent, but unlikely.
WHY are THESE STARS depicted at this MYSTERY ROCK?
In terms of dating, in the era around ca. 1150 A.D., the celestial meridian ran approximately through the center of the stars Delta Andromedae and Zeta Andromedae, thus putting the point of the Vernal Equinox virtually between them, right at the middle of stars we today view as Pisces, the fish. That same line then continued on to Beta Ceti, i.e. Diphda in Cetus.
Note that the right ascension of the star Beta Ceti (Diphda in Cetus)
-- where our Native America land survey by astronomy hits its most southeastern point in the Northern Hemisphere --
is virtually identical to the right ascension of the star Zeta Andromedae in the middle of this mystery rock.
Via the Wikipedia for Beta Ceti
Via the Wikipedia for Zeta Andromedae
Right ascension for a star is comparable astronomically to terrestrial longitude.
Beta Ceti has a declination that is ca. 42 degrees from Zeta Andromedae, and so the angular separation between the two stars is ca. 42 degrees.
The latitude of the Miami Circle is 25°46'10.05"N
The latitude of the Mystery Rock at Nazca is 14°39'5.29"S
The latitudinal distance between the two locations is thus nearly 42 degrees. Perhaps one served as a celestial and terrestrial measure for the other.
Hence, the two stars could be closely related in the Native America land survey by astronomy, and Nazca could be viewed as a continuation of the general North/South survey into the Southern Hemisphere. After all, the Miami Circle, as we have deciphered it, shows stars of the Southern Hemisphere, as they are visible at Nazca, Peru. Moreover, Cetus, the Whale, marks the end of the Nazca Lines fields at the southernmost corner of those fields. Hence, these stars surely served a celestial and terrestrial measurement function at Nazca.
Another possible era for the Mystery Rock image, however, is the era around 1000 B.C., when the celestial equator marked a line which is the bottom limit of the rock figures, i.e. the line from approximately the stars Eta Piscium marking the lower left corner and Gamma Pegasi (Algenib) marking the lower right hand corner of the Mystery Rock star group. Which date is correct?
Accordingly, we need to return to Florida for more detailed decipherment material, which begins in the next posting.
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 60 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
The Nazca (Nasca) Mystery Image Deciphered as Anthropomorphic and Cupmark (Cupule) Marking of Stars of Andromeda and Pisces on Earth
At Nazca,
the "Mystery Rock" image is located via Google Earth and Digital Globe
(these clipped images -- used here as "fair use" for research -- are copyrighted in their base image by Google Earth and Digital Globe)
at
latitude 14°39'5.29"S
and
longitude 75°14'17.89"W
The Mystery Rock is located in the utmost northernmost corner
of the entire flatland part of the complex of Nazca Lines,
where the mystery rock is virtually lodged between two "horns", as it were,
as shown by the pin location in the image below clipped by us from Google Earth. It is on the outer perimeter of the so-called Nazca Lines "fields".
We show the "Mystery Rock" in larger size below as deciphered by us showing that this rock, nearly the size of a football field, shows stars of Andromeda and Pisces to the right of the "horns" of Triangulum and Aries and to the left of the Great Square of Pegasus, and does so by drawing the stars via anthropomorphic figures and cupmark-like markings. There is no doubt about the depiction of this general part of the sky, but issues remain as to the precise identification of individual stars and figures, and this will require substantiation by others.
Below we show the correspondence of stars and anthropomorphic figures and cupmarks (via cupules) on the ground at the Nazca Mystery Rock, using star positions via Starry Night Pro, http://astronomy.starrynight.com/. Click the image to see it in larger format.
Via the above image one can see that the Nazca Mystery Rock has a male head profile drawn in the stars with the crown of the head at Delta Andromedae and a female head profile just below that with the eye at about the level of Zeta Andromedae, while most of the stars marked are stars of Pisces between the "upper" fish of Pisces to the left and the Great Square of Pegasus to the right, with the stars Eta Piscium marking the lower left corner and Gamma Pegasi (Algenib) marking the lower right hand corner of the Mystery Rock star group.
A fish, perhaps a depiction of a Peruvian Anchoveta, is pictured in the bottom middle. As the Wikipedia writes:
"[The Peruvian anchoveta] has yielded greater catches than any other single wild fish species in the world...." [emphasis added]Surely that fish was also an important food source for Nazca fishermen in ancient days.
An additional figure is pictured on the rock at the right bottom, but hard to identify. We think perhaps it could be a child, i.e. the child of the man and woman previously mentioned. To the left, by the way, the man seems to have his hair tied in a long pig-tail, which could be seen as a serpent, but unlikely.
WHY are THESE STARS depicted at this MYSTERY ROCK?
In terms of dating, in the era around ca. 1150 A.D., the celestial meridian ran approximately through the center of the stars Delta Andromedae and Zeta Andromedae, thus putting the point of the Vernal Equinox virtually between them, right at the middle of stars we today view as Pisces, the fish. That same line then continued on to Beta Ceti, i.e. Diphda in Cetus.
Note that the right ascension of the star Beta Ceti (Diphda in Cetus)
-- where our Native America land survey by astronomy hits its most southeastern point in the Northern Hemisphere --
is virtually identical to the right ascension of the star Zeta Andromedae in the middle of this mystery rock.
Via the Wikipedia for Beta Ceti
| Constellation | Cetus |
|---|---|
| Right ascension | 00h 43m 35.37090s[1] |
| Declination | –17° 59′ 11.7827″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 2.02[2] |
Via the Wikipedia for Zeta Andromedae
| Constellation | Andromeda |
|---|---|
| Right ascension | 00h 47m 20.3254s[1] |
| Declination | +24° 16′ 01.841″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 3.92 to 4.14[2] |
Right ascension for a star is comparable astronomically to terrestrial longitude.
Beta Ceti has a declination that is ca. 42 degrees from Zeta Andromedae, and so the angular separation between the two stars is ca. 42 degrees.
The latitude of the Miami Circle is 25°46'10.05"N
The latitude of the Mystery Rock at Nazca is 14°39'5.29"S
The latitudinal distance between the two locations is thus nearly 42 degrees. Perhaps one served as a celestial and terrestrial measure for the other.
Hence, the two stars could be closely related in the Native America land survey by astronomy, and Nazca could be viewed as a continuation of the general North/South survey into the Southern Hemisphere. After all, the Miami Circle, as we have deciphered it, shows stars of the Southern Hemisphere, as they are visible at Nazca, Peru. Moreover, Cetus, the Whale, marks the end of the Nazca Lines fields at the southernmost corner of those fields. Hence, these stars surely served a celestial and terrestrial measurement function at Nazca.
Another possible era for the Mystery Rock image, however, is the era around 1000 B.C., when the celestial equator marked a line which is the bottom limit of the rock figures, i.e. the line from approximately the stars Eta Piscium marking the lower left corner and Gamma Pegasi (Algenib) marking the lower right hand corner of the Mystery Rock star group. Which date is correct?
Accordingly, we need to return to Florida for more detailed decipherment material, which begins in the next posting.
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 60 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
The Nazca (Nasca) Mystery Image Deciphered as Anthropomorphic and Cupmark (Cupule) Marking of Stars of Andromeda and Pisces on Earth
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