Over the years, Google Earth has been the odd source of numerous fascinating discoveries. Today, we can add another discovery to that list.
Dmitriy Dey, a Kazakhstan amateur archeologist, uncovered gigantic strange geometric shapes inside aerial photos of Turgai, a desert region in northern Kazakhstan known as the Steppe Geoglyphs. Surprisingly, they resemble Peru’s famed Nazca Lines.
Peruvian Nazca Lines
Unfortunately, the entire extent of these remarkable structures can only be viewed from high heights, exhibiting extremely exact geometric patterns across a huge surface area on the ground. From the ground, it looks to be simply another commonplace mound or trench of soil and wood, similar to any other. These seemingly innocuous peaks and valleys form 90 to 400-meter circles, crosses, and lines.
The Bestamskoe Ring is one of Kazakhstan’s so-called Steppe Geoglyphs, which consist of at least 260 earthwork formations made up of mounds, ditches, and ramparts, the oldest believed to be 8,000 years old and visible only from the air. NASA is to blame.
To put this in context, the most well-known geoglyphs on the planet are the previously stated Nazca Lines in Peru. These geoglyphs were probably constructed around 1,500 years ago, according to calculations. Dey believes that the Mahanzhar people colonized the region between 7000 and 5000 BC and that they may have erected some of Peru’s earliest landforms. Dey speculates that the Mahanzhar people utilized these monuments to watch and track the Sun’s orbit, similar to how the world-famous Stonehenge works.
Stonehenge
The greatest of the formations is found near an ancient Neolithic village. This formation has a total size of 692 km and consists of a square made up of 101 tiny hills, the opposing corners of which are united by lines forming a diagonal cross. This massive structure covers an area larger than that of Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Cheops.
The Ushtogaysky Square, named after the nearby settlement in Kazakhstan, is one of the huge earthwork constructions observed from space.
The investigation behind this significant finding is being led by a team from Kazakhstan’s Kostanay University and Lithuania’s Vilnius University. “So far, we can only say one thing: geoglyphs were constructed by ancient peoples.” “It’s unclear who did it and for what reason,” the researchers added.
These massive structures are thought to have the ability to expose information about the region’s ancient rituals. Attempts to fathom their function, however, have thus far proven futile.
Dmitriy Dey, a Kazakh archaeology enthusiast, discovered the structures, including the Turgai Swastika, on Google Earth in 2007.
NASA has invited astronauts onboard the International Space Station to help take more images of the Turgai region to aid in the decipherment of the mystery geoglyphs. Furthermore, they hope to gather additional information about geoglyphs in general from throughout the world, including Peru’s Nazca Lines.
According to NASA, the formations were created some 8,000 years ago, making their massive size an incredible achievement for the period. “Building these constructions takes a great number of people and a lot of labor,” says Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, an archeologist at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Researchers are attempting to raise funds to investigate the mud mounds that form shapes such as this one, the Big Ashutastinsky Cross.
Compton J. Tucker, a NASA scientist, commented on the situation, stating, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” We intend to map the entire region using whatever materials we can find.”
It is unknown if these structures were erected by an ancient culture for communication, rituals, art, or some other reason far beyond our knowledge.
