Picture of a 70-meter killer whale in the Peruvian desert

The drawing of a giant killer whale dating back more than 2,000 years is found on a desert in southern Peru.

Archaeologists discovered 70 meters long carved on a hillside in the desert in the remote Palpa region of southern Peru, according to Live Science. This drawing dating back more than 2,000 years depicts the species and semi-divine creatures very strong according to the conception of ancient Peruvians.

The team said it could be one of the oldest geoglyph figures in the Palpa region, and older than the drawings in the nearby Nazca region, a place famous for its ground-based collection, including animations. objects, straight lines and geometric blocks.

Figure of killer whales in Palpa.(Photo: Johnny Isla).

Archaeologist Johnny Isla, the head of the Ica Provincial Department of Culture, where Palpa and Nazca valleys are located, says he saw a photo of the first whale photograph about four years ago while studying the pictures. geoglyph at the German Institute of Archeology in Bonn.

The image is in an archeological catalog of the geoglyph print in the 1970s, based on the work of German archaeologists in Palpa and Nazca in the 1960s. But the location and size of the fish drawing Giant killer elephants are not fully described in the book, making drawings not known to locals or scientists.

After returning to Peru, Isla searched for a killer whale drawing on a Google Earth map."The search for drawings is not easy, because location data and improper descriptions make me almost hopeless. However, I expanded the search area and eventually found it in January / 2015, " Isla shared.

After discovering the drawing, Isla led a team of six experts from the Ministry of Culture to clean up and restore the killer whale drawing in March - April this year."Because of drawing on the slope, the figure is more vulnerable to those in flat areas like Nazca , " Isla said.

The creators of the killer whale painted on the hillside by peeling a thin layer of stone to form a drawing outline. This technique is similar to how Nazca culture people created geoglyph figures from 100 BC to 800. But some symmetrical parts like the eyes are made up of stone mounds, a technique from the older Paracas culture popular in the region from 800 BC to 200 BC.

Figure of Nazca Lines in Peru valley.(Video: YouTube).

Examining the soil layer shows a picture of a killer whale dating back to 200 BC. The style of painting and the location on the hillside instead of the plain indicates that this may be one of the oldest giant figures in the area, according to Isla's colleague Markus Reindel at the Institute of German Archeology.

Paracas culture developed in the valleys of Chincha, Pisco and Ica, north of Palpa, after 800 BC and extended to the Nazca valley and later Palpa. Paracas society is dominated by the clergy and thrives on agriculture, gaining many important achievements in ceramic production and weaving.

Palpa and Nazca drawings cover the area more than 450 km ² . The exact purpose of the drawings is still a mystery, but archaeologists think they are basically.