Giant Cat Found Etched Into The Hillside of Peru

November 10, 2020

The Nazca Desert in Southern Peru is probably the last place you’d expect to find a cat relaxing on a sunny hillside, but this newly discovered feline is older than the hills. 

Experts believe it to be part of a series of geoglyphs known as the Nazca Lines that date back to AD200-700. But others believe it to be older, from the period dated 200 BCE and 100 BCE.

Geoglyphs are created by digging deep trenches to reveal the ochre subsoil beneath the reddish desert sand. Depictions of humans, plants and animals make up the UNESCO heritage site, but this is the first time a cat has been discovered.

Measuring 37-metres in width, the Peruvian cat is larger than most of the other geoglyphs and is depicted in a relaxed pose with a cheeky grin on his face. 

This feline design is a motif found in Peruvian pottery around the same period and the relaxed pose was often represented during the 200 BCE, during the late era of the Paracas.

The hillside where the Nazca cat lies in repose has the perfect vantage point for viewing the other geoglyphs that span across 175 sq miles of the Nazca desert. It’s as if the cat was deliberately etched into this hillside to watch over the other geoglyphs.

This vantage point didn’t go unnoticed by the archeologists, who discovered the Nazca cat when they were building a viewing dock for tourists. In fact, the Nazca cat may well have been lost during construction if it hadn’t been for drone technology. With the help of drones, site officials continue to find undiscovered geoglyphs.

Even though the feline geoglyph is situated on one of the steepest hills in the area, it has outlived the effects of erosion and is in incredible condition.

With the help of drone technology, almost 100 new geoglyphs have been found in the Nazca and Palpa valleys.