Enigmatic Designs Found in India May Be The Largest Images Ever Made by Human Hands

Science Alert ^ | May 26, 2021 | Peter Dockrill

[SunkenCiv]

These newly discovered designs are of such immense scale, they were likely never able to be glimpsed in their entirety by those who made them, researchers say.

The huge motifs are examples of geoglyphs – giant hand-made depictions and patterns built upon or carved into the land, often occupying such scope that the true appearance of their forms can only be appreciated from far above.

Amongst all known geoglyphs of historical relevance – including the famous Nazca Lines of Peru – the Thar Desert formations appear to stand alone, however, representing what may actually be the largest-ever graphical depictions designed by humans...

Discovered by a pair of independent researchers from France – Carlo and Yohann Oetheimer – the new geoglyphs were spotted using Google Earth, during a virtual survey of the Thar Desert region (also known as the Great Indian Desert); this region encompasses some 200,000 square kilometers (roughly 77,000 square miles) of territory overlapping India and Pakistan.

Amidst this huge, dry landscape, the Oetheimers identified several sites located around the 'Golden City' of Jaisalmer, marked by geometrical lines resembling geoglyphs.

Closer inspection during a field study in 2016 using an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) revealed some of the identified sites were furrows dug for tree plantations, but also helped reveal a cluster of enigmatic line formations seemingly absent of trees.

In particular, two "remarkable geometrical figures" of exceptional character close to the village of Boha stood out: a giant spiral and a serpent-shaped drawing, each connected by a cluster of sinuous lines.

[Wuli]

The tin foil hats at Ancient Aliens will love this one.

[Uncle Miltie]

Motocross by Fred and Barney.

[bgill]

Yes, terraces to reduce soil erosion.

[bgill]

This is what little Johnny had to do in his spare time unlike today’s little Johnny with his nose in his phone 24/7.

[Old Student]

Yes, terraces to reduce soil erosion.

Or terraces to stop runoff and allow it to soak in rather than being lost.

[rlmorel]

All those things in the back of a comic book...:)

I so wanted the Polaris submarine you could buy...

Hahahaha...then a few years ago, thanks to the Internet, I found out it looked like this:

The cool thing is...something like that completely harnesses the imaginative power of the human brain in a little boy, and I would have probably lived in it until I left it out in the rain and it would have turned into a pile of pulp...:)

When I lived in Japan as a 10 year old kid, there was the old fuselage of a real Catalina flying boat in a playground. Nothing in it...not even seats or anything. But I spent HOURS in that thing. Heh, nowadays, parents would be horrified, all the sharp metal edges, places to get hurt. Never mind it was a instrument of WAR!

I am glad I didn't have video games as a kid, because I would have been absolutely addicted. Absolutely. Not a doubt.

[DouglasKC]

It’s in a desert.......................

It might not have been a desert thousands of years ago....

[Justa]

It’s a Time Out path. PPL walked them as punishment.

“You get two laps of the serpent with no breaks.

[central_va]

Yes, terraces to reduce soil erosion.

They don't seem to have worked too well.

[bgill]

global warming

[ASOC]

An early attempt at permaculture, back when they called it farming...

[blueplum]

...
“In the days of old the gods had the whole earth distributed among them by allotment. There was no quarrelling...”

Plato, “Critias”.