Nascodex opens 2004 with a series of News Releases entitled “Portraits of the Gods“. A selection of some of the fascinating and certain to be controversial human head Sand Portraits detected by Archaeologist, William J Veall, during his 25 years of researching the Nasca Lines Archaeological Monument. Images portrayed in the News Releases were all exposed by photo-analysis of aerials and, as far as Nascodex is aware, are unique and hitherto unpublished.

By way of introduction we report two amazing and completely out of context portraits: Part 1, “ The Dynast” followed by Part 2: “ The Goddess & the Lioness”. ( name tags are for identification only and do not infer provenance ).

PART 1 “THE DYNAST”.

Located within the same geoglyph combination as the “Priest God of St. Ignacio” and covering an estimated area of 150 sq.metres, this geoglyphic portrait appears to be entirely ’additive ’ construction although the legends may be ‘subtractive’ (‘additive’ are geoglyphs constructed on the earth’s surface, ‘ subtractive’ are etched into the earth (or desert) - like most Nascan geoglyphs. The two types can also be combined ). Whilst no site visit has been made to examine the portraits at first hand there is every reason to believe that the artist used local materials; small rocks, shale and coloured alluvial sands suitably graded to provide a full textural palette.

The quality of the photograph (Figure 3 ) is indicative of the exceptional creative skills of the artist and remember - as with almost all Nascan geoglyphs - the workpiece cannot be observed in entirety at ground level due to its huge size. The portrait is immediately below and in the same geoglyphic framework as the Priest God of St. Ignacio ( Figure 2 ) but the construction and artistic technique is very different suggesting, perhaps, the images may not be contemporaneous.

The personage depicted in Figure 3 is clearly non- indigenous; facial features are light and delicate and although the eyes are epicanthic they do not exhibit the much heavier eyelids , long curved bony nose and wide mouth so typical of the Andean People. In the centre of the forehead is a ‘floral‘ emblem . The overall impression , taking into account especially the rather ‘Corinthian’ style of helmet , is one of intrusive iconography. The Bust is marked with what appears to be ’characters’ on the lower chest and right cheek (see Figure 4 ) It would certainly be unwise at this stage to infer the markings are anything other than embellishment, however, on- site analysis could well prove otherwise, reference News Release 1, for example.

Naturally, the image begs the question: Prehispanic, or modern ? Taking the latter question first; from a non-diffusionist point of view the preferred answer would be ’ by a contemporary artist’ because the portrait is clearly Oriental; this infers an awareness of Far Eastern Cultures. Further , why then would the artist create an Oriental portrait in such a remote and desolate spot and indeed mark (sign) the workpiece in an unrecognisable script?. .Such a masterpiece of artistic effort must surely have the intention of conveying something other than a simple wish to emulate, or even surpass, the efforts of the Nasca Lines Geometricians from a bygone era ?.

Conversely , it is perfectly fair to argue the portrait may represent an artifact from remote antiquity - Oriental features, ‘ Corinthian ‘ or even Shang Dynasty style helmet , ‘rosette ‘ on forehead, each very typical of a more Indo-European race of Peoples. And then, we have the character - like markings which would certainly not be a product of Precolumbian Peru because written communication was supposedly unknown . Full site investigation might well conclude that markings were intended as a legend and transliteration could give a Title, date, place of origin or artists‘ mark.

Nascodex leaves readers with these thoughts. Is the portrait the inevitable time-bomb long awaited by the diffusionist fraternity to explode conventional archaeological and anthropological concepts about the dawn of pre-history, or simply the figment of an eccentric creative mind using as a canvas a remote and desolate plateau in the heart of the Andean Cordillera ? Then, how does one explain the bust discovered on Paco Isle in Lake Titicaca ? Like “The Dynast“ .it’s appearance is Oriental, it has the Corinthian/ Shang Dynasty style helmet and is marked with characters apparently typical of Shang Dynasty pottery markings over the right eye ....two characters of which also appear on the bust of “ The Dynast “ !!.
(www.epigraphyusa.com/images/Acabeza.jpg)

Part 2 exposes an equally amazing and stunning portrait: “The Goddess & the Lioness” completely diametrically opposed in all respects to “The Dynast” and “The Priest God of St. Ignacio”; geoglyphs which will add even more fuel to the ever increasing speculation concerning the real prehistory of the Andean Nation. Whatever the outcome, Nascodex only undertake serious research and do not engage in diffusionist - non-diffusion controversy, however, we do welcome comment and discussion on any NDIP News Releases. Please E-mail: nascodex@libertysurf.fr.

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