Middle Eastern version of the Nazca Lines

when you see them from above that you realize how carefully they've been crafted, and designed well enough to endure for millennia. Were they for astrological events, or honoring the dead? Without more evidence, Kennedy says it's impossible to say. Other researchers have compared them to the Nazca Lines in Peru — vast etchings in rock that can only be appreciated from above. Structures like this are what have led some to imagine that aliens visited Earth thousands of years ago, inspiring humans to create art that could only be appreciated from flying ships.


Thousands of centuries ago in Peru, the indigenous group to make a pattern or geolyph mysterious Nazca lines peru. But now the pattern is also found in the Middle East region.

Satellite and aerial photography reveals 'wheel' mysterious stone that far more and older than the Nazca lines in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
This structure is estimated from 2,000 years ago. However, this pattern is still surprising to archaeologists and historians.

"People might have passed for centuries without knowing what it is real," said professor of classics and ancient history David Kennedy from the University of Western Australia.

Local residents in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Libya, Egypt and Israel call it 'old people's work'.

This pattern is often found on lava fields. According to Kennedy, this pattern occurs in many forms, including 'kite', animals, random lines and square.

None of this pattern is believed to be aligned and this adds to the mystery surrounding her. This pattern was first discovered in 1927 by RAF pilot Lt. Percy Maitland as written Dailymail

Area near the Azraq Oasis in Jordan has hundreds of " wheels " , which is a large structure made ​​of stones arranged . Many archaeologists believe that the Azraq Oasis Oasis wheels were used as grave even though it is now doubtful .
Wheel wheel -shaped stone structure stretches from Syria to Saudi Arabia , can be seen from the air , but not on land , and almost unknown to the public


his wheel is the Middle Eastern version of the Nazca Lines - ancient " geoglyphs , " or drawings , which include deserts in southern Peru - and now , thanks to new technology mapping satellite , and aerial photography program in Jordan , researchers found more than they found earlier . This wheel number in the thousands .

Referred to by archaeologists as " wheels ," these stone structures a variety of designs , with one common thing that is a circle with spokes radiating from within . The researchers believe that this wheel derived from ancient times , at least 2,000 years ago . They are often found on lava fields and range in size from 82 feet to 230 feet ( 25 meters to 70 meters ) .
Jordan alone in the stone - structure there is far more than the Nazca Lines , far
more extensive in area and much older ,

So far , none of the excavated so that the wheel is not known for sure how old and for what purpose the wheel is made . Archaeologists who study this wheel in the pre - Google Earth era speculated that they could be the remains of houses or cemeteries .

There seems to be some thorough cultural continuum in this area in which people felt there was a need to build a circular structure .
Some wheels are found in isolation while others gathered together .
In one location , near the Azraq Oasis , hundreds of them can be found in a dozen groups . Some collections around Azraq are really quite remarkable .

In Saudi Arabia , have also been found wheel styles are very different : There are rectangular and are not wheels at all , others are circular but contain two fingers forming a bar often aligned in the same direction as the direction of sunrise and sunset in the middle east .

While the wheel is located in Jordan and Syria , have radii much and do not seem aligned with astronomical phenomena . By looking at a large number of the wheel , scientists have not been able to find a pattern of how the fingers were laid .

Cairns ( stone formations ) are often found associated with the wheels . Sometimes circular wheel . In Saudi Arabia some of the views monument associated with ancient burials , from the air , looks like a circle .

Minimum wheel hard to determine , although it seems to be built in prehistoric times , but it could be only 2,000 years old ago . Researchers have noted that the wheels are often found than the form of a kite , which is 9,000 years old , but never vice versa . This indicates that the wheel is more recent than the kites .

Wheel may also function similar to the enigmatic drawings in the Nazca desert . If the stone circle is a place of worship ancestors , or places for rituals associated with astronomical events or with seasons , the wheel can have the same functionality as geoglyphs of South America, the Nazca Lines for instance . The design is different , but the function could be the same

Called geoglyphs, these strange circular patterns etched into the rocky sands from Saudi Arabia to Syria have no known meaning or origin. Though archaeologists say they likely date back over 2,000 years, there are no records of who made them, nor why they would make such elaborate patterns that can only be appreciated from the air.

Recently, archaeologist David Kennedy and his team undertook a study of these wheels, known since airplane pilots began flying over them and taking pictures in the early twentieth century. Now, using the old photos from pilots and satellite data from Google Earth, Kennedy has surveyed thousands of images of the structures — and found no explanation for them.


Kennedy's research :
reveals that these wheels form part of a variety of stone landscapes. These include kites (stone structures used for funnelling and killing animals); pendants (lines of stone cairns that run from burials); and walls, mysterious structures that meander across the landscape for up to several hundred feet and have no apparent practical use . . . "There seems to be some overarching cultural continuum in this area in which people felt there was a need to build structures that were circular."

Some of the wheels are found in isolation while others are clustered together. At one location, near the Azraq Oasis, hundreds of them can be found clustered into a dozen groups . . . In Saudi Arabia, Kennedy's team has found wheel styles that are quite different: Some are rectangular and are not wheels at all; others are circular but contain two spokes forming a bar often aligned in the same direction that the sun rises and sets in the Middle East.

The ones in Jordan and Syria, on the other hand, have numerous spokes and do not seem to be aligned with any astronomical phenomena. "On looking at large numbers of these, over a number of years, I wasn't struck by any pattern in the way in which the spokes were laid out," Kennedy said.