Dmitriy Dey, a Kazakhstan amateur archeologist, discovered massive unusual geometric formations within aerial pictures of Turgai, a desert area known as the Steppe Geoglyphs in northern Kazakhstan. They resemble Peru’s famous Nazca Lines, which is surprising.
Unfortunately, the full breadth of these extraordinary formations, which display incredibly precise geometric patterns over a vast surface area on the ground, can only be seen from great heights. It seems to be just another normal mound or trench of earth and wood from the ground, comparable to any other. These apparently harmless peaks and valleys create circles, crosses, and lines ranging in size from 90 to 400 meters.
The Bestamskoe Ring is one of Kazakhstan’s so-called Steppe Geoglyphs, which are made up of at least 260 earthwork formations consisting of mounds, ditches, and ramparts, the oldest of which is said to be 8,000 years old and only visible from the air. It’s NASA’s fault.
To put this in perspective, the Nazca Lines in Peru are the most well-known geoglyphs on the globe. According to estimations, these geoglyphs were created roughly 1,500 years ago. Dey thinks the Mahanzhar people entered the area between 7000 and 5000 BC and are responsible for some of Peru’s oldest landforms. According to Dey, the Mahanzhar people used these structures to observe and follow the Sun’s orbit, much to way the world-famous Stonehenge does.
Near an old Neolithic town, the largest of the formations may be discovered. This formation has a total area of 692 km and is made up of 101 little hills that are connected by lines creating a diagonal cross at their opposing corners. The area covered by this gigantic monument is greater than Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Cheops.
One of the massive earthwork structures visible from orbit is Ushtogaysky Square, named after a neighboring city in Kazakhstan.
A team from Kazakhstan’s Kostanay University and Lithuania’s Vilnius University is leading the inquiry into this remarkable discovery. “So far, we can only say one thing: ancient peoples created geoglyphs.” The researchers stated, “It’s unknown who did it and for what purpose.”
These huge monuments are supposed to be capable of revealing information about ancient ceremonies in the area. Attempts to figure out what they do have so far been fruitless.
In 2007, Dmitriy Dey, a Kazakh archaeological enthusiast, found the buildings on Google Earth, including the Turgai Swastika.
NASA has asked astronauts aboard the International Space Station to assist in the collection of further photos of the Turgai area to aid in the decipherment of the mysterious geoglyphs. They also intend to acquire more information on geoglyphs in general from throughout the globe, including the Nazca Lines in Peru.
The structures were constructed 8,000 years ago, according to NASA, making their huge size an astounding feat for the time. “It takes a lot of people and a lot of effort to build these structures,” says Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, an archeologist at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
Researchers are raising money to study the mud mounds that generate formations like the Big Ashutastinsky Cross.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” NASA scientist Compton J. Tucker said of the scenario. We plan to use whatever resources we can find to map the whole area.”
It’s unclear if these buildings were built by an ancient tribe for communication, rituals, art, or some other purpose unknown to us.
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