Half a millennia ago , the Qhapac Nan road scheme once stretched from New - day Ecuador to Chile . Built for foot traffic during the Inca Empire , the road feature cobblestone pavement , bedrock stairs , rope abatement Harry Bridges , and more than 90 round geoglyphs . Now , a squad of researchers believes they ’ve figured out the glyphs ’ very virtual usage : road signs .
The pre - Columbian circular geoglyphs were made using a technique call “ campo barrido ” by removing control surface stone and the top level of soil to expose the lighter - colour ground below . range from 3 to 55 metre ( 10 - 180 feet ) in diameter , the structures are forge in a variety of animalistic internal representation , including a winged - human shape that researchers nicknamed “ Batman ” . Just as interesting as the designs themselves are their proximity to the ancient road , leading researchers to do a spatial analysis that used mapping organization , lagger , and high - resolution satellite imaging to determine the kinship between geoglyphs and the road organization . Pieces of disunited pottery find in the geoglyphs and other nearby features propose the geoglyphs and trail are pre - Columbian .
The researchers discover that the pathway and the circular geoglyphs were tight connected , which they paint a picture were made by travelers participating in rituals for local deities to ensure a successful journeying or as markers along the elbow room for succeeding travelers .
" hoi polloi tend to want to think that geoglyphs were doing one thing for thousands of years . Our work in Sihuas suggests that the great unwashed did geoglyphs for different reason in dissimilar time periods , " study author Justin Jennings secern IFLScience . Writing inAntiquity , the team enunciate these geoglyphs could be alike to tons of “ apachetas ” – stones left by travelers throughout the Andes ( and now the modern world ) that marked track and direction for people .
“ Contemporary herders and travelers propitiate a encompassing variety of natural and anthropogenetic feature on their journeys , taking a present moment to repose and make an oblation of a cobble , cigarette , alcohol , musical composition of cloth , coca or other items , ” wrote the others .
High concentration of “ rock ‘n’ roll cairns , wind blocks , paint stone cobblestone , and ceramic scatter ” found during the inquiry survey indicate many people spend time on these itinerary , particularly as they linked together long - standing settlements .
Next , the research worker desire to conduct a more in - deepness psychoanalysis to further see the sites and to contain other geoglyph shapes to shape if they may also have meaning or association linked to traveller .
