Words in the News: GEOGLYPH

Treasure our giant symbols in the earth

Saturdays are perfect days for monumental surprises. Surprise—we’re talking about geoglyphs today!

Have you heard the news that bikers and off-roaders are endangering ancient Chilean geoglyphs? Your first response to another story of disregard for environmental and cultural treasures may have been, “Is the Atacama Desert really that desolate?” I’ve been there and can attest that you’ll find few places as barren and inimical to life as the driest nonpolar desert in the world.

The next logical question, of course, is, “What is a geoglyph?”

geoglyph (noun) - any large design, symbol, or image carved, drawn, or constructed on the surface of the earth
BREAKDOWN: GEO- (earth) + GLYPH- (carving)

Geoglyphs are part of a grand historical tradition of carving symbols and images into earth and stone. Like many petroglyphs and hieroglyphics, the Atacama Desert geoglyphs are both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic.

anthropomorphic means attributing human characteristics to something non-human; having the form of a man
BREAKDOWN: ANTHROP- (human) + MORPH- (shape) + -IC (characterized by)

zoomorphic (adj) - having or representing the form or characteristics of an animal
BREAKDOWN: ZOO- (animal) + MORPH- (shape) + -IC (characterized by)

Not every pattern inscribed or constructed in the earth qualifies as a geoglyph. In fact, for one of these symbols to be regarded as a geoglyph, it must generally be four or more meters in length—large enough to recognize from the sky. This massive scale may make recognizing these timeless treasures difficult to recognize at ground level, but that’s no excuse for the Giant of Atacama to suffer careless or callous vandalism.

On the bright side, over 300 awesome new geoglyphs have been discovered through the use of new technology near the Nazca Lines in Peru. Let’s hope these monumental historical artifacts are better protected, as there’s one more word that can be used to describe all geoglyphs: sacrosanct.

sacrosanct (adj) - extremely sacred or holy; inviolable; beyond reproach or alteration
BREAKDOWN: SACR- (holy) + SANCT- (sacred)