One of the most mysterious archaeological spectacles in the world is the
immense complex of geometrical symbols, giant ground-drawings of birds and
animals, and hundreds of long, ruler-straight lines, some right across
mountains, which stretch over 1,200 square miles of the Peruvian tablelands, at
Nazca. Nazca was first revealed to modern eyes in 1926 when
three explorers looked down on the desert from a hillside at dusk and briefly
saw a Nazca line highlighted by the rays of the sun. But it was not until the
Peruvian airforce took aerial photographs in the 1940s that the full
magnificence of the panorama was apparent. Hundreds of what looked like
landing strips for aircraft were revealed. There were
eighteen bird-like drawings, up to 400 feet long; four-sided figures with two
lines 'parallel; and long needle-like triangles which ran for miles. Among the
many abstract patterns were a giant spider, a monkey, a shark, all drawn on the
ground on a huge scale. The scale is monumental, but from the
ground almost invisible and totally incomprehensible. The amazing fact about
Nazca, created more than 1,500 years ago, is that it can only be appreciated if
seen from the air. Many, therefore, regarded it as a prehistoric landing ground
for visitors from outer space, but Jim Woodman, an American explorer, who was
long fascinated by the mystery of Nazca, had a different opinion. He believed
that Nazca only made sense if the people who had designed and made these vast
drawings on the ground could actually see them, and that led him to the theory
that the ancient Peruvians had somehow learned to fly, as only from above could
they really see the extent of their handiwork. With this theory in mind, he
researched into ancient Peruvian legends about flight and came to the conclusion
that the only feasible answer was a hot-air balloon. To prove
his theory, Woodman would have to make such a thing using the same fabrics and
fibers that would have been available to the men of Nazca at the time. He
started by gathering information from ancient paintings, legends, books and
archaeological sites. After many attempts, Woodman built a balloon-type airship.
It took him into the air, letting him have the sensation he had never had from
viewing the same ground that he had seen many times. His flight was a modern
demonstration of an ancient possibility.
单选题
One of the "most mysterious archaeological spectacles in the world" is
______.