Archaeologists discover massive 2,000-year-old cat doodle carving in Peru

What’s new, pussycat? Not this cat, who is 2,000 years old. Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a cartoony character of a sprawling cat carved into a hill in the Nazca desert, the country’s Ministry of Culture said.

The cat shape was discovered during renovation work in the UN World Heritage Site Nazca Lines, which is almost 400 km from Lima. It has round eyes and mouth, paws, a long body with a tail, and distinctive pointed kitty-cat ears. Watch out, giant Peruvian mice – this cat is 37 meters long.

The design is something called a “geoglyph” or a large design made up of landscape elements, and the Nazca Lines are perhaps the most famous. Other animals and shapes were previously known to be part of the site, but this sprawling kitten is a new find.

The cat figure was difficult to see initially and would soon disappear due to its location on a fairly steep slope and the effects of natural erosion, the Ministry of Culture said. It has since been cleaned, and experts dated the discovery to the late Paracas period, around 100 BC. Until 200 BC

“Representations of cats of this kind are common in the iconography of ceramics and textiles of the Paracas Society,” said the ministry’s statement last week.