The Mysteries in History

There were better things for Devon to do on a warm fall Saturday, he thought, than to be studying in the library. But in the first week of school his teacher had assigned the ancient cultures report. This was the last weekend he could do research before the report was due, and he didn't want to get a bad grade.

Devon stood and skimmed the book titles. There were books about other countries, but none of them sounded interesting. He ran his finger over the spines of the books on the shelf: The People of England in the 1800s; Canada: Our Neighbor to the North . . .

"May I help you find something?"

Devon turned to see a librarian standing next to him. The man's name tag said his name was Norman. He was tall and skinny, and wore a shirt and tie as if he were going to an expensive restaurant. But what caught Devon's eye was Norman's mustache. It was as big as a shoeshine brush, and the ends went past his chin where they twisted and curled.

Devon realized he was staring at the mustache for so long that he hadn't answered. "I have a project," he said. "I mean, I have a Social Studies report to do, and I need to choose a topic. It's about ancient culture."

The mustache twitched. "What culture did you choose?"

"I haven't picked anything yet," Devon answered. "I wanted to find something interesting."

"There are lots of books on ancient cultures here. What are you interested in?" Norman asked. He clearly didn't understand what Devon meant by interesting .

"I'm not into Social Studies," Devon began. "I'm more into science, like those crime-scene TV shows, but I can't write about that."

"So do you like solving mysteries?" Norman asked.

"Exactly," Devon replied. "And that's not what you learn in Social Studies."

Norman smiled a little, or at least Devon thought he did. It was hard to tell with that mustache. "I hate to break it to you, but there are tons of mysteries in history," Norman said, "and there are entire cultures that are steeped in mystery."

Norman handed Devon a book called Peru's Nasca. "Here's a mystery for you," Norman said. "Do you know where Peru is?"

"South America," Devon answered. "I'm good at geography. Is Nasca a part of Peru?"

Devon looked at the jacket of the book. The Nasca lived near a desert and a mountain range in southern Peru. In the cover illustration they looked like other native South Americans he had seen in pictures and read about. "So, what's the mystery?"

"Check out the chapter on the Nasca Lines," Norman said as he walked away.

Devon took a seat and started to read. He read that the Nasca had created more than 1,000 drawings in the desert that are still visible. But these drawings weren't like anything Devon had seen before. Some single drawings are more than a mile long. Devon sat back and thought. These people lived thousands of years ago. How could they draw something so big? And what were the drawings for?

There were drawings of people, birds, monkeys, whales, spiders, and plants. There were also abstract designs and geometric shapes. And then Devon had another thought. How did these lines last in the sandy, windy desert for all these years? He turned the pages, searching for an answer. He was startled when Norman came up and stood behind him.

"So?" Norman asked. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Yeah!" Devon told Norman what he had found. And he asked Norman all of his questions about the Nasca Lines.

"There are many theories about how the Nasca made the designs. There are just as many theories about what the lines were for. You'll have to keep reading to find your answers. And there is a scientific explanation for why the lines can still be seen. You're the science guy, right?" This time, Norman definitely smiled. He also had another book in his hands. "Here's another mystery in history." Devon picked up the second book. It was called Moai on Easter Island . "So this tribe is called Moai?"

"Nope. I'll be back in a few minutes. You can tell me what a moai is then."

Great , thought Devon. I can write about the Nasca for my project. If I go home right now, I might get the project finished so I can get to the park for some football . But Devon was too embarrassed to sneak out on Norman. He decided to look at the book for a couple of minutes, and once he could tell Norman what a moai was, he would leave.

Devon flipped through the pages. He came across a photograph of a man standing next to a row of statues. The statues were more that twice as tall as the man, and the row of the statues went on and on into the distance.

He read the caption, and there was his answer: "These moai stand 13 feet tall. They each weigh about 14 tons, and were carved out of hardened volcanic ash."

Norman wasn't back yet, so Devon looked more closely at the picture. The moai were each carved in the shape of a human head and torso. Some seemed to be wearing headdresses. It looked like there were dozens of them, all in a row. Just as with the Nasca Lines, questions began forming in Devon's mind.

As he kept reading, Devon found that there were nearly 900 moai on Easter Island. If each were as large as the ones in the photograph, Devon could only imagine what a massive amount of stone 900 of them must make. Then he thought back to the photograph. The moai statues were standing in a line on a flat piece of land along the coast of the island. But the book said they were made of volcanic rock. There didn't seem to be any volcano in the picture. There certainly weren't any enormous rocks lying on the beach for the people to carve. Where did these statues come from?

He read on. The statues were made in a quarry in the center of the island. Nearly half of the moai are still in the quarry, with more than 90 of them spread out between the quarry and those near the beach. Almost 300 of the moai stand near the beach, and they are all at least 1,000 years old.

By this time, Norman was back at his side. And Devon had questions for him this time. "How in the world could these people move these huge moai from the quarry to the shore? Why did they build so many of them? Why didn't all of them get to the shore? And what were they for, anyway?"

"So you found your next mystery," answered Norman. "And your next big problem-now you have too many cultures to write about!"

Devon grinned. "Thanks for all your help," he said. "Oh, and that's a cool mustache."

1.	PREVIEW What do you expect the story to be about?
2.	PURPOSE Why would a person read this story?
3.	REVIEW Where is Peru?
4.	QUESTION How might modern people see pictures that are more than a mile in length?
5.	CAUSE AND EFFECT Why was Devon startled by Norman?
6.	REVIEW Where can Devon find answers to his questions about the Nasca Lines?
7.	ANALYZE Why would the author of Moai on Easter Island include a photograph with a man next to the moai?
8.	REVIEW How large are the statues?
9.	REVIEW What did Devon discover about the power of reading?
10.	REVIEW Where can Devon find answers to his questions about the Nasca Lines?