Above, these chequerboard plots of about 330ft (100 metres) are in the region north of Penas.

Above, this zone, north-west of La Paz has many straight canals where the terrain is more suitable.

Above, the two horizontal parallel canals are 1 x furlong or 660 feet or about 200 metres apart and they form plots of 200 x 250 metres or 400 x 500 Sumerian cubits. Dating is important to establish which unit of measurement was originally used, see below.

Above, in this zone, an underlaying system of canals forms a chequerboard pattern with squares of 600 sumerian cubits or 300 metres.

Above, these underlaying canals form blocks of 600 Sumerian cubits or 300 metres. It can be seen on this photo where older canals have been redug in modern times. The metre was adopted by the French academy of Sciences for universal use in 1793, so if these canals are more recent than 1793, or are modern, they could have been set out in metres, however if they are pre-Columbian then they are probably set out in "Sumerian" cubits of 19.8" whilst if they date from after the time of the Spanish Conquest they could still be in "Sumerian" units such as cubits and furlongs since these were also brought over by the Spanish as the old Spanish vara was in fact the "Sumerian" yard of 33.0". Each block is 600 Sumerian cubits or 360 Sumerian yards square.

Above, the underlaying canals form blocks of 600 Sumerian cubits or 300 metres.

Above, these channels are about 330 feet (half furlong or 200 Sumerian cubits) or 100 metres apart as measured by the yellow lines.

Above, in the same area, these sub-channels are about 165 feet (100 Sumerian cubits) or 50 metres apart as measured by the yellow line. If these canals are pre-Columbian then they show the use of "Sumerian" measurement units in the Americas. Click here for Atlantis stade and more on the cubits etc If they are of more recent times, then they did not last long and in any event show how easily the canals wash away and disappear over time....

Porfirio Limachi, Aymara boatbuilder, takes a day off to point out remains of old canals on the Altiplano.

Incidentally, according to geologist Simon Lamb, there are no canals on the Altiplano. Well, at least that's the impression this review of his book Devil in the Mountain tells us. "Simon Lamb, a geologist at Oxford University, got a call one day from a television producer about pictures of Atlantis. The lost civilization could be found on 12,000-foot high plains nestled in the Andes Mountains. An Atlantis expert (whatever that is) had shown the producer satellite photographs of the plains, pointing out canals running in parallel straight lines for miles. What more proof could one ask for? The producer called Lamb, an expert on the Andes, for confirmation.

Lamb pulled out his own satellite photographs, found the canals, and laughed. He told the producer that canals had formed naturally, without any help from Atlanteans. Hundreds of millions of years ago, before the Andes existed, rocks had slowly piled up in layers. Later the rocks were heaved onto their side and raised up thousands of feet, whereupon rain began to flow down their exposed flanks. The water gnawed away at the weakest layers, creating a series of straight-edged channels. As he spoke, Lamb could sense hostility on the other end of the line. The producer didn't want to hear about strata and erosion. ''Well, that's your explanation, anyway,'' he huffed, and went off to make his documentary without Lamb's help. ''Atlantis in the Andes'' later appeared on the Learning Channel.

On the other hand, if you want an unbiased opinion you could log into Google Earth and see the canals for yourself or check out the ground shots below...