The Nazca lines are gigantic drawings
etched on the desert floor
more than two thousand years ago,
images so huge barely visible by air.
Found in the heart of the Ica desert of southern Perú,
280 miles south from Lima,
they lie at the edge of the western Andes
at 2000 feet above sea level.
They were only first discovered in the 1920s,
when comercial flights began flying over this part of Perú,
and pilots began reporting strange drawings on the desert below
and since then the mistery of the lines have captured the minds of the world.
The Nazca geoglyphs vary greatly in terms of size, form and complexity.
the most fascinating are the zoomorphic designs,
there are more than 70 of them in the Nazca desert,
a few of which comprise the most famous of all the Nazca geoglyphs.
The 440-feet long Condor is one of the largest zoomorphic geoglyphs in the Nazca desert.
The spiral-tailed Monkey is approximately 328 feet long,
and similar monkey representations appear on Nazca ceramics.
The Hummingbird is one of the most famous of all the Nazca geoglyphs.
Hummingbirds are among the smallest birds in the world;
the geoglyph, however,
is about 320-feet long and 216 feet wide.
The dog is about 170 feet long and it must represent the Peruvian Hairless dog.
The 150-feet-long Spider is big, well-defined and easy to spot from the air.
like many Nazca geoglyphs, it's a single-line drawing.
The line builders would have started with a sketch and enlarge the sketch with strings, pegs and markers.
then they just have to move the top layer of Stone to reveal the pattern.
Another amazing thing is how the lines have lasted for so long.
This is because of the weather conditions in the region,
there is little rain
and also the Stone absorb so much heat in the day,
that they create a cushion of warm air above them,
protecting them from the wind.
But, why were these lines made? what do they mean?
The German scientist María Reiche claims that the biomorphs like the spider and the monkey
represented specific constellations in the night sky.
Some constellations align perfectly with the Nasca biomorphs.
A number of astronomers have done a very detailed analysis
and they approved that Marie Reiche’s theory
that the constellations map onto the shapes on the desert floor
just doesn’t add up.
Another theory says that the lines point to the direction from which the water is coming.
Whenever the Nascas found an underground water supply,
they marked the spot with a huge geometric shape.
A group of geologists tested that out
and although certain Nasca’s lines did point to underground streams,
there was no clear evidence that even the majority of lines marked sources of groundwater.
Most archaeologist believe the lines were sacred pathways
on which the Nascas performed religious ceremonies.
So, walking on these lines,
these sacred pathways,
was part of a ritual procession that the Nascas did
as a way to communicate with their Gods.
That’s why, the Nasca made their geoglyphs so big
because they wanted the Gods to look down on them
and see they will remember.
The most famous theory says
that the lines were constructed to signal visitors from other planets
and as a runway for their spaceships looking down at them from the air.
Hypothesis reinforced by this “astronaut” figure etched into the hill
Some claimed that this geoglyph
was a depiction of an extraterrestrial visitor waving to passersby.
We may never know for sure what the Nascas lines were meant to say,
but their magic lies in their obscurity.
In 1994 the lines were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
So, come to Perú and enjoy this wonderful experience!
