History
Climate
Figures

HISTORY

The lines were made by removing the reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles that cover the surface of the Nazca desert. When this gravel is removed, the light-colored earth beneath shows in lines of sharply contrasting color and tone. The Nazca people "drew" several hundred simple but huge curvilinear animal and human figures by this technique. In total, the earthwork project is huge and complex: the area encompassing the lines is nearly 500 square kilometers (190 sq miles), and the largest figures can span nearly 270 m (890 ft). The extremely dry, windless, and constant climate of the Nazca region has preserved the lines well. The Nasca desert is one of the driest on Earth and maintains an annual temperature around 25°C (77°F). The lack of wind has helped keep the lines uncovered and visible to the present day.
Archeologists, ethnologists and anthropologists have studied the ancient Nazca culture and the complex to try to determine the purpose of the lines and figures. One theory is that the Nazca people created them to be seen by their gods in the sky. Kosok and Maria Reiche advanced a purpose related to astronomy and cosmology: the lines were intended to act as a kind of observatory, to point to the places on the distant horizon where the sun and other celestial bodies rose or set. Many prehistoric indigenous cultures in the Americas and elsewhere constructed earthworks that combined such astronomical sighting with their religious cosmology, as did the later Mississippian culture at Cahokia in the United States. Another example is Stonehenge in England. But, Gerald Hawkins and Anthony Aveni, experts in archaeoastronomy, concluded in 1990 that there was insufficient evidence to support such an astronomical explanation.
In 1985, the archaeologist Johan Reinhard published archaeological, ethnographic, and historical data demonstrating that worship of mountains and other water sources predominated in Nazca religion and economy from ancient to recent times. He theorized that the lines and figures were part of religious practices involving the worship of deities associated with the availability of water, which directly related to the success and productivity of crops. He interpreted the lines as sacred paths leading to places where these deities could be worshiped. The figures were symbols representing animals and objects meant to invoke the gods' aid in supplying water. But, the precise meanings of many of the individual geoglyphs remain unsolved as of 2011.
Henri Stierlin, a Swiss art historian specializing in Egypt and the Middle East, published a book in 1983 linking the Nazca Lines to the production of ancient textiles which archeologists have found wrapping mummies of the Paracas culture. He contended that the people may have used the lines and trapezes as giant, primitive looms to fabricate the extremely long strings and wide pieces of textile that are typical of the area. By his theory, the figurative patterns (smaller and less common) were meant only for ritualistic purposes.
Scholars have theorized the Nazca people could have used simple tools and surveying equipment to construct the lines. Studies have found wooden stakes in the ground at the end of some lines, which support this theory. One such stake was carbon-dated and the basis for establishing the age of the design complex. Researcher Joe Nickell of the University of Kentucky has reproduced the figures by using tools and technology available to the Nazca people. The National Geographic called his work "remarkable in its exactness" when compared to the actual lines. With careful planning and simple technologies, a small team of people could recreate even the largest figures within days, without any aerial assistance. Most of the lines form a trench about six inches deep.

 

CLIMATE

Weather is dry, windless and stable. The annual average temperature 25°C, it is one of the driest deserts of the world, which helps to preserve the Nazca Lines. The warm air acts as a cushion that prevents the lines from erasing from wind forces, making them change direction.

 

FIGURES

More than thirty geoglyphs are found in the Pampas of Nazca. The drawings are less in number compared with geometric designs that consist of more than one thousand of lines, triangles and quadrangles that cover vast areas of land. The depth of the lines never exceeds 30 cm and some are only surface scratches, but they can be recognized when the sun is low and the relief is accentuated. There are many geometric shapes carved into the desert, they show animal, plants and human representations, among others. Figures from the hill slopes appear less defined than in the desert plain, due to erosion. The most known and representative ones are the animal shapes, such us giant hummingbirds, giant condors, the heron, the crane, the pelican, the seagull, the parrot, the monkey, the spider, the snail , the lizard, the killer whale, the dog, the llamas, the alligator, the Iguana, and the Snake. All are between 100 meters to 275 meters long.