Nasca Lines: Mysterious Geoglyphs in Peru Linked to Rituals Related to Water

Nasca lines are visible over the high deserts of southern Peru. They have been a mystery for nearly a century, and here's what previous researchers have said about them.

What Are Nasca Lines?

Over the years, numerous hypotheses have been inspired by the Nasca lines, which are geometric patterns and unique animal shapes across the Peruvian desert. The lines, located in an area of Peru, are roughly 200 miles southeast of Lima, close to the town of Nasca as it is today.

More than 800 straight lines, 300 geometric shapes, and 70 biomorphic designs - also known as animal and plant - are included in all. The biomorphs range from 50 to 1200 feet, the largest of which is as enormous as the Empire State Building, stretching up to 30 miles.

In 1926, Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejia Xesspe extensively studied the lines for the first time. However, the lines were only made known to the general public with the invention of flight - by pilots flying commercial planes over Peru in the 1930s - because they are nearly impossible to recognize from the ground. On June 22, 1941, a day after the winter solstice, American professor Paul Kosok conducted research and discovered that he was at the end of a line. When Kosok glanced up from his labor after a long day studying the lines, he saw the sunset perfectly aligned with the line. The 310 square mile area of high desert was dubbed "the largest astronomy book in the world" by Kosok.

Maria Reiche, dubbed the Lady of the Lines, researched the Nasac lines after Kosok. Reiche spent 40 years studying the lines and relentlessly defended her beliefs regarding their astronomical and calendrical significance.

The lines are called geoglyphs, drawings created on the ground by removing dirt and rocks to produce a "negative" picture. Light-colored, highly contrasted sand is revealed when the top 12 to 15 inches of rock are removed.

The boulders blanketing the desert have aged and oxidized to a deep rust color. Because of little rain, wind, and erosion, the exposed designs have remained mostly intact for 500 - 2000 years.

Scientists believed that the Nasca people, who lived in great prosperity between A.D. 1 and A.D. 700, created most of the lines.

Sections of the pampa resemble a well-worn chalkboard, with designs made of old and contemporary straight lines interspersed with other lines.

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Nasca Lines Theories

Until the 1970s, when American scholars traveled to Peru to examine the glyphs, the Kosok-Reiche astronomy hypotheses were valid. The archeo-astronomy interpretation of the lines began to show cracks due to this new research, not to mention the wild notions about ancient astronauts and aliens that were popular in the 1960s.

Johan Reinhard, the Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic, approached the lines' investigation from a multidisciplinary perspective.

"Look at the large ecological system, what's around Nasca, where were the Nasca people located," he said.

Water was vital in an area that receives barely 20 minutes of rain yearly. According to Reinhard's book "The Nazca Lines: A New Perspective on their Origin and Meanings," it appears likely that the majority of the lines led to locations where rituals were carried out to get water and crop fertility rather than anything on the geographical or celestial horizon.

Former National Geographic grantee Anthony Aveni agreed. He claimed that the findings unequivocally demonstrated the connection between the straight lines and trapezoids and water, but not in the sense of finding water, but rather in relation to rituals.

"The trapezoids are big wide spaces where people can come in and out," said Aveni. "The rituals were likely involved with the ancient need to propitiate or pay a debt to the gods...probably to plead for water."

Reinhard notes that spiral motifs and patterns can also be discovered at other prehistoric Peruvian locations. Animal symbolism is widespread in the Andes and may be seen in the biomorphs found on the Nasca plain. For example, hummingbirds are connected to fertility, spiders are thought to be a sign of rain, and monkeys are found in the Amazon, which has abundant water.

While no single analysis can definitively support a theory regarding the lines, Reinhard noted that the integration of anthropology, ethnohistory, and archeology makes a strong argument.

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