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The Nazca
Lines (Nasca Lines), are a set of zoomorphic,
phytomorphic and geometric figures (lines, triangles,
trapezoids, circles, spirals, birds, a spider, a monkey, flowers) that appear
engraved in the surface of the Nazca desert, a high arid plateau
that stretches 37 miles between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on
a large flat area of southern Peru). The Nazca Lines
are one of the mysteries of the ancient world. They are the most outstanding group of geoglyphs
(drawings on the ground) in
the world.
Lines and figures appear in an area of
over 300 square miles.
How did the ancient people of the Nazca desert (between 900
BC and 600 AD) achieve such geometrical precision, and
what is the meaning of the drawings of giant spiders and birds?
Decades of exploration and study by
German-born mathematician Maria Reiche led her to see the Nazca
lines as a sophisticated astronomical observatory, created to
mark risings and settings of the sun, moon and stars.
"If you fly high above Peru's parched southern
coast, you'll see one of the world's enduring
mysteries, the Nazca lines: geometric shapes and
renderings of animals and plants, some of them
miles long, scratched into the surface of the
desert. How did their ancient creators draft
these gigantic patterns with such precision?
According to one theory, their shamans drank a
liquid that took them on soaring psychedelic
journeys whose visions were later traced in
lines on the ground. Today, as you hover above
them, you come to a singular realization: in
Peru, magic realism is more than a literary
genre, it's embedded in the landscape." The
New York Times, Sunday Book Review July 16,
2006.
See also:
The
hummingbird
The
Spider
The
Parrot
The
owl-man or astronaut
The
Condor
The
Monkey
The Nazca
Line: Monkey Puzzle.
Why were the Nazca
Lines made?
Giant Figures in Peru Desert Pre-date
Nazca Lines
Peru link
to Indian archaeological find?
Priests
may have designed Nazca lines, expert says
Nazca Lines News
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