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The Nazca Lines are located in the Pampa region of Peru. The desolate plain of the Peruvian coast which comprises the Pampas of San Jose (Jumana), Socos, El Ingenio and others in the province of Nazca, which is 400 Km. South of Lima, covers an area of approximately 450 km2, of sandy desert as well as the slopes of the contours of the Andes. They were made known by Toribio Mejia Xespe in 1939.
Composition of the Lines
The pebbles which cover the surface of the desert contain ferrous oxide.
The exposure of centuries has given them a dark patina. When the gravel
is removed, they contrast with the color underneath. In this way the lines were drawn as furrows of a lighter color, even though in some
cases they became prints. In other cases, the stones defining the
lines and drawings form small lateral humps of different sizes.
Some drawings, especially the early ones, were made by removing
the stones and gravel from their contours and in this way
the figures stood out in high relief.
Other Geoglyphs
The nazca Lines are the most outstanding group of geoglyphs
in the world. There are also huge geoglyphs in Egypt, Malta,
United States (Mississippi and California), Chile, Bolivia and
in other countries. But the Nasca geoglyphs, because of their
numbers, characteristics, dimensions and cultural continuity
as they were made and remade through out the whole prehispanic
period, form the most impressive as well as enigmatic
archeological group.
Designs
The concentration and juxtaposition of the lines and drawings
leave no doubt that they required intensive long-term labor
as is demonstrated by the stylistic continuity of the designs,
which clearly correspond to the different stages of cultural changes.
There appear to be two kinds of designs: the first are figures of
various beings and things and the others form geometric lines.
The former consists of figures of animals, plants, objects, such
as anthropomorphic figures of colossal proportions made with
well-defined lines. Of these figures which have been restored
by Maria Reiche and other collaborators about 70 are known. Probably the most extraordinary thing about the lines is that one can only see the picture they form from the air, the people who created them could not have seen how they look in the pictures on this page from ground level.
The most famous
- The Spider, approximately 46m long,
- The Monkey, 55m long,
- The Guanay (guano bird), 280m long,
- The Lizzard 180m,
- The Hummingbird, 50m long,
- The Killer Whale, 65m long or
- The Pelican - the largest of them all - at 285m long.
There are also drawings of flowers and plants, as well as
representations of deformed animals and other strange figures.
An example of this is thedrawing of a weird being with two
enormous hands, one normal and the other with only four fingers.
Also represented are drawings of man-made objects such as yarn,
looms and "tupus" (ornamental clasps). All these figures have
well-defined entrances which could be used as paths or to
allow people to line together along the conformations of the
drawings.
The anthropomorphic figures are relatively few and are situated
on the slopes. The most well-known being The Astronaut at
32m length and E.T., discovered by Eduardo Herran in 1982.
Others are The Man with a Hat and The Executioner and they
also appear to be the most primitive. These figures are very
similar to the small petroglyphs found in the rocky areas
of the region.
In terms of the lines, many kilometers long, they crisscross
sectors of the pampas in all directions. Many of the lines form
geometric figures: angles, triangles, bunches, spirals, rectangles,
wavy lines, etc. Other lines form concentric circles converging
with or emanating from a promontory. Other prints have formed
"roads" like geometric planes and appear to have been occupied
by large groups of the population.
Theories About The Nasca Lines
1.They were used for rituals, propably related to astronomy.
2.There were used to confirm the "ayllus" or clans who made
up the population and to determine through ritual their
economic functions held up by reciprocity and redistribution.
3.They were created for ET creator Gods.
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