Peru's Enigmatic Nazca Lines

The largest and most mysterious collection of colossal figures and geometric shapes on earth, and only clearly visible from the air, the Nazca Lines of Peru continue to intrigue all who seek to explain their origins. Perhaps because of their monumental dimensions and the extraordinary, extra-terrestrial perspective this archeological group appears to have been intended for, there are no shortage of fantastic theories concerning why the lines were created.

These geoglyphs, or writings in the earth, were etched on a large plateau lying between the town of Nazca and Palpa on the southern Peruvian Pampa, an area some 15 miles wide and nearly 40 miles in length. How they were made is straightforward enough; this was done by scraping away the small iron-oxide coated stones which cover the reddish desert here at this high and arid altitude. There is in fact no sand in this desert, which is called the Pampa Colorada or Red Plain. Once the gravel was removed, these lighter colored furrows created the desired contrast with the surrounding red surface area.

Some of these lines are often several kilometers long have cut up the plateau into many sectors. Others were formed to make large geometric figures like spirals, concentric circles, triangles and wavy lines. Yet others were formed to create the shapes of animals and human figures, some up to 1000 feet across. Although similar large geoglyphs like this exist at other locations around the world (including Bolivia, Chile, Egypt, Malta and even in the United States), none of these pre-Hispanic period etchings are even as remotely as large or as impressive.

It is also clear that it took a long time to make the Nazca Lines. They were definitely communal work whose creation took many centuries and a large number of people to complete. And although we do know that the lines were created sometime between 200 BC and 600 AD, no one can say with any certainty exactly who built them or why. And that is of course the reason why so many theories abound today.

Some scientists believe that the lines were used as a celestial calendar which was needed to determine when particular rituals should be performed. Others believe they were used in religious ceremonies to enthrone or confirm the leaders or the clans who ruled the ancient civilization that lived here. One theory even postulates that the lines were used to map a network of underground water supplies. But of course the most well-known theory, made popular by Swiss "Chariots of the Gods?" author Erich von Däniken, is that the lines were created as a type of landing strip for alien spacecraft.

Long discounted by serious scientists and other skeptical thinkers, von Däniken's provocative theory nevertheless continues to capture the popular imagination. And this, despite a few simple and slightly sarcastic observations made here in by Robert T. Carroll in the Skeptic's Dictionary, for instance: "If Nazca was an alien airfield, it must have been a very confusing airfield, consisting as it does of giant lizards, spiders, monkeys, llamas, dogs, hummingbirds, etc., not to mention the zigzagging and crisscrossing lines and geometric designs. It was very considerate of the aliens to depict plants and animals of interest to the locals, even though it must have meant that navigation would be more difficult than a straight runway or a large clearing. Also, the airport must have been a very busy place, needing 37 miles of runway to handle all the traffic. However, it is unlikely spacecraft could have landed in the area without disturbing some of the artwork or the soil. There is no evidence of such disturbance."

Our reluctance to believe that a "primitive" people was able to construct magnificent etchings like these without some type of advanced technology - they most likely created their works with nothing more complicated than the same types of grids they used in their weaving, needing lots and lots of time, of course - says more about our perspective than any extra-terrestrial perspective they may have had.

The fact is, we do not yet know why the Nazca Lines were created. Why on earth did the people of Nazca spend so many years on a project involving so many people? This alone indicates that the lines were of great importance for those who created them. Were they a place of worship, a cemetery, a Mecca of sorts? These lines were obviously built for permanence; and this by an agricultural society. Did the lines serve some useful purpose in helping them harvest their crops? Were these simply the works of some pharaoh-like, megalomaniacal artist? Were these fantastic images, visible only from the heavens, supplications to the Nazca gods? And if so, what were the people who created them praying for? We don't know, and can't, not yet.

But we do know that the Nazca people that created the lines, unlike the lines themselves, have disappeared from the face of the earth. Their fantastic works have outlived them, however, a tribute to human imagination and art. We may never know what their origins were, but the Nazca Lines will most likely be with us for thousands of years to come. They have survived some 2000 years of wind and the occasional bit of rain already, high up on the Peruvian desert floor. Perhaps in another 2000 years we will finally know why these lines were created in the first place.