What Are the Nazca Lines?

The Nazca Lines, located in the Nazca Desert in the country of Peru, are geoglyphs (large drawings on the ground that are usually no smaller than 4 meters) created by the Nazca culture between the time period of 200 BC and 700 AD. There are hundreds of figures, ranging from simple lines to complicated figures such as monkeys, hummingbirds, and lizards.

The area of the figures is approximately 200 square miles (500 square meters), with the largest figure being 900 feet (270 meters) long. The lines have remained around for so many years due to the desert's lack of wind and constant temperature over the years, which has stayed at 77̊F (25°C) year round. The Nazca Desert is also the driest desert on Earth.

The Nazca Lines cannot be seen as coherent figures except from the air. There has been much wonder and research over the reasons behind the builders ability and motivation. The explanation of the who and how for the making of the lines is widely accepted: the Nazca people used simple surveying equipment and tools. This is supported by the fact that wooden stakes and ceramics were found at the end of lines and on the surface, respectively.

Joe Nickell, a researcher at the University of Kentucky, reproduced the figures using the same technology that was available to the Nazca people at the time. He found out that a small group of people could recreate the even the largest figures in a few days.

The motivation behind the lines' existence is the biggest mystery, and still remains that way today. Many people believe that they lines are religious, saying that the lines were made so that only the gods in the sky could see them clearly. In 1985, Johan Reinhard published all the archaeological, ethnographic, and historical data explaining the worship of mountains and other water sources as a dominant role in the Nazca religion and economy. The lines were interpreted as being paths the people could follow to certain spots where the deities could be worshipped.. The figures, then, invoked their aid.

David Johnson proposed a different theory. After spending long hours researching the Nazca Lines, he came up with an idea that they were drawn as a giant map to help lead the people to places where underground water was readily available. The desert that the Nazca people lived in was so dry that they needed a way to find water easily rather than wandering around until they found it.

The earliest reason given for the Nazca Lines was given by Kosok and Reiche. They proposed the lines were drawn to point to the places in the horizon where the sun and other celestial bodies rose or set. This hypothesis was evaluated by experts in archaeoastronomy, and it was concluded to not have sufficient evidence to support the claim.

A series of unusual solar eclipses happened over southern Peru during the time that the Nazca Lines were being drawn. Robin Edgar proposed that the lines were an ancient response to this "Eye of God" that happens during a total solar eclipse. He said the Nazca culture created gigantic geoglyphs best viewed by the "Eye in the Sky".

Jim Woodmann theorized that the Nazca Lines were made after some form of manned flight such as hot air balloons. Woodmann actually made a hot air balloon from the materials and techniques used during that time. The balloon flew proving the hypothesis was possible, but there is no real evidence either way.

Another theory yet proposes that the lines were part of walking temples similar to that of labyrinth walking, where large groups of worshippers walk the path dedicated to a certain deity. Residents of the local villages say that Nazca people used to conduct rituals within the giant drawings in thanks to the gods and to ensure water kept flowing from the Andes mountains. This is the most probable theory based on the mix of many others, the worship of gods and the connection to the underground water.

Due to the pollution and erosion caused by deforestation, the Nazca Lines' existence is being threatened. The lines are only 10 to 30 cm deep, and can be washed away with even a small amount of rain.

The Nazca Lines are a symbol of the past history of the Earth, and have even landed in many fiction pieces. They are a mystery like crop circles, which sometimes continue to baffle the present-day human mind.