NAZCA LINES

        THE NAZCA LINES

The Nazca lines are a series of hieroglyphics(figures) drawn by sosities 1000’s of years ago. Set in the driest desert in the world. The coastal desert of Peru.

        MY EXPERIENCE

I was on the ground for the first time when I saw the nazca lines. We were on a bus, we were all really excited, Max pointed out to me a tiny monkey engraved into the rocky sand. What amazed me was that something so small could still be there after more than a thousand years. This is due to the desert’s climate and location. (I will explain about that later). For me, my favorite figure was the hummingbird. Apparently the humming bird Deity was one of their biggests Deities. What is interesting to me is that such a small bird has such a big impact on the culture.

I loved being out in the desert. The desert mountains made such an interesting landscape. But it’s weird at the same time, having no water and no trees around is a bit stressful, after being in the desert for weeks it is so nice to be back near green up in the andes. Although, all the same, the desert is really, really cool! 

FROM THE SKY

During our time in nazca we took a small plane to see the nazca lines from above. It really puts the whole thing into perspective. You really realize how elaborate these drawings are. I am still in awe at how the Nazcans completed such a feat, without the wheel, or a view from above!

               BURIAL GROUNDS 

The moment that I will never forget is walking to the ancient nazca burial site and seeing human bones scattered on the ground. This was reminise of tomb raiders. The Nazcans were buried with some of their belongings so if you were a royal Nazcan you would most likely be buried with gold and other precious metals. This attracted tomb raiders who would go around banging the ground with a pole to determine where the ground was hollow. Where it was they would dig. After digging up these metals. They would leave the bodies in the ground all torn how they had left them. Over time sand would blow in covering back up the hole. Which results in the human bones lying on the surface of the sand.

      BUILDING OF THE NAZCA LINES

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE NAZCA LINES CONSERVATION

Some lines have lasted all the way from 500 BCE. That’s pretty impressive. The climate with little rain and little wind helped preserve the nazca lines. Although some lines have been lost and are not visible to the human eye anymore.

Scientists still are researching to verify the purpose of the nazca lines and how they were built, and even the timeline of when each one was built. New AI scannings are continuing to help us to identify even more lines. By using drones to take pictures and scan them with AI. Ones not visible to the human eye anymore. 

SEE YOU NEXT TIME 

The nazca lines are still sort of a mystery to everybody, but they are really cool to go and see and I recommend it if you are in the area. The mysterious story behind it still fascinates me. How the nazca lines are still sort of a mystery to everybody, but they are really cool to go and see and I recommend them. See you next on the floating islands of the Iros people on lake titicaca!