Lines In The Desert Plains Chapter 2 An Investigation of the Nazca Lines

Chapter 2

One of the challenges of telling the story of the ancient Nazca is the fact that they left very little behind them in the way of material culture. They had only had one city and a small village, and they left behind a vast body of ceramics and textiles. These objects carry detailed depictions of Nazca life. The Paracas culture had a great influence on the Nazca culture, was an important Andean society that existed between 800-175 B.C. They had an extensive knowledge of irrigation. Many of the Nazca customs were adopted from the Paracas so we should start there first if we want to learn more about the Nazca. The Paracas culture developed on the Paracas Peninsula of Peru in Pisco Province in the Region of Ica just north of Nazca territory.



Most of what we know about the Paracas culture comes from excavations of the large Paracas seaside necropolis. It was first discoved by the Peruvian archeologist Julio C. Tello in the 1920s. It consisted of many burial chambers with the average capacity of 40 mummies. Each chamber is believed to have been owned by a specific family or clan. Each mummy was bound in layers of the intricate and ornate finely woven textiles. The iconography of the Paracas necropolis combined human aspects with the characteristics of birds or cats, which are usually represented in flight at a high altitude

A Paracas Shark mantle



The Paracas were contemporaries with the Chavin culture in northern Peru. The Paracas made wool and cotton textiles in addition to ceramics.

A Paracas Diety Mask



The Paracas cultural center was on a hill called Cerro Colorado just outside the Paracas Peninsula located near the Valley of Pisco and the Ica River.

  The economy of the Paracas was dependent on intensive agriculture and fishing. Advances were made through construction of aqueducts in the desert, which gave them the ability to produce water and they used manure as fertilizer. Apparently up until around 200 B.C. the area in which they lived was more fertile than it is now. The pottery was polychrome and consisted of complex decorated colors, like red, yellow, black and white, all related to religious representation. Some of the pottery had handles and this was passed on to the Nazca. The textiles of Paracas were characterized by geometric designs, and were done in double cloth.

Paracas Necropolis Garments

The textile designs were influenced by the Chavin culture, with lizard beings and anthromorphic cats and beings, and looked similar to the ones found in Nazca. The Paracas Peninsula had the famous candelabra geoglyph facing north, many have speculated about its origins. It could have been a direction signal for the ancient astronauts to use as they flew over the area headed for the runways (ray centers) in Nazca territory.

Paracas Candelabra Geoglyph

The picture looks like a sand carving in the sand not a mountain side. So one would think this was temporary not real. Like someone did it as a hoax. But I was unable to find a more definitive picture of it.
But even though Paracas designs may have been similar to those of Nazca, the Paracas preferred to make their designs on mountain sides.



A Paracas Design Near Nazca territory