Lines In the Desert Plains Chapter 6: An investigation of the Nazca Lines

The Nazca Lines are a series of geometric shapes, miles of lines, and large drawings of animal figures (some as large as a football field) constructed on the desert floor. Many theories have surrounded these geometric shapes in the Nazca desert. The Nazca designs cover nearly 400 square miles of desert. Etched in the surface of the desert plains or pampas. About 300 figures, straight lines, and geometric shapes are observable from the air.

Actrual Locations of Geoglyphs among the Nazca Lines

Some believe that the enormous lines could not have been drawn by man. The truth is that with a large number of people and with a long enough period of time it would have been possible to construct the lines. By extending a rope between two posts and by removing the red iron ore stones, the lighter sand beneath the surface would make the lines visible from above.



A Closeup of a Nazca Line



They may not have needed to fly over their art to inspect the work. Supposedly the art object on the desert floor was a message to their god. To see the work all one had to do was build a wooden tower high enough to overlook the scene, then the tower could have been moved to observe each part of the work. The tower would be removed upon completion and saved for the next project in the desert. Another alternative solution was proposed by Jim Woodman. He believed the Nazca Lines could not have been made without some form of manned flight to see the figures properly. Based on what materials that were available to the Nazca, that they could have built a hot-air balloon to see it properly. So he made one which almost disastrously crashed among the Nazca Lines:

Jim Woodman's Nazca Hot air balloon

There is no precedent for hot-air balloons among any ancient natives in the area, including the Nazca. No evidence has ever been found that the Nazca used hot-air balloons.

　

Due to the simplistic construction of the geoglyphs, regular amounts of rainfall

would have easily eroded the artwork, but the dry almost windless desert environment has preserved much of it for hundreds of years. The purpose of the lines remain debatable. Some believe they were created for their gods to look upon from above, while others suggest that the lines were some sort of calendar with astronomical alignments to aid planting and harvesting of crops. Others believe the lines had a religious purpose and had to be walked in, in a religious ceremony which is quite possible. Attempts at dating of the lines that were dug have been difficult. Experts in the fields of Anthropology, Archeology, and Astronomy have all studied the lines, but no evidence has been found to support any of the above explanations.

The Nazca created a hydraulic system to sustain life in an exceedingly arid environment, and some of the ditches can be seen near the lines. The exact date of the construction of the paquios (underground channels)has been under contention for some time. Dating them has been quite difficult because of the materials used in their construction.

A Nazca Well



With the use of an accelerator mass spectrometer analysis on the varnish on the rocks inside the piquios, have placed their construction between 1-500 A.D . The irrigation system was made of underground channels, which tapped into the subsurface water beneath the ground.




A Nazca Paquios or Underground Channel



The Nazca used river rocks, they did not use mortar to make the paquios. So that the water would pass in channels. Water was transported to irrigation canals for crops, or deposited into small reservoirs (kochas) for later use. It is difficult to tell how long these channels were in use, because extant paquios have been altered and are too dangerous to explore underground. One scholar believes the lines themselves have something to do with the location of the aquifers the Nazca used. In the following photo he is taking a measurement for some possible underground water channels that lead to an aquifer:





Others believe the zigzags have something to do with the boundaries in the desert where water could or could not be found. Some of the lines could be trails leading to a aquifer or over a paquios:



Nazca Zigzag Lines