Nasca Social Structure

The Nasca is an ancient civilization of people located in the Nasca region on the southern coast of Peru, living between approximately 1 and 750 AD. Many scholars believe the Nasca originated out of the Paracas culture and were most likely a group of small rural villages that were situated near each other. The Nasca appeared to be self-sufficient and based much of their life on agriculture, especially the cultivating of corn. The villages had distinctive art, especially multicolored pottery and drawings along with specific festivals for various aspects of their life dealing with corn and fertility. One of the most famous and mysterious aspects of the civilization are the Nasca Lines which are ancient geoglyphs and can still be found in Southern
The artifacts including pottery and textiles, shows that men were farmers or warriors and also served as religious leaders. The physical appearance of the farmers were depicted on pottery and in drawings with “minimal clothing, often only a loin cloth and a distinctive conical cap with flap extending down over the back of the neck.” It would be plausible that the men would wear little clothing and a hat to block the sun in an arid and hot land such as this desert region. They are also shown holding plants or digging sticks in their hands. Warriors were depicted with their full face showing and usually painted. The men would be holding weapons and were more elaborately clothed, including wearing a shirt of some sort along with the loin cloth. “Headdresses range from slings wound around the head in turban-like fashion…to more standardized caps.” Men often displayed facial designs, especially among the
It is unclear why this practice was done or for what reason. Many speculate it was done as a symbol of rank within the society. It was “accomplished by binding a cushion on an infant’s forehead to a board at the back at the head.” While the reason for this is not known, it has been found that of the Nasca people found in burial chambers, the majority of them have had their heads artificially modified by elongation. “The Nasca also practiced a primitive form of skull surgery (trephination), either to relieve pressure from battle wounds or for the ritual curing of disease.” Trephination is the removal of one or more areas of the skull while the person is still alive. While some of the people died as a result of this practice, again in burial chambers it has been found that others appeared to live because the bone had healed. This is remarkable considering the lack of medical knowledge concerning germ theory and antibiotics at the