The Nasca Lines Or Geoglyphs

Stretching their way across the Peruvian desert, the Nasca lines are one of the greatest mysteries in Latin America. The Nasca lines- or Geoglyphs are colossal lines carved into the earth and are believed to have been created over two thousand years ago by the ancient people of Nasca. Due to the dry and windless climate, the Nasca lines have remained remarkably preserved through time. A continuous line makes geometric shapes and animal figures, some as long as two hundred meters. The technology, brainpower and tools needed to pull off these geoglyphs were unprecedented and highly advanced for the time they were built. Various explanations have been put forward to rationalize how these configurations were constructed, but the significance of these geoglyphs is yet to be discovered. Some scientists have suggested that the geoglyphs were a way for the Nasca’s to date and chart the skies. Maria Reiche, more commonly known as “The Lady of the Lines,” one of the first to study the Nasca lines, was an archaeoastronomer that theorized that the geoglyphs served a calendric and astronomical purpose. She “noticed some of the lines were oriented to the sunrise on
"It seems likely that most of the lines did not point at anything on the geographical or celestial horizon, but rather led to places where rituals were performed to obtain water and fertility of crops," wrote Reinhard in his book The Nasca Lines: A New Perspective on their Origin and Meanings. The region in which the lines are located in Peru receive little rain, approximately twenty minutes per year. Johan Reinhard explains that, if followed, the lines lead to where rituals to plead to the gods for rain might have taken place. “Look at the large ecological system, what’s around Nasca, where were the Nasca people located…water was clearly an important factor” (Johan Reinhard, National