The wonders of the ancient Nazca culture
The wonders of the ancient
Nazca culture
These channels extend for great distances and serve as entrances to a long underground waterway The Nazca Spiral System a system of underground tunnels small reservoirs and strange spiral holes draws water from the surface to the water sources below The mysterious Nazca Spirals with their unique patterns have been present in southern Peru since 200 BC. They can be found along the southern coast of Peru and northern Chile The Nazca people first implemented this system between AD 300 and AD 500 transforming the land into a fertile habitable environment and limiting evaporation The water originated from mountain springs. These spirals served as entrances to irrigation systems that transformed the arid desert landscape Archaeologists believe these spirals were wells providing entrances to a long underground waterway
This system was used to transport water to agricultural and populated areas for drinking water The spiral stone roads extend for meters into the desert sands reminiscent of the well-preserved advanced Nazca culture They also provided air and light to the workers' workrooms The conical openings of the ojos could be as wide as 15 meters above ground narrowing to a meter or two at the bottom Care was taken to prevent debris from washing down the sides of the holes and filling or contaminating the tunnel water Therefore it is possible that the openings were sealed or blocked when not in use Many of these ohos have been reconstructed in recent years Above the openings are periodic conical holes or ojos which served multiple functions These spiral holes provided water for the tunnels and allowed the villagers to use them as wells
They also served as tunnel entrances for the annual cleaning of the openings a task that continues to this day It is unclear whether the ancient Nasca people built such complex structures at each of their ohos which were spaced between 10 and 30 meters apart with perhaps dozens for each major puquiao A key mystery is the distribution of these ohos which acted as ancient pumps feeding air into the underground canals and allowing water and air to flow through the system
