The mysterious nature of the Nazca lines
The mysterious nature of the Nazca lines
Some Nazca lines are best seen from the air at altitudes of approximately 500 meters Rare weather changes can temporarily alter their general shape As of 2012 the lines are said to have deteriorated due to human occupation of the area although they are still visible from surrounding mountainsides and other high elevations These lines are typically formed by a single continuous line The Nazca lines vary in complexity with hundreds of simple lines and over 70 geometric shapes representing animals
such as hummingbirds spiders fish condors herons monkeys lizards dogs cats and humans The largest line is approximately 370 meters long Due to the isolated location and arid highland climate most lines are straight lines across the landscape although some traces are visible from nearby hills The first reported discovery in the 20th century was a Peruvian military and civilian pilot in 1927 Peruvian archaeologist Toribio MejÃa Xesspe discovered these lines while hiking through the foothills
He discussed these lines at a conference in Lima in 1939 but they also featured animal and plant designs Some of the Nazca Lines are clearly visible from above There were two main stages of Nazca Line drawing the Paracas Period 400 to 200 BC and the Nazca Period 200 BC to 500 AD. The Nazca Lines are a group of lines in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru created between 500 BC and 500 AD by people who made shallow incisions or cuts in the desert floor As of 2020 between 80 and 100 new lines have been discovered using drones and archaeologists believe that more Nazca Lines may be discovered
The light-colored clay exposed at the bottom of the trench contrasts sharply in color and tone with the surrounding surface creating the visible lines This sublayer contains a high amount of lime The moisture from morning fog hardens to form a protective layer that protects the lines from the wind Most of the lines are formed on the ground in shallow trench lines Between 10 and 15 cm deep the grooves were formed by excavating the reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles that cover the surface of the Nazca Desert
The discovery of two new small statues was announced in early 2011 by a Japanese team from Yamagata University One of them resembles a human head and dates to the early Nazca culture or earlier The other whose date has not been determined is an animal Further north from Nazca in the Palpas region and along the coast of Peru other iconography from the Chincha culture has been discovered showing differences in material and location The Paracas culture may have been an influential ancestor to the development of the Nazca Lines
