Nazca
Our next destination was Nazca, home to one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in the world – the Nazca Lines. The 2,000-year-old geoglyphs, ranging from depictions of animals and plants to geometric patterns – can only be fully appreciated from the air. The best-known of these have their origins in the Nazca culture.” These include visual precursors to the monkey, whale, spider and tree, believed to be created by the Nazca society between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
The lines are one of the world’s most puzzling archaeological enigmas. Some researchers think they were built as astronomical instruments, others believe they had the same kind of ritualistic use common in ancient religious practice. For decades, the German scholar Maria Reiche scratched away at these enormous etchings in the desert sunshine, convinced that they formed a celestial calendar. In Savage’s view, the Nazca drew their religion in the sand for miles to communicate with gods overhead. Even now, they are hard to make out — but their reverberation lingers. Despite whatever their original function, the Nazca lines are a lasting tribute to the creativity of an ancient people called the Nazcans.
