{"id":38,"date":"2017-02-16T11:29:50","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T19:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/mcastillo\/?page_id=38"},"modified":"2025-08-25T14:04:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T21:04:04","slug":"nazca-lines","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.palomar.edu\/mcastillo\/peru-a-land-of-mountains-and-megalithic-walls\/nazca-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"I – Peru – the Nazca Lines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For AI assistance – click on Artificial Intelligence (AI)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

(lesson – question & answer – I level)<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Nazca Lines of Peru<\/p>\n

The Nazca lines were originally discovered b Peruvian archaeologist<\/strong><\/em> Toribis \u00a0 \u00a0 Majia Xesspe in 1927, but the Nazca lines weren’t actually studied until Paul Kososk, who was studying ancient irrigation<\/strong> <\/em>systems, rediscovered them in 1937. The Nazca Lines which are found in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pamapas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima, the capital of Peru, are in an area 27 miles long and a 5 miles wide. \u00a0They were designated<\/strong><\/em> as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
My friend and I board a small plane that<\/div>\n
sits 12 people.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
The lines contain main forms, biomorphs and geoglyphs<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0The biomorphs are figures of animals and plants. \u00a0There are over 70, all group together. \u00a0They are very large, with the largest being over 660 feet across. \u00a0The biomorphs<\/strong><\/em> include images of the spider, the condor, the frigate bird, the monkey, the llama, the tree, and human figures. \u00a0The geoglpyhs\u00a0are a series of geometric forms, for example the straight lines, the triangles, the spirals, circles, and trapezoids.\u00a0 The longest is a straight line nine miles long.<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n
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\"An

Flying over the Nazca Lines at over 300 feet is exciting. The plane flies like you\u2019re on a roller coaster.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Archaeologists believe they were made by brushing away the reddish iron oxide covered rocks and pebbles that cover the Peruvian desert.\u00a0This allowed the white sand underneath to show through.\u00a0 Because the Nazca area is very dry, windless, and isolated, it has allowed the lines to exist for over 2000 years.<\/p>\n

\"An

The plane dips to the left and then to the right to allow passengers on either side to get a good view of the Nazca lines.<\/p><\/div>\n

The ancient Nazca people were able to create huge structures that could only be fully appreciated<\/strong><\/em> from the air, during a time when manned flight wasn\u2019t known to exist.\u00a0 Some archaeologists believe surveying<\/strong><\/em> techniques were used to create the huge pictures, while others believe they couldn\u2019t have been made without some type of manned flight.<\/p>\n

The reason why the Nazca lines are famous and visited by people from around the world is because there is so much mystery and many theories on why there were formed.\u00a0 The most widely popular belief is that the lines had religious purpose.\u00a0The lines were offerings<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0to their gods, who would have been able to see them from the heavens.\u00a0 Other scientists say they are sacred<\/strong><\/em> pathways that the ancient Nazca people used during their religious rituals.\u00a0 Then there is the ancient alien theory that states that they are the remains of ancient airfields, used by a technologically advanced civilization<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 The biomorph of \u201cel astronaut\u201d, according to ancient alien theory, is sited as evidence for this theory.<\/p>\n

There are many people who believe this vanished<\/strong><\/em> civilization could have been mistaken as the ancient Nazca people\u2019s gods.\u00a0Without a doubt there are hundreds of theories.\u00a0 The questions usually resolve around their enormous size of the lines.\u00a0 There are over 330 figures, lines and shaped located in an area of 500 sq. kilometers or 190 sq. miles.\u00a0 Among the biogmorphic figures are the famous Nazca condor, hummingbird, whale, spider, dog, and monkey.\u00a0 The largest one is the hummingbird measuring about 300 meters or 900 feet.\u00a0 The monkey is about 135 meter or 445 feet long.\u00a0 With these long lines the question to ask is: was it possible these ancient people had tools and surveying techniques sophisticated enough to create such complex figures that span such large distances?\u00a0 Or is it possible the ancient Nazca people were visited by advanced society over 2000 years ago?\u00a0 The mystery lingers<\/strong><\/em> to this day.<\/p>\n

Here is a video of my friend and me flying over the Nazca lines.<\/p>\n

Nasca lines link<\/a><\/p>\n

Rubric for self-grading this quiz<\/strong><\/p>\n

0 – 1 mistakes A. – Student has little or no problems understanding the concepts<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 \u00a0 mistakes\u00a0 B- Student has a couple of problems understanding the concepts<\/p>\n

3\u00a0 \u00a0 mistakes\u00a0 C – Student shows problems understanding the concepts<\/p>\n

4\u00a0 \u00a0 mistakes\u00a0 D – Student shows significant problems understanding the concept<\/p>\n