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Just
two hours from Ica, 50 square km of desert floor were covered
centuries ago by vast drawings, figures of mammals, insects
and deities. The Nazca Lines, discovered in 1927, are the
most extraordinary legacy left by a culture that flourished
in 300 BC. The lines are a series of complex designs, some
up to 300 meters long which can only be seen in their true
dimension from the sky, from an altitude of at least 1,500
feet.
The Nazca culture is not believed to have been capable of
manned flight. But the question remains as to how they crafted
the drawings, what technology they used and what purpose the
lines served. Theories abound regarding these mysterious etchings,
ranging from landing strips for aliens to a giant seismograph.
The most probable theory is that of María Reiche, a
German researcher who dedicated her life to studying the lines.
Ms Reiche believed that the lines were part of a vast astronomic
calendar whose figures marked different solar phases. Ms Reiche,
affectionately nicknamed the Angel of the Plains by the local
inhabitants, was the first to discover the ancient technique
of digging into the tough and dry desert floor and covering
the track with stones brought from distant sites. The component
of natural plaster existing in the area helped to preserve
for thousands of years the drawings: the hummingbird, the
spider, the condor and the monkey, among the more than 30
figures etched into the plain.
The Nazca Plains (there are four areas in total: Palpa, Ingenio,
Nazca and Socos) lie in the department of Ica, some 460 km
south of Lima. Like an embroidery of the gods, the lines that
decorate the desert floor have been declared a Mankind Heritage
Site by UNESCO, and the ancient mystery of the figures still
waits to be unraveled. |
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