Spread out over 200 square miles of the Peruvian desert lies a treasure of the ancient world: thousands of enormous “geoglyphs,” huge shapes made from rocks and earth. Most of these are lines—some continuing for miles—while others are geometric shapes and recognizable figures: a spider, a hummingbird, a cactus, a llama, a flower. Known as the Nazca lines, the geoglyphs have survived for many centuries thanks to the dry climate of Peru’s southern coast—long outlasting the civilization that made them.

Old photo or did they just do a good job of repairing the Greenpeace vandalism?

This may sound stupid, but what was the motivation for making these images that can only be seen from above? Are there mountains or something in the area that could serve as a viewpoint?

I enjoyed this documentary. Thanks, PBS!

Some of them were intended for the gods. (They were made on flat ground, so they could really only be seen in any way up high).

Others were on sides of mountains, etc, so they could be seen by people at certain places. They were potentially waypoints or territorial markers (though we can't really know for sure).

As for Nazca (as opposed to the Paracas geoglyphs), I buy into the archaeo-astronomy theory: like the Giza necropolis, the figures are mapping constellations (which was the best form of evening entertainment for centuries).

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I like the theory of it working as a memory device, sort of as a pilgrimage that you walk on to remember certain information.

If I recall then, when you start walking it, you just start and you never have to make any turns or cross other people, so there is just a set beginning you start on and everyone just follows the line.

I've been there a bit more than 10 years ago. You can drive out between them by car and while you recognize it is something man-made, for most you can't recognize what it is though. There are hills near by - with some ancient irrigation systems that even after a few hundred years are still used today! - from which you can see and recognize some that are nearby. They can clearly seen from the air - took a round flight over them - and it is super-impressive how big and clearly visible they are. The guides, pilots and so on all had their own theories. The most common ones I heard was religious - messages to their gods - or that they were used to mirror what they saw in the stars, like their interpretations of star constellations. Maybe it's both at the same time.

There is a theory that they were created by people who were searching for water. That would explain why the lines never intersect

Iirc people are banned from going to them now, because they were getting destroyed by motorcycles

How did they make those lines so straight?

The Australian Aboriginals did just that. Entire dream time stories would be told by walking through the landscape, some stories taking days and weeks to tell as they walked through the territories of their tribe, with the country and landmarks marking the points of the stories.

According to archaeologist Ken Feder, there are sites nearby that have artifacts suggestive of these being part of some meditative practice. Ken points out that for the vast majority of human history, religion and hobby and art were all the same thing, so these very likely have a religious meaning.

As far as seeing them, I dont recall if he mentioned there being a viewpoint or not, but he did make the point that.it didn't matter since the purpose of these was more spiritual than not. He gives many examples of geoglyphs that have no viewpoint, such as Serpent Mound in Ohio.

Source is Archeological Fantasies podcast, episode 25

Look up Jon Levi on YT

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Regardless of what they intended it to be, it has become a time capsule, an enduring message from dead civilizations to the future. “We existed. This is proof!”

Amazing, thanks for the source, too!

You bet. I highly recommend the podcast. It debunks pseudo archeological claims by going over what we DO know and makes the point that real life is much more interesting than the one dimensional and racist "aliens", "Atlantis", or "preColumbian exchange" claims

And also because of that one truck driver who drove a semi over one of them.

When I was something between 4-7 I would watch "in search of" and was absolutely enthralled with the Nazca Lines.

On a business trip in my late 20's I had the privilege of going to Peru. So I planned a week of vacation time (invited my girlfriend to meet me after my work activities where done) and went to Machu Picchu and on the way made sure to stop in Nazca.

I don't normally charge and block and bully, that's not at all my style (usually quite the opposite). But there was nothing that was going to hold me back from seeing the lines from the air. I charted a small plane and ensured I got the front seat.

I was in my selfish glory and thrilled to have lived a childhood dream. I'm sure I was a total douchebag to the family and my girlfriend (now wife) who were sharing the plane with me....

That's a new one for me

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/01/a-truck-driver-inexplicably-plowed-over-a-2000-year-old-historical-site-in-peru-damaging-the-designs/

Or the time that greenpeace went and protested climate change

Haven’t some of them got a water connection as well? As understood it some of them have openings so can access water in this part of the world,like they made man made waterways through the desert areas from the mountains.. very cool water management..

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Oh that would be interesting! (I was only repeating what I read in the article, but that's a really cool notion too).

I thought that serpent mound was like a star aligned site and was used for marking of time passing, like the seasons, guess like you’ve all said I’m sure it HAD a very good reason for the people that built it..

I watched that it was really interesting.

As was I mate hahaha but isn’t that what learning is about?? Just picking what to learn isn’t it?

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I just watched it this weekend!

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And that time Greenpeace vandalised them

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I remember learning about these from Illusion Of Gaia for the SNES.

Building towers of wood would let you get a pretty decent view. Just a few stories up and you can easily overlook a city.

I still play that game to this day. A really underappreciated classic. The Nazca level has always been my favorite. Angkor Wat on the other hand...

Motivation for human actions in prehistory is always speculative. That is it can never be shown to actually reflect the actual motivations of the actors because they didn't leave written accounts of their motivations. The best theory is that the lines on the desert floor were meant for observation by gods that lived in the sky.

The article states about the hillside figures,

>If the Nazca Lines were made by humans for the gods, these figures were made by humans for humans.

This quote alone is not particular helpful journalism because it just reflects a bare illogical opinion. The editor should have sent this back to the reporter for more context.

I had the privilege of flying over these last July. The lines are immensely cool. They are one of those wonders that I had heard about since childhood so seeing them in person was, well, wonderful.

My exposure was from an older sibling reading Erich von Däniken's silly books and seeing some TV shows inspired by the books. But the lines captured my imagination. And the mystery still does.

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And they asked me to support them outside of sprouts soon after…

A lot of these structures have alignments, but again, astronomy, religion, and art were all basically the same category for most of human history.

I’ve only read about what you’re describing in articles about the Middle East. Maybe similar things exist in SA but I don’t recall reading anything about Nazca lines and man made aquifers

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Having seen them, they are spectacular and interesting, but there's a reason they tell you not to eat before your flight. Still recommend it though.

Yer they are spiral shaped and run along in very long lines! Maybe there not right by the pictures on desert floor but they def have them.. il see if can link to what I mean

You can still see them, just from the air. Better from that distance anyway.

water spirals nazca area

Sorry it’s the worst paper ever!

Yep def seems like that all over the world..

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Well that's interesting. With planes, we humans can see the ones on flat now. Wonder how long it would take us to convince them we're not gods if we met today...

Straight things are pretty easy to do for any even moderately advanced society: just stake each end and pull a length of rope between them.

But it was probably aliens. /s

Also visible in google earth or google maps.

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Yeah you have to get on this teeny tiny plane and fly over it. I’ve been to Nazca twice.

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This is not the same thing as the lines and geoglyphs

Those are seperate features from the lines. Like saying the pyramids were used for irrigation because irrigation channels were found in the same area.

Wait, what?? Why??!

Christ. I'm an environmentalist. But it seems any active organisation or political party often shoots themselves in the foot.

I admire the passion. Its a pity we let the idiots lead.

Tim Foilhat, PI says there's a conspiracy afoot.

According to ancient astronaut theorists....aliens.

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I went to Peru to see the main archaeological stuff. We took a plane from the local tourist service. Pilot, copilot and 6 passengers. The pilot flew circles in both directions so everyone in the plane could see the lines . Some got a little queezy. All in all it was a great experience

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I didn’t say it was the same

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I was in Nazca a few months ago on vacation. They get 2 cm of rain per year. The region looks like a baren planet, like I've never seen before.

Wow, I don't even have words

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Or maybe it's so no one can see the aliens landing!