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.
lordkuren t1_ivsl8y3 wrote
Reply to comment by Faking_Life in The Nazca lines depict people, birds, and even the rare "pampas cat." Get a birds-eye view of these geoglyphs. by novapbs
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.