Introduction to Nazca
The gateway to seeing the famous Nazca Lines is the town of Nazca, built by the Spaniards in the Nazca Desert, a region with zero to ten inches of rain a year. Located 280 miles south of Lima and 250 miles east of Arequipa, Nazca is a quick stopover on the route between Lima and the Andes. It takes 7 hours by bus to travel between Nazca and Lima, and 9 hours by bus to travel between Nazca and Arequipa.
Most visitors come on a 3-day trip that includes the nearby towns of Pisco or Ica for visiting the Ballestas Islands and the Huacachina Oasis. From Nazca, they return to Lima, or continue to Arequipa.
The best way to see the Nazca Lines is by taking a flight over them.
The flight takes about 35 minutes. The best time to fly is early morning before the nearby Pacific Ocean and the flat desert ruin flight weather conditions. The prices differ anywhere between $80-120 (plus airport tax S/30). The planes are little Cessnas, and the flight is a bumpy ride, so it’s recommended not to eat prior to it. Apart from Nazca town, flights are also available from Ica and Pisco towns (prices start from $300).
The Nazca Lines
The Nazca Lines are a group of giant geoglyphs, etched into the soil of the Nazca desert in southern Peru (the desert is one of the driest on Earth, maintaining a temperature of 77 ºF (25 ºC) year around).
The Nazca lines were created by the Nazca Culture, a highly advanced culture that flourished in the area for almost a thousand years between 100 BC and 800 AD (the name of Nazca town is derived from it).
The plateau with the lines spreads over 310 square miles between the towns of Nazca and Pampa.
Due to the desert’s dry and stable climate, they are very well preserved.
The most notable lines, believed to be over 1,500 years old, are concentrated in a 6 x 2 mile rectangle. More than a thousand of them have been discovered so far, some simple drawings, straight lines or geometric shapes, some complex animal and human figures like a hummingbird, spider, whale, monkey, a dog, etc.
The first scholar to study them was an American historian, Paul Kosok, joined in 1941 by the German archeologist Maria Reiche. Maria Reiche was the key person in gaining the lines international attention – she documented them, preserved them and ensured that in 1994 they received UNESCO protection. There’s a small museum dedicated to her in the house where she lived (near the Nazca viewing tower; entry is S/5).
The purpose and precise meaning of the lines are a mystery.
Maria Reiche suggested that they were related to astronomy and represented constella-tions. Others thought they may have been related to water ritual practices; the Swiss author Erich von Däniken claimed that they had been created on instructions from extraterrestrial beings as airfields for alien spaceships. Consensus among archeologists is that the lines were created for ceremonial purposes.
In 2018, a new stunning discovery has been made by Peruvian archeologists.
Armed with drones and satellite images, they have located more than 50 new, mysterious lines In the nearby Palpa province. Unlike the Nazca lines, these can be seen from the ground as they were laid down on hillsides. They depict mostly warriors, and predate the Nazca lines by centuries.
With this find, we can only guess what other discoveries wait for us with technologies like high-resolution, low-flying drones, and the new aerial mapping techniques (of the estimated 100,000 archaeological sites in Peru, only about 5,000 have been properly documented so far).
Other things to see and do in Nazca
The Nazca Lines is not the only immense project of the technically advanced and well organized Nazca Culture worth visiting. The Nazca people also constructed an extensive network of underground aqueducts, a large burial ground, and a vast pyramidal complex.
All or some of them can be checked out on locally organized tours, or by hiring a taxi. Visiting the sites is a good way to spend a couple of hours before taking the overnight bus to Arequipa.
Built about 1,500 years ago, the Nazca and Cantalloc Aqueducts were a part of an ancient water distribution system, that carried water in underground canals (the Nazca Lines might have been part of this huge water movement project).
Built about 1,500 years ago, the Nazca and Cantalloc Aqueducts were a part of an ancient water distribution system, that carried water in underground canals (the Nazca Lines might have been part of this huge water movement project).
The purpose of the aqueducts was to obtain and store water that flows from the mountains into the desert underground river system during rainy seasons. Subterranean canals called puquios were created to tap into them and push the water through an aqueduct system.
Excavated above the canals were vertical chimneys, that had the shape of spirals as wide as 450 feet and were lined with river cobbles. These funnels pulled wind into the underground tunnels, and the difference in atmospheric pressures forced the water through the system to the desired destination. Any excess water was stored in reservoirs on the surface.
With this miracle of early engineering in place, the ancient people had access to water the whole year round.
Out of 36 puquios, most are still functioning today, supplying locals with water for agriculture. The aqueducts are so strong they resist earthquakes so frequent in this area.
Situated 2.5 miles out of Nazca town, the entry fee to Cantalloc aqueducts is S/10 ($3). The ticket includes entry to 3 additional minor sights.
The Chauchilla Cemetery was the burial ground of the Nazca Culture dating back to 200 AD.
Discovered as early as in the 1920’s, it didn’t receive protection by Peruvian law until 1997. As a result, the Cemetery has been extensively plundered by grave robbers who only stole the jewelry and pottery, leaving human bones and artifacts scattered all over the ground.
The mummies are seen carefully restored inside a total of 12 mud-bricked tombs (out of 3000). Clothed in embroidered cotton and painted with a resin believed to keep out insects and to slow bacteria decompo-sition, they face east as Nazca tradition dictates.
Due to the local dry climate, the mummies are very well preserved, including their long intact hair.
Their elongated skulls suggest ritual deformation, perhaps as a mark of the elite so common among ancient Peru cultures. Some skulls also bear evidence of trepanning, a brain surgery performed to relieve internal pressure or to remove pieces of damaged skull.
The cemetery is situated 19 miles out of Nazca, and the entry fee is S/8. There’s a small museum at the entrance.
Located 18 miles out of Nazca, the vast archaeological site of Cahuachi Pyramids is over 2000 years old.
Surrounded by burial sites not known until recently, it contains around 40 pyramidal mounds and plazas topped with adobe rooms and walls. The site was probably a ceremonial center of the Nazca Culture for performing religious activities.
Entrance is free, though access is limited due to ongoing archaeological excavations. Findings from the site are exhibited in the Antonini museum in Nazca town.
The mysterious Nazca Culture produced very distinctive, hand-made Nazca ceramics.
Famous are containers with double spouts connected by a flat handle, effigy jars in the form of humans, animals and plants, and beakers, animal flutes and masks.
There are a couple of local workshops in Nazca town that give demonstrations of these ancient Nazca techniques (and sell their products).
Situated 12 miles out of Nazca town is Cerro Blanco, probably the highest dune in the world.
At around 3.860 feet, it is taller than the highest mountain in England. Offering spectacular views from its top, the dune is popular for trekking and sandboarding.
