CultureSouth America
The Nazca Lines
Figures hundreds of metres across, visible only from the air
See it on the timeline →In depth
The lines have survived two thousand years because it almost never rains there. That they can be seen only from the air is a modern misconception — they can be walked, and were probably processional paths tied to water and fertility. The Nazca also built puquios, underground aqueducts with spiral shafts that still function today.
For children
On the desert plain of Peru the Nazca people scraped away the dark surface stones to reveal the pale sand beneath, in figures of hummingbird, spider and monkey. Some are over three hundred metres long.
Connects to
Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org