THE NAZCA LINES: DECODING THE DESERT CANVAS

Seen from the air, the Nazca Lines are unmistakable — enormous geoglyphs etched into the desert plain of southern Peru, covering an area of more than 500 square kilometres. A hummingbird with a 93-metre wingspan. A spider measuring 46 metres across. A monkey with a spiralling tail. Yet their purpose, after a century of study, remains beautifully, stubbornly mysterious.

The lines were created by the Nazca culture between 500 BCE and 500 CE by removing the reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles from the desert surface to reveal the pale ground beneath. The extreme aridity of the Nazca Desert — one of the driest places on Earth, receiving less than 5mm of rain per year — has preserved them almost perfectly for two millennia.

Maria Reiche, a German mathematician who dedicated her life to documenting the lines, proposed they were an astronomical calendar aligned with solstices and equinoxes. More recent research by archaeologist Markus Reindel suggests they were ritual pathways for processions connected to water — a precious and sacred resource in this parched landscape.

The scale of the geoglyphs is impossible to appreciate from the ground. The only way to see the figures in their entirety is from a small aircraft. Flights depart from Nazca airport and last 35–45 minutes, covering the principal figures: the Hummingbird, the Condor, the Monkey, the Spider, the Astronaut, and the Hands.

The Palpa Lines, approximately 40 kilometres north of Nazca, are less visited but perhaps more intriguing. These geoglyphs include human figures and date to an earlier period — created by the Paracas culture, predecessors of the Nazca. The Palpa Mountains also contain extraordinary rock art accessible only on foot with a guide.