TCP #4: Nasca culture Geoglyph

The Nasca geoplyphs are located in
the Peruvian coast around 500 kilometers of the capital city of Lima and
represent one of greatest archeological mysteries because of their size,
quantity and nature. The main characteristic of the geoglyphs is that they
represent a great variety of animals, plants or even imaginary beings, but also
there are many geometrical figures that are so long to a point that some of
them are several kilometers long. The figures are believed to be made by the
Nasca culture which habitated that part of Peru between 100 to 800 AD
(Haughton). The importance of this discovery is huge because of the complexity
and beauty of the geoglyphs and lines and also because present a window into
the past. Ancient Civilizations like the Nasca were able to made such elaborate
designs by just using the materials they had at their disposal like the soil,
so that their pieces had lasted for so long make the geoglyphs very important.

During the 1920’s when people start
flying over the Peruvian desert people began to notice numerous strange and
huge pictures that could be seen from the sky and that marked the discovery of
one of the great mysteries of Peruvian culture. One important discovery that
had been made recently was a city located close to the lines called cahuachi,
which according to archeologist was build around two thousand years ago. The
main reason this new city discovery is important because it is providing
material like pottery and techniques they use to preserve paintings in their
pottery. Also the city is helping archeologist in understanding the materials
the Nasca people used in developing the lines and Geoglyphs because the nasca
people used dry soil of the desert to preserved their bodies and get mummies (Arguedas).

<a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Nazca-Lines1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1162" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Nazca-Lines1-300x209.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="209" /></a>
<a href="http://www.sacred-destinations.com/peru/nazca-lines">http://www.sacred-destinations.com/peru/nazca-lines</a>

The composition of the lines and
geoglyphs are quite interesting because of the surface of the territory where
they are located contains ferrous oxide which allows over time to see the
contrast of the soil and the drawings. Some of the drawings were made by
removing the gravel and contours around the pictures in order to make them
appear as is they were in high relief, but others figures were drawn in lower
relief by using the terrain and soil that over time has allowed the figures to
get a light color and in that way they could be easily seen from the air
(Tavera).

<a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/nazca_lines_invisible.gif"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1165" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/nazca_lines_invisible-300x274.gif" alt="" width="300" height="274" /></a>

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<a href="http://www.scienceofstrategy.com/science_of_seeing.htm">http://www.scienceofstrategy.com/science_of_seeing.htm</a>

Among the most famous geoglyphs of
Nasca we can count a spider of almost 46 meters, a monkey of 55 meters, a
lizard of 180 meters, and a Pelican of 285 meters. One interesting part about
the Nasca lines and geoglyphs is that the figures marked important aspects of
life to the Nasca like astronomical times, for example when summer or winter
started which was of extreme importance to this ancient culture because of the
different productive activities necessary to sustain themselves depended on the
time and season. Also another aspect that is very particular for archeologist
is that this large complexed figures were drawn with such perfection and
harmony that archeologist are baffled with the symmetry and designs especially
of the animal geoglyphs. The main reason that people and archeologist are
surprised at the symmetry and perfection of the pictures is because it is
widely known that the Nasca people were not able to fly or have any device to
see the pictures from above, and in that way they could not see how the
pictures really look like because when one is in the ground is not possible to
appreciate the stunning displays and complexity of the pictures  (Aveni).

<a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/nazca-lines2.gif"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1168" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/nazca-lines2-279x300.gif" alt="" width="279" height="300" /></a>
<a href="http://www.newsmild.com/nazca-lines/update-news.html">http://www.newsmild.com/nazca-lines/update-news.html</a>

There is one picture that I
consider extremely important not only for its size and beauty but also for the
purpose it served to the Nasca culture and people is the large bird geoglyph,
which is located next to a trapezoid. The Large bird picture is basically a
geoglyph of a bird that has a very long neck like a snake but the particularity
of this geoglyph is that the beak of the bird points to the way the sun rises
in the morning. The Bird geoglyph is approximately of 300 meters long and 54
meters wide and many archeologist in Peru and the world consider the bird as
the announcer of the Inti Raymi which is a celebration conducted by ancient
Peruvians that focus on the adoration of the God Sun (Morrison).

During the period where the Nasca
lines were created the people that habitated the land of what is know as Peru
(present day) were a culture worried about worshiping the Gods and did many
things to please the Gods. That is why many archeologist believe that the Nasca
lines have a sacred purpose because there are many artifact of the Nasca
culture that show their concern for death and in that way the lines could have
been an offering to the Gods and a way to achieve immortality because the lines
and geoglyphs have stood the test of time (Hadingham).

The Nasca lines and Geoglyphs are
considered as an important discovery because it is very difficult to find other
place in the world with so many complex and big pictures. The area covered by
the pictures is of about 200 square miles and the variety of the pictures range
from simple drawings to really elaborate pictures. Another aspect why the Nasca
lines and geoglyphs are considered important to this day is that they had
survive for so long due to the terrain in which they where made which is very
dry desert. A third point people consider that the figures are important is
because it shows that this ancient civilization has some basic mathematical
knowledge because the lines and geoglyphs have been constructed with extreme
accuracy and that could only be done with certain knowledge of mathematics and
proportions, which made the drawings even more amazing because the Nasca
culture did not had a chance to see the pictures from above and see how they
really look like (Herran).

The are some places in the world
that have some types of geoglyphs and figures drawn in the land like Australia
and also in Chile. For example the Atacama Desert in chile that according to
the data of archeologist were build later than the Nasca lines and geoglyphs.
The Nasca lines and Geoglyphs have received more attention due to the
complexity of the designs and because of the correlation between the figures
and the Nasca culture which is a culture that Predated the famous Inca Culture
in Peru.

In my opinion the Nasca lines are
quiet amazing structures and designs, as a Peruvian I have visited the site on
some occasions and I can say that once you get into a plane an start seeing
those pictures from above then you can really appreciate the designs and
complexity of the geoglyphs. For me what is more surprising is how this pictures
had lasted for so long and the size of each geoglyph because one thing is to
look at them in a picture but I think that in order to fully appreciate the
beauty of this site you must see it in person. That is why I think the site is
considered an archeological world heritage site by the UNESCO organization,
which in my opinion makes it critical to preserve it so future generations
could get to see it.

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<strong>Works Cited</strong>

-Arguedas, Jose M. Nasca Lines:
Lines of Nasca, secrets and Mysteries. 2009

-Aveni, Anthony. Between the Lines:
the mystery of the Giant ground drawings of ancient Nasca ,Peru. June 2000.

-Hadingham, Evan. Lines to the
mountain Gods. Nazca and the Mysteries of Peru. University of Oklahoma Press.
1988.

-Haughton, Brian. Hidden History:
Lost Civilizations, secret knowledge, and Ancient misteries. Career Press. 2007

-Herran,Eduardo. The Nasca lines:
new designs, new enigmas. Publisher: Aerocondor.1985

-Morrison, Tony. The mystery of the
Nasca lines.  Pusblisher:Nonesuch
expeditions Ltd.October 1987

-Tavera, Lizardo. Arqueologia del
Peru: lineas de Nasca.

<a href="http://www.arqueologiadelperu.com.ar/l-nasca.htm">http://www.arqueologiadelperu.com.ar/l-nasca.htm</a>

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