Everyone here, it seems, has a theory about the Nasca Lines. The mysterious markings on the desert floor are a massive astronomical calendar. That's a popular one. Or maybe they point to hidden reserves of water, the source of life in the desert.Then there's my favorite: UFO landing site. Forty years ago, Danish writer Erich Von Daniken popularized that theory with his best-selling book Chariots of the Gods? Now, strapped into a four-passenger Cessna circling over a figure called the astronaut, I'm not sure what to think. One of its hands points to the sky, another to the ground. His owlish eyes stare intomine. Look at me, the 1,500-year-old seems to say.
Can you solve my mystery?For hundreds of years, the Nasca people created lines on the ground. Some form familiar figures: a spider, hummingbird and dog. Others -- a whale, monkey and parrot -- don't belong in the desert at all.
The only way
to see the Nasca Lines is from the air. That makes them even more
mysterious. How did pre-Inca people make these images without being
able to fly? And what was the point of forming lines if they couldn't
appreciate their glory? The lines weren't even discovered until 1929,
when a pilot flew over the area and was astonished to see eyes looking
up at him.
Thanks to the ancients, the
town of Nasca now has a veritable air force: More than a dozen
companies fly planes over the lines. The tours are an industry,as
indicated by the handwritten sign taped to my plane's instrument
console. ''Tips are welcome,'' it says in six languages.
Not bad for a dusty desert
town of about 20,000, a six-hour bus ride south of Lima. The modern
city of Nasca, a place that gets less than an inch of rain a year, owes
its prosperity to the mysterious markings. Statues inspired by the
desert figures decorate the town plaza. Sketches of the lines are
everywhere else. Elongated hummingbirds mark store signs, while a
lizard graces City Hall. On sidewalks, brass inlays of a monkey and
spider reflect the sun.
But the lines might have
been forgotten without Maria Reiche. She came to Peru from Germany in
the 1930s as a tutor and eventually dedicated her life to documenting
the creations. For years, she surveyed the area, measuring the markings
and pondering theirmeaning.
''To the lo......
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Aerial photos show damage to Peru's Nazca Lines
Japanese researchers find new giant picture on Peru's Nazca Plateau
Archaeologist finds ancient Nasca iron ore mine
New Nazca line picture discovered
Heavy rains alter Peru's famed Nazca Lines
Two new geoglyphs found in Nazca
