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NAZCA LINES

The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru.

The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima.

 The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbird, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, and lizards.

Nazca people were engaged in wars and traded but their main activities were fishing and agriculture.

There is significant evidence indicating the high development level of this civilisation, the main being the

Nazca Lines - series of enormous geoglyphs located in the desert and visible only from high above the ground.

History

The Nazca Lines were created in the time of the Nazca Indians, who flourished in the area from 200 BC to about 600 AD

The lines would have taken a long time to create.

Nazca culture The Nazca culture was

the archaeological culture that flourished from 100 to 800 CE beside the dry southern coast of Peru in the river valleys of the Rio Grande de Nazca drainage.

History Nazca society developed during the Early

Intermediate Period and is generally divided into the Proto Nazca (phase 1, 100 BCE – 1 CE), the Early Nazca (phases 2-4, 1-450 CE), Middle Nazca (phase 5, 450-550 CE) and Late Nazca (phases 6-7, 550-750 CE) cultures (Vaughn, 2006).

Economy Nazca subsistence was based largely

on agriculture. They had a varied diet, composed of maize, squash, sweet potato, manioc and achira, and even a small trace of various fish.

The irrigation system was made up of underground channels, known as puquios, which tapped into the subsurface water.

Accidents over Nazca Lines

 Air Nazca Cessna came down close to the ancient Nazca Lines ground markings, about 240 miles (385km) south-east of Lima.

All four passengers killed in aircraft crash near one of Peru's leading tourist attractions have been confirmed as British. The plane's Peruvian pilots also died.

Gayle Callow, 34, was killed when the small plane crashed on a trip to see the ancient Nazca Lines.

Size and shapes  The Nazca lines are legendary. Stretching

across 400 square miles of high arid plateau are drawings of hundreds of figures. They range from giant spiders to vast geometric shapes to enormous monkeys as large as 890ft, or roughly the size two and a half football fields. Hummingbirds, fish, sharks or orcas, llamas, and lizards — and according to some, astronauts, aliens and landing zones — are all represented in these enormous line drawings.

Cahuachi Ruins Grand Pyramid, which measures 28

meters in height and 100 meters in width. It includes seven levels and was used for religious ceremonies.

Temple of Stairs which measures  5 meters in height and 25 meters (82 feet) in width.

Chauchilla Cemetery

Chauchilla Cemetery located 30 km south of the city of Nazca in Peru. It is the only archaeological site in Peru, in which ancient mummies are seen in their original graves.This cemetery had been used for a period of anywhere between the 3rd and 9th century, but the most important burials belong to 600 – 700