Nazca Valley

The plain near Nazca with its huge amazing images on rocky ground is one of the most puzzling mysteries of our planet. The shapes of its images are distinctly notable on a darker background. Because of size of images you can’t take its view standing on the ground. The lines are marked on the surface as grooves to 135 cm wide and 40-50 cm deep. They were created by the Nazca people in the period between 100 BC and 700 AD.

The Nazca Lines are the series of geometric shapes and figures, animals and birds up to 300 m inscribed on the dry crust of the desert about 2,000 years ago and preserved thanks to a complete lack of rain and specific winds, which clean, but do not destroy the top layer of the soil. The desert near Nazca is one of the most arid regions of the Earth. The enormous size of drawings are admirable, almost all of them are made in large scale in the same manner, when the circuit is outlined as one continuous line.

A German scientist Von Daniken in his book "The answer to the Gods" claims that the Nazca lines were created as signals for landing of aliens. A German doctor of archeology Maria Reiche considered these patterns as strange confirm of the existence of an ancient Peruvian culture. Maria Reiche studied the Nazca lines for 50 years. She explained how these lines were used by the ancient Peruvian astronomers: they were gigantic solar and lunar calendar, nestled in the sand, legends and myths of the local people. Mary says that the creators of drawings first made small sketches and then reproduced them in the right large sizes. As proof, she shows little sketches, which she found it in the area. Besides, on the ends of the lines that form patterns wooden piles hammered into the ground have been found. They played the role of the coordinate points during the plotting of the pattern. The scientists found that the piles are referred to VI century AD.

In 1994, the Nazca lines have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.