What+are+the+lines

The Nazca or Nasca lines are a set of geometric and anthropomorphic lines in the Nazca desert of Peru. They are in the high arid plateau that stretches for over 50 miles. There is a lot of debate over the exact dates of the creation but it is commonly believed that he tradition started around 200 BCE. The range and style of the different features varies greatly from one design to another from the long thin lines to the detailed whales, hummingbirds, monkeys, and spiders it is obvious that these lines had a very significant meaning to the people on Nazca and archaeologist have been trying to decipher the meanings behind these lines for many years. The basic idea of the lines is that below the rocks on the desert floor there is a different colored floor. By moving these rocks the people were able to create “drawings” on the plateau floors. Scholars as well as armatures have put forth many different interpretations to why the Nazca lines were created. Everything from the idea that these were religious symbols directing the flow of water from the gods to symbol of fertility in the animalistic drawings to landing spaces for spaceships, has been suggested. One of the reasons that the lines have been around for so long is that there is very little climate change in the area. Rainfall is minimal in the area and has not had a detrimental effect on the lines.

The lines were constructed by flipping the rocks in the dessert over to reveal a different colored floor. It is suspected that the people used tools to move the earth around due to a wooden stake that was found in the ground at the end of one of the lines. A large amount of research has been done on the timing it would take to create such monumental drawings. Without the ability to see the floor with aerial assistance like a plane one would think that it would take many years to create such a well designed piece of art. While the figures like the hummingbird, spider, and monkey seem to be the most complex, even the lines have an almost exact straightness that makes it seem at least somewhat difficult. Scholars from many fields like anthropologist and mathematicians have all created experiments to recreate the amount of time it would take to created these lines. All of these experiments have yielded very similar results, the most intricate lines in Nazca may have taken a couple weeks to finish with the technology they had.