A+very+brief+backround+to+the+nazcas

 The Nasca culture flourished from the first to eighth century’s a.d. in Peru. They were preceded by the Paracas culture, from which spanned a large array of beautiful crafts and technologies such as ceramics, textiles, and geoglyphs (most commonly known as the Nazca lines). The culture was centered in the Ica and Nazca river valleys. The nazca culture spread to over 30,000 square km along the Pacific coast. The sustainability of the nazca economy centered on agriculture and marine resources from the nearby ocean. Nazca engineers dug pukios, or wells to supply water for irrigation because of the lack of fresh water sources in the area. There were few “urban centers” in the area most of the areas were small settlements. One of the few urban centers included Cahuachi, a site that was probably not constantly occupied but rather a pilgrimage site for religious ceremonies. The site covered 60 plus acres and contained many cemeteries and over 40 stepped pyramid mounds. The religious people of Nazca centered there rituals on the insurance of crop harvest. During ceremonies they would bury the trophy heads of battle victims while partaking in hallucinogenic drugs and dancing around the areas. Much of the Nazca artwork that we have today portrays the anthropomorphic figures with half of a human body and half of the animal body fused into one creature. Most of these figures are thought to represent the most feared individuals who inhabited the world.