Nazca Lines

Our next stop was in Nazca, a town famous for the strange parallel lines and geometrical figures etched into the dessert floor. The images are best seen from above and so we took a flight over the lines and below you can see the pictures of a spaceman, a monkey and a giant hand.
The designs are thought to have been made by three different groups of people - the Paracas people 900-200 BC, the Nazcas 200 BC-600 AD and the Huari settlers from Ayacucho at about 630 AD.
In the afternoon we visited the Chauchilla cemetery where we saw ancient mummies with their skin and hair still intact. The dry and humidity free climate helped to perfectly preserve the mummies, tapestries and clothes; unfortunately many of the graves were ransacked by grave robbers who were looking for valuables such as pottery, skulls etc. to sell on the black market. Nowadays the area is protected by the Peruvian government and the graves are covered with roofs to protect the graves against the wind and sun.


Nazca Lines

Chauchilla Cemetery