Nazca Lines and Pottery of Peru Few archaeological enigmas have excited so much fanciful speculation as the lines and figures etched into the desert near Nazca in southern Peru. Few of the theories are scientifically tenable, and many are pure fantasy. It takes a view from above to appreciate the giant designs the ancient Nazca people carved into the Peruvian desert. This view from the Ikonos satellite reveals a giant spiral, a spider, and perfectly straight lines that stretch for kilometers across the desert. The Nazca created these geoglyphs between 200 BCE and AD 600 by clearing away the dark red top soil and stone, leaving the pale underlying soil exposed. Since the plain where the lines are carved receives little rain or wind, the lines are still visible today This image, taken on January 15, 2001, shows two glyphs and several lines. Near the top of the image, a spiral is nestled at the foot of the mountains. Below it is a spider, with its pincers facing the left edge of the image. Since the lines are difficult to see from the ground, the artists may never have seen their work from this perspective. So why did the Nazca go to the trouble of scribbling over the desert? No one knows, but many theories have been proposed. The figures could be depicting constellations or deities with straight lines forming sacred roads between them. They could be marking the location of an underground water source in the high desert where water would have been precious, or they could be figures from an agricultural calendar. To read more, see Nazca Lines on the Discovery Channel web site. Image copyright Space Imaging Site offers a ‘very’ brief video of the Nazca lines. wonders/ /Wonders-of-the-World-Nazca-Lines- Peru.html National Geographic Video footage and history discussion. lines-the-buried-secrets-4477/facts#tab-Videos/07734_00 Discovery Channel Video footage First Hot air Balloon Theory for the line. nes_the_worlds_first_hot_air_balloon This site provides numerous pictures and a wide variety of information. The lines are many kilometers long and crisscross sectors of the pampas in all direc- tions. Many of the lines form geometric figures: angles, triangles, bunches, spirals, rectangles, wavy lines, concentric circles. This site contains a list of NUMEROUS theories on how and why the Nazca lines were constructed. Although the true potter’s wheel was absent, these platforms served as a rotational device upon which to build a vessel. Pots were constructed using combinations of coiling, drawing and direct shaping, with some use of the paddle and anvil technique (Carmichael 1998:219). It is important to note that unlike the Moche, molds were never used by the Nasca in making their ceramics. Nasca Ceramic Iconography: An Overview _Iconography_Overview.pdf

The Nazca’s were an American Indian culture, living around 100BC-AD800. They resided in the Nazca Desert, a coastal desert in southern Peru. They made lots of artwork, and constantly used animals in their art. They, like most cultures, had a unique drawing style and used lots of color in their pottery. They farmed 31 miles inland of the Nazca River. Later, farmland became sacred land because of the natural springs. They were quite advanced, using irrigation systems and burying their dead. They had many complex religious practices such as masked ritual performances and dances for their gods. Ellie In general, Nazca culture is considered to consist of three stages; Early, Middle, and Late stages, and also the Classic Nazca (approximately A.D ). One of the most famous and distinctive features of the Nazca culture is the polychrome pottery which has attracted attention because of its technological refinement and the exciting symbolism of its motifs. This pottery culture spreads in the area of the valleys of Chincha, Pisco, Ica, Nazca and Acari.” In the Early stage, these wares did not have much color, but Middle and Late Nazca polychromes are buff or red and are painted in three to eight colors. The most popular choices of color were red, black, white, brown, yellow, gray and violet with an outline in black. Bowls and beakers were common forms, but double-spout and head-and-spout jars are also found. Birds, fish or fruits were commonly drawn on the pottery, and Nazca's religious or mythological features were also used in its design. Looting is the greatest problem today. Their ancient technique of weaving, that the Nazca people developed, has given an insight into how the lines may have been made, and what they might have been used for more than 1,500 years ago. Stunningly preserved in the dry soil of the Peruvian desert are the mummified bodies of the Nazca people themselves. Adobe Pyramid at Cahuachi Cahuachi, in Peru, was a major ceremonial center of the Nazca culture and overlooked some of the Nazca lines from 1 CE to about 500 CE. The Nazca Lines are located in the Nazca Desert, a high arid plateau that stretches between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the pampa (a large flat area of southern Peru). The Nazca plain is virtually unique for its ability to preserve the markings upon it, due to the combination of the climate (one of the driest on Earth, with only twenty minutes of rainfall per year) and the flat, stony ground which minimizes the effect of the wind at ground level. With no dust or sand to cover the plain, and little rain or wind to erode it, lines drawn here tend to stay drawn. These factors, combined with the existence of a lighter-colored subsoil beneath the desert crust, provide a vast writing pad that is ideally suited to the artist who wants to leave his mark for eternity. The concentration and juxtaposition of the lines and drawings required intensive long-term labor as is demonstrated by the stylistic continuity of the designs, which clearly correspond to the different stages of cultural change. On the pampa, south of the Nazca Lines, archaeologists have now uncovered the lost city of the line-builders, Cahuachi. It was built nearly two years ago and was mysteriously abandoned 500 years later. New discoveries at Cahuachi are at last beginning to give us insight into the Nazca people and to unravel the mystery of the Nasca Lines. Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici has been excavating the site for the past few decades, bringing a team down every year. The site contains over 40 mounds topped with adobe structures. Looting is the greatest problem facing the site today. Sites are a very recent find.