Peru's Nazca Lines: The Ancient Geoglyphs That Can Only Be Seen from the Air

The Nazca Lines are a series of geoglyphs — designs created by removing the reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles that cover the Nazca Desert to reveal the pale yellow-grey ground beneath — that were made by the Nazca culture between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The lines cover an area of 450 square kilometres and include more than 800 straight lines, 300 geometric figures, and 70 animal and plant designs, the largest of which are over 200 metres long.

The most famous of the Nazca figures are the hummingbird (96 metres), the condor (134 metres), the monkey (93 metres), the spider (46 metres), and the astronaut (a humanoid figure on a hillside that has inspired numerous extraterrestrial theories). The figures are best seen from the air — the small aircraft that fly over the lines from Nazca airport offer 30-minute flights that cover the main figures — but a viewing tower on the Pan-American Highway gives a ground-level view of the hands and the tree.

The purpose of the Nazca Lines remains one of archaeology's most debated questions. The most widely accepted theory, developed by the German mathematician Maria Reiche who devoted her life to studying them, is that they were astronomical calendars — alignments with the rising and setting of the sun and stars that helped the Nazca people predict the seasons and manage their water supply in the desert. Other theories include ritual pathways, offerings to the gods, and landing strips for alien spacecraft.

The Nazca culture that created the lines flourished from around 100 BCE to 800 CE in the coastal valleys of southern Peru. They were sophisticated engineers who built an underground aqueduct system (the puquios) that still functions today, and their polychrome pottery — decorated with the same animals and plants depicted in the lines — is among the finest in pre-Columbian South America.

The Chauchilla Cemetery, 30 kilometres south of Nazca, is one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in Peru — an open-air cemetery where the mummified remains of the Nazca people, buried between 200 and 900 CE, are still visible in their original tombs. The mummies, preserved by the extreme aridity of the desert, are seated in a foetal position with their hair and skin intact, and the site gives a visceral connection to the people who created the lines.

Nazca is best visited as part of a longer journey through southern Peru — the route from Lima to Cusco via the Pan-American Highway passes through Ica (famous for its sand dunes and the Huacachina oasis), Nazca, and Arequipa, and the combination of these destinations makes for one of the finest road trips in South America. The bus journey from Lima to Nazca takes about eight hours; from Nazca to Arequipa, another eight.

The best time to visit Nazca is from May to October, during the dry season, when the skies are clear and the flights over the lines are most reliable. The wet season (November to April) can bring cloud cover that obscures the lines from the air, and the occasional rain that falls in the desert can temporarily damage the geoglyphs. The flights are subject to cancellation in windy conditions, and the small aircraft can be uncomfortable for those prone to motion sickness.