PART 3 - B. The Mysterious Nasca Lines

The Nasca Lines are located in the Nasca Desert, a high and stony plateau on the pampa, about 400 km south of Lima. Across this arid plain, which covers an area of approximately 450 sq. km, is a series of perfectly straight lines forming grand geometric shapes, and pictures of birds and beasts all etched onto the surface in a giant scale.

The lines and figures are difficult to see from the ground. But on 15th April 06 at km 420 of the Panamerican highway, which cuts through the plain, there was an elevated viewing tower from which we had a first glimpse of a couple of Nasca Lines located on both sides of the highway.

A spectacular way to see the Lines is to fly over them. So on the early morning of 16th April we were at the Nasca airstrip, about 3km from Nasca town waiting for our turn to fly over the Lines.

The plane we took was small and could only accommodate five passengers. So our group of six had to split up with three in each plane. The flight over the Lines took about 40 minutes. The plain was flying low and because of the speed and movement, it was not easy to capture the various lines and figures on cameras. Followings are some photos taken during the flight.

The Astronaut	The Dog
The Condor
The Spider	The Humming Bird

The Hands, Tree & Lizard

After seeing the Lines from the air, one would invariably marvel at their existence - why they were constructed and by whom.

Through carbon dating, it revealed that the lines were constructed between 300 BC and 800AD. Thus they were part of the Nasca culture.

The Nasca Lines were first spotted when commercial airlines began flying across the Peruvian desert in the 1920's. Since then they have inspired many to carry out archaeological investigations. Some even suggested that the area was used as a huge extraterrestrial landing strip for ancient visitors.

Others, like Maria Reiche who spent her whole working life at Nasca (1946 to 1998) concluded that the lines were an astronomical calendar indicating the direction of the rising of important stars and planetary events like sun solstices.

Whatever the theories, the Nasca Lines remain till today a complete enigma.