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Get to Know the Nazca People and the Mysterious Nazca Lines
Occupying the arid desert valleys of southern Peru, the Nazca were the creators of the Nazca Lines. They formed a culturally cohesive society of independently organized chiefdoms. Historians believe that the Nazca operated independently while occasionally unifying for religious ceremonies or as other needs drove them together.
Because their civilization resided in the arid coastal desert region of Peru, the society centered around survival and using the land for sustenance. Religion centered around fertility and agriculture with the Nazca worshiping the gods of the earth, the sea, the sky, fire, water, and the wind. Shamans conducted ceremonies to bring on good rains and harvests and sites with water likely had religious significance for them.
The Nazca People Creators of the Nazca Lines
Burial mound at Cahuachi, Antoine 49, October 11, 2013, via Flickr
The city of Cahuachi was the main Nazca religious city as evidenced by large temples and archaeological remains of pottery and religious objects. Small villages dotted the more fertile valleys, with residences built on terraced hillsides near irrigated floodplains. The Nazca traded with other civilizations in South America, as evidenced by textiles made of llama and alpaca fur, neither of which can survive in the region. Additionally, researchers have discovered Nazca mummies wearing headdresses donning the feathers of rainforest birds.
The Cantalloc puquios, by PsamatheM, January 30, 2019, via Wikimedia Commons
The arid environment of the Peruvian coastal desert made for difficult farming and survival. The Nazca grew maize, squash, beans, and peanuts. They also ate small amounts of fish. The Nazca likely depended on trade to supplement their diet.
To irrigate land for agriculture, the Nazca built a complex aqueduct system. These aqueducts connected underground water to channels. The channels deposited the water in irrigation canals for agricultural purposes or deposited water in small reservoirs for domestic use. The domestic reservoirs had numerous access holes along the surface that operated like modern manholes. People would descend into the reservoirs to collect the necessary water.
Culture
Tunic with Confronting Catfish, Nasca-Wari, ca. 800-850 CE, via the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Nazca culture was a stratified hierarchical society. Priests and military leaders concentrated power in their hands, having the ability to organize community work, and direct ceremonial activities. The leaders lived in pyramid-like buildings.
Artisans, such as ceramists, architects, weavers, astrologists, musicians, and soldiers, lived in small cities and other ceremonial centers. The artisans served the priests and military leaders while working their craft. Farmers and fishermen were at the bottom of Nazca society. They also lived the furthest away from cities and ceremonial centers in the valleys. They generally lived in thatched-roof huts organized into a small village.
There was no central government in Nazca society. Rather, individual groups, or manors, governed themselves. The manors had their own authority figure, usually a priest, who led the people within their region of authority. Historians generally accept that the Nazca had a strong military, as evidenced by remains of fortified cities in the region, weapons discovered in tombs, and the discovery of trophy heads.
Plaza for ceremonial gatherings and burial mounds at Cahuachi, Antoine 49, via Flickr
Religiously, the Nazca conducted rituals to their gods of the sea, the sky, the earth, fire, water, and the wind. The main purpose of these rituals was to avoid drought and ensure a successful harvest. The Nazca lines also played a role in religious ceremonies. Considered by many to indicate ceremonial sites, some researchers believe that people used the lines to travel from one religious site to another.
Mummy in Chauchilla Cemetery, via Wikimedia Commons
The Nazca mummified their dead and buried them in a shallow pit. The mummy was placed in the fetal position or sitting upright and wrapped in layers of blankets. The tombs of the elite were usually adorned with pottery, textiles, blankets, plumes, and other ornamental objects. Those of the common people were basic.
Archaeologists have also discovered mummified heads around Nazca sites. This practice has a long history in the central Andes and continued through the Inca civilization. The heads were either displayed as a single element, held or tied to the belts of warriors or shamans, or else associated with a mythical creature.
Art and Architecture
Border detail, the Paracas textile, 100 BCE – 300 CE, via Wikimedia Common
The Nazca created fine pottery and textiles, many of which still rest in tombs and graves. They made their pottery in a variety of shapes and forms. Pottery makers ornately decorated the pottery. Typical Nazca pottery had a white, red, or black background before artisans expertly decorated it with depictions of patterns, gods, shamanic imagery, or natural or mythical creatures. Some pottery depicted battle scenes.
The Nazca were unique from other South American cultures because they weaved textiles but also painted plain cotton with colorful images. Thanks to the extremely dry climate, textiles have been preserved well. Figures were the most favored design, often depicting harvest scenes. Animal figures were also popular designs.
Beaten gold mask, ca. 100 BCE-500 CE, by Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons
In addition to pottery and textiles, the Nazca were expert metalworkers who used gold to create masks, hair plumes, and other ornamental jewelry and masks. Shamans probably used the masks and decorations in religious ceremonies.
The Nazca people were also skilled engineers. Because of the desert climate, the Nazca built a complex series of irrigation aqueducts. In the city of Ventilla, a complex of underground aqueducts provided water to the city and fields. The water flowed on descending, spiral ramps to be stored underground. Underground storage ensured a good water-supply during the dry seasons and reduced the amount of evaporation.
Entrance to Nazca aqueduct, via Wikimedia Commons
The Ventilla also featured ceremonial mounds, walled courts, and terraced housing. The religious city of Cahuachi included adobe sanctuaries in the shape of a terraced pyramid, the Great Temple, a 20-meter-high (66-foot) mound used for religious ceremonies, and other mounds within a grand plaza. A low wall surrounded the plaza.
The Nazca Lines
Monkey Nazca Lines, 200 CE-600 BCE, via Penn Museum
While the Nazca were a complex and thriving society in Peru, today, most people know them for their prolific geoglyphs. Geoglyphs are lines or depictions etched into the earth’s surface. Known around the world as the Nazca Lines, the complex series of geoglyphs span the Peruvian desert, scarring the land. While cultures around the world created geoglyphs, the Nazca are well-known because of their astonishing size, state of preservation, and intricate designs.
Researchers estimate that they cover a combined distance of 1,300 km (808 Miles) in the Peruvian desert. The glyphs depict images that fall into one of two categories: representational (natural forms, animals, birds, insects, other living creatures, flowers, plants, and trees, deformed and fantastical representations of daily objects) and lines (generally straight lines that crisscross in all directions, as well as geometrical shapes), some of which radiate from a central point or encircle it.
Owlman aka the Astronaut, ca. 200 BCE-600 CE, via Wikimedia Commons
Some of the most recognizable lines include depictions of a human-like figure, a monkey, a whale, a condor, and great flowers and insects. These glyphs vary in size, and many are best viewed from the air to gain an appreciation for their true size and scope.
Researchers believe that the Nazca created the lines by simply scraping away the oxidized top layer, thereby exposing the desert floor. Because this was such an uncomplicated process, workers could create glyphs quickly.
Hands Nazca Line, ca 200CE-600BCE, photo by PsamatheM, via Wikimedia Commons
The Nazca people created glyphs for hundreds of years, adding to existing glyphs left by previous civilizations. Often, newer glyphs overlap older ones. Other theories state that the Nazca used the lines to “point” to water sources and other important sites. The navigational purpose could help ease the process of gathering water during dry seasons. Other lines connect mountains and religious sites.
Other theories about the purpose of the lines include astronomical purposes, such as depicting an astronomical calendar. Other researchers have largely dismissed these theories since there is no correlation between celestial changes and the organization or pattern of the glyphs.
Nazca Lines, ca. 200 BCE-600 CE, via Wikimedia Commons
Other researchers hypothesize that the lines served different purposes as times changed. Because new glyphs were often constructed over existing ones, some believe that as times and needs changed, so too did the purpose of the glyphs.
In 1997, a group of researchers from a variety of disciplines including archaeology, geophagy, and archaeometry researched the lines, determining that the Nazca used the lines to connect or lead to ceremonial sites. They determined that by walking many of the lines, people would be able to walk from one ceremonial site to another. A straight line connects the cities of Cahuachi and Ventilla.
While the lines are best viewed from the air, many glyphs can still be viewed well from the ground or from hill. Some glyphs are built into the side of hills, allowing them to be viewed from the ground.
Nazca Lines, ca 200 BCE-600 CE, via Escales Ponant Magazine
In 1994, the Nazca Lines became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO cites the unique design, cultural and religious importance, and millennia-long survival of the lines as reasons for their continued preservation.
The Nazca lines are a significant historical artifact that reflects the culture of a long-gone civilization. The inclusion of figures from the glyphs in the textiles and pottery of the culture suggests that these images were vital to the society’s beliefs. As desert-dwelling people, reliance on favorable environmental shifts was paramount to their survival. While the true purpose of the Nazca Lines may never be fully understood, they are nonetheless an important key to studying the Nazca culture and civilization.
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