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Eleanor Smith © 2004

Set in the coastal desert of southern Peru, you can find the archaeological mystery that is the Nasca lines. The lines are gigantic patterns etched into the desert of both geometric designs and animals and are so large that they can only be appreciated from the air. No one has really discovered their purpose, and we don't know for sure that they were even built by the Nasca (who were a civilisation in the area from about 200BC- 1200AD). Nasca pottery has been found on the surface of the lines, but that is by no means conclusive.

There have been many attempted explanations of the lines, from the sensible to the unlikely to the downright ridiculous (to archaeologists, at least - I'm sure some people believe it). I am, of course, talking about Erik Von Daniken and his aliens. In Chariot of the Gods (I think it's in that book) Von Daniken puts forward the theory that the triangular long lines were created by spacecraft landing and that the patterns and animals were built to show the aliens where to land and to welcome them. Needless to say, it's not the most reputable of theories for the scholars of the lines. The other two main theories are the 'calendar' theory and the 'ritual procession' theory. The first says that some of the geoglyphs (another word for the lines) are either aligned with certain stars or represent a Nasca calendar. Of course some of the lines align with stars! There are so many lines and so many stars that some of them are bound to align. However, there have been several projects to find out how many stars and lines align, but the figure they came up with leads us to believe that the alignments were coincidental. As for the calendar theory, well it's more plausible, but it is difficult to see the patterns forming any kind of regular display. There is no evidence for or against that theory, other than our lack of being able to imagine the Nasca calendar.

The infinitely more likely explanation, the 'ritual procession' theory, tells us how the lines were walked in some kind of religious ceremony (possibly having something to do with bringing the rains - like I said, this is the desert!). If you look at the pattern of the lines, you can see that the animals are all drawn with a single line - ideal for walking around. The large amount of Nasca pottery suggests ritual smashing, as you wouldn't expect to find pottery in such a location.

Taking all the evidence into account, it is impossible to say for certain what the purpose of the lines was, but we can make educated guesses. Most current scholars of the lines probably believe in the ritual procession theory, although some prefer the calendar. However, unless some more conclusive information comes to light, the lines will remain a mystery.

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