Nazca and Palpa Provinces, Ica Region, southern Peru; on the Nazca Pampa — a high desert plateau between the Nazca and Ingenio rivers, Peru
The Nazca Lines are a collection of hundreds of large geoglyphs — figures and geometric shapes etched into the surface of the Nazca Pampa desert plateau in southern Peru by the Nazca culture between approximately 500 BCE and 500 CE. The figures include representations of animals (a hummingbird, a spider, a monkey, a condor, a whale, a dog, a lizard), plants, and humanoid figures, as well as vast networks of straight lines up to 48 kilometres in length, geometric shapes, and trapezoids. The largest figures span over 370 metres. Created by removing the dark surface layer of iron-oxide-coated pebbles to reveal the pale yellow-grey ground beneath, the Nazca Lines are the largest pre-Columbian art on Earth and are most clearly visible from the air, though they were created by people who had no means of flight. The function of the Nazca Lines remains disputed: proposed explanations include astronomical calendar marking, ritual walking paths associated with water and fertility, or a form of communication with sky deities.
Created approximately 500 BCE–500 CE by the Nazca culture; documented from the air by Peruvian pilot Pedro Paulet 1926 and systematically studied by Paul Kosok from 1941; UNESCO World Heritage Site 1994
