ANCIENT GRAFFITI AND THE NAZCA LINES OF PERU

            I had spent time in the town of Nazca last year, but did not try the tourist light plane fixed-wing flights to see the world famous Nazca lines. Instead I only saw the lines from the highway lookout tower, which affords very little perspective on these immense Earth graffiti left by pre-Inca desert rats. It was time to change that. The previous night’s dinner and beers on a balcony overlooking main street in the town of Nazca was followed by after dinner Pisco Sours, setting the stage for a late start today, and then a lazy taxi ride to the small airport in the southern part of town. Here we find our reserved plane, which should be on standby and ready to go, but the moment we arrived they tell us we are taking a larger plane to be shared with several Chinese and Spanish tourists, plus the departure time is now two hours out. Not much to do in the tiny airport, not even a decent snack bar for coffee. So we killed time sitting on the brown plastic garden-style chairs, and then go through the metal detectors at security for their cheesy small waiting room. I was expecting the metal detectors to be turned off, but somebody managed to trip it, starting the flashing red lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many have studied, or speculated, on the purpose behind the Nazca lines. The desert pediments of the Sechura Desert have surfaces little changed over millions of years and they are ideal for long preservation of any mark left upon them. The pre-Inca Nazca Culture added many other records to their existence on the barren flanks of the Andes, digging aqueducts, making sophisticated pottery, and leaving behind fields of blank-wrapped mummies. The Nazca lines are the most enigmatic aspect of their beliefs. Running favorite explanations include messages to the gods, markers for tracking astronomical features of the crazy brilliant star-studded night skies, directions to the ever scarce water, and, as popularized by television programs, the lines were obedient Earthworks directed by aliens. What is more immediate waiting for the flight to see the lines is thinking about the Peruvian light aircraft maintenance protocols. Every couple of years a plane crashes killing a load full of tourists. The flight paths are at low elevation, the barren rocky strewn plains are ideal for thermal turbulence, the airplanes look tired, and maybe even the pilots are drunk on Pisco. Is seeing the Nazca lines worth the risk? More importantly, are they worth the long wait?

            We board the 12-seater overhead winged plane, taxi down to the end of the rough and short runway, which is surrounded by drab walls and slum homes on the desert alluvial plain, and then lurch upwards. The pilot does not attempt to gain any real height above the deck, and immediately takes a turbulence-jolted route northward. A short while later the plane seriously banks on end to show this first geoglyph while the pilot narrates in English, “Under the wing, now, the whale, the whale, under the wing.” Then, “Now for the left side, under the wing, the whale.” Feeling the odd pull of gravity with the widely pitching flight, not half way through the tour the non-geologist participants were already using the plastic barf bags. The pilot swerves left and right, announcing “under the wing, the monkey, under the wing, the monkey.” More puking. “Now to the right, the spider, the spider.” The smell in the cabin is nauseating. A hard turn to the left, “Under the wing, the tree, the tree.”

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Nazca lines from the air do not present any more revelation into the underlying significance of the drawings. Overall, we have two classes of massive drawings, animals and long straight lines. The hummingbird, monkey, parrot, spider, whale, dog, etc. These figures also appearing on their pottery and textiles, and can be compared to jungle characters for the spirit world, power, maybe even as their sport team’s mascots, but the lines are another creature. Many attribute them to astronomical studies, the constellations, celestial clocks, and tracking of the seasons. The amount of manpower and technology to draft them less important as to their meaning, including the preoccupation that many can only be appreciated from the heavens, thus speculations on the importance of aliens as directors of the designs. Alternatively, and less heavenly, one can ponder if the Nazca lines are representations of human vanity, one chief’s desire to outdo another’s monument.

Back at the town of Nazca, in the hotel lobby at Casa Andina, one can stand around a scale model of Nazca lines. We have already gone over the alien participation hypothesis, the run-of-mill astronomical chart explanation, and have moved to more serious debate revolving about forms of punishment, a field for Olympic-style games, lines following magnetic fields, guidelines for hiking during foggy days, the lines drawn out of shear boredom, the influence of various drugs, and the insidious design of the early Peruvian Republic fabricating the lines such that 100 years later it would generate revenue as a tourist attraction. After spending a week being based in Nazca, we have had some time to consider the lines. Whether messages to the gods or shear random acts not meant to convey anything, either way the desert doodles may not be anything haughtier in purpose than much of today’s graffiti.

 

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South America seems to refuse to show its inexhaustible creative force.