Nazca

The Nazca people were a civilization native to South America in the first millennium AD. Little is known about the Nazca people due to their lack of a writing system, but their monuments and cities stand as archaeological testimony to their culture. They are perhaps most well known for the famous "Nazca lines," great drawings in the mountains which span hundreds of miles. They also constructed a kind of underground aqueduct called a puquio, many of which are still in use.

## Society[edit]

Nazca society was made up of local chiefdoms and regional centers of power, centered around what may have been their capital, Cahuachi. Cahuachi appears to have been only a ceremonial site. Excavations there have found large amounts of pottery, evidence of maize, squash, beans, and peanuts, as well as some fish, plain and fancy textiles, trace amounts of gold and shell, and an array of ritual paraphernalia. The remains of pottery found at Cahuachi led archaeologists to believe that the site was specifically non-urban and ceremonial in nature. Much of Nazca religious belief centered around agriculture and fertility.

## The Nazca Lines[edit]

The "Nazca lines" are a series of geometric shapes, miles of lines, and large drawings of animal figures (some as large as a football field) constructed on the desert floor in the Nazca region. Many theories have surrounded the great geoglyphs in the Nazca desert, but their purpose has not yet been determined. Some interpretations suggest they were created for the Gods to look upon them from above, while others suggest they were some sort of calendar with astronomical alignments that would aid in planting and harvesting of crops. Others have postulated that the purpose of the lines was not to be looked at, but to be walked upon as a sort of ceremonial procession.