Nazca

After Arequipa we headed up the coast, this time on a much more luxurious bus. We stayed one night in a place called Ica and two nights in Nazca (Nasca). Nazca is famous for large lines and drawings on the ground that are so large that they can only be seen in entirety from the air. There are unanswered questions about these lines and figures, for example, why draw something so large that it can only be seen from the air when it is not possible to fly to see them? what purpose did the lines serve? Erich von Daniken, in Chariots of the Gods, proposed that these lines and figures were evidence of contact with extra-terrestrial intelligence.

However, the proposed explanations seem much less bizarre than that. But, it is interesting that one of the geoglyphs is named 'astronaut'.

While we were here we took a short flight over the Nazca lines and got a bit of a information about them, as you do when you're a tourist. The lines and figures were created by the Nazcas just by picking up the rocks and putting them to the side. The rocks are a dark reddish-brown and the sand underneath is light grey, so removing the rocks leaves behind a light patch relative to the surrounding area. If you wanted to make a long straight line then simply using 3 sticks and lining them up will allow you to do that pretty easily. Perhaps a long bit of string between the sticks to assist with where to pick up the rocks. It turns out that many of these lines align with the sunrise at the winter solstice. Others point to water sources, while others may have just been ancient footpaths across the desert. The lines are between 1500 and 2000 years old. What they do reflect is the intelligence and advanced thinking of people that had a pretty hard life in one of the driest parts of the world.

The other remarkable thing about this place are the mummies. It is possible here to drive to a place where you see human bones piled up on the dirt. While here we did a tour to Chauchilla, an ancient Nazca burial ground. However, in typical display of human red-necked greed, much of this area has been plundered by grave robbers and was only protected 15 years ago. People would dig up the graves, steal a bit of gold or ceramics, and sell them to museums and collectors around the world. Even when we were there we saw European tourists walking off the formed pathways, no doubt, crunching up human bones under their feet.

Some of the mummies are remarkably well preserved. You can see remains of skin, hair and fingernails. Our guide explained how the process worked.

Apparently they used to drain all the fluids out of the bodies, then sit them near the fire for a while to start the process off. After that they treated the skin with 'salts and peppers' to preserve the skin. After that the climate did the rest. It is very, very dry here, almost nothing grows.

The dryness and placing the bodies inside pits in the ground made a stable environment that allowed the preservation to work.

To view the slideshow please click here.