Flying Over the Nazca Lines

During a trip to Peru I took a small airplane over the Nazca Lines. Geoglyphs cut into desert, thousands of years old, and still argued over. From the ground you do not get them. From the air you do.

What they are

The lines sit on the desert plains of southern Peru. They are usually dated to the Nazca people, between about 500 BC and 500 AD. Some are simple geometry. Some are animals and plants: hummingbirds, monkeys, a large spider. What they were for is still open. Calendars, ritual, something else.

The flight

I boarded a small plane at a nearby airstrip, got a short safety briefing, and we took off into a clear sky. Within a few minutes the figures started to show, spread across the desert.

The pilot tilted the plane so both sides of the cabin could see. Some lines run for miles. Others are tight drawings that only make sense from above. The hummingbird, the condor, and the monkey were the ones I already knew, and they were sharper than the photos.

The flight was about 30 to 40 minutes, long enough for a dozen or so of the main figures. I kept coming back to the same questions. How. Why. Who. Seeing them did not answer that.

The theories

People have thrown a lot at these lines. Astronomical calendars, aligned with stars or planets. Religious work, maybe about water in a dry place. A few people still like the ancient-aliens version, which has no evidence behind it.

The dry climate is why they are still here. The purpose is why they are still interesting.

After the landing

The flight is short, and it is worth doing if you are in Peru. I got off the plane still wondering how anyone pulled this off in a desert like that.