Archaeologically these peculiar features are called “geoglyphs”, a modern composite based on Greek gē = “earth, ground” and glyphō = “carve, cut out, engrave”. Thus, literally “geoglyph” means “ground carving”.
Included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1994, the Lines are located in the Nazca Desert, a large region between the towns of Nazca and Palpa.
It was suggested that the lines were made in the later part of the Early Intermediate Period by people of the Nazca Culture.
The geoglyphs were mostly made by removing the dark surface layer of the desert varnish (the weathered and oxidized thin top layer) to reveal the pale, ‘sandy’ subsoil.
Most of the lines are depicted as just simple lines and geometric shapes, yet about 70 figures are designed as animals, birds, trees, flowers and humans.
Nazca Lines
