The desert canvas — ancient geoglyphs etched on Peru's tableland
Nazca is a small desert town in southern Peru whose fame rests entirely on the Nazca Lines — a UNESCO World Heritage Site covering 450 sq km of pampa where the Nazca culture (100 BC–800 AD) etched enormous geoglyphs of animals, plants, and geometric figures into the red gravel desert. Best seen from small charter flights, the hummingbird, spider, condor, and monkey figures are among the greatest archaeological mysteries on Earth.
The Nazca Lines were made by removing the reddish-brown iron oxide-coated pebbles that cover the desert's surface to reveal the light-coloured earth underneath. Created between 500 BC and 500 AD by the pre-Inca Nazca people, they were largely unknown to the outside world until Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejía Xesspe spotted them on foot in 1927. Researcher Maria Reiche dedicated 40 years of her life to studying and preserving them from 1946 until her death in 1998.