Holiday Attractions

Unraveling the mysteries of Nazca Lines – Part 2

Reiche, who died in 1998 at the age of 95, devoted her life to studying the Nazca lines, which she measured, cleaned, analyzed and charted daily from the air and from a 15-meter Nazca Lineshigh platform she built. She developed the most widely accepted theories on the hundreds of drawings that cover a 50km belt between Nazca and Palpa, describing them as an “astronomical calendar”.

“This work was done so that gods could see it and from above, help the ancient Peruvians with their farming, fishing and all their other activities, “ said Reiche. For example, she speculated that he drawing of the monkey was the Nazca symbol for the Big Dipper, the constellation representing rain. When the rain was overdue, a common occurrence in the plain where it only rains the equivalent of about half an hour every two years – the monkey was sketched so that the gods, looking down would be reminded that the earth was parched.

Reiche also shed light on how the Nazca people could have made the huge sketches with such symmetry. She determined that they used a basic unit of measurement, probably the distance from their elbows to their forefingers and based all calculations upon this. As for symmetry, Reiche believed they used ropes tied to stakes to form circles and arcs that they cut with straight lines.

There are of course those who do not accept Reiche’s theories, denying that Nazca people would have drawn something they themselves could not see. Because the drawings are only visible from the air, the International Explorers Club set out in 1975 to prove a theory that the Nazcas had aircraft. They made a hot air balloon, the Condor I, out of cloth and reed and flew it for 60 seconds, reaching an altitude of 100 meters. But the flight proved little.

One Comment

  • Hotel Paracas a Luxury Collection

    Communique

    In light of last weekend’s tsunami warning, we would like to make the following statement:

    The Hotel Paracas, a Luxury Collection Resort, did not suffer any damage whatsoever, was unaffected by any flooding, and operated under normal conditions throughout the entire weekend.

    In terms of the hotel’s Ballestas Islands tours offered by its activity department, T’ikariy, these restarted yesterday after the Port Authority closed the entire port on Saturday and partially closed it on Sunday. Both the motorboats and the private yacht that take guests to the islands are operating normally and following their customary schedules.

    We would also like to remind our patrons that the T’ikariy operated 2008 Cessna Grand Caravan airplane has also recommenced its flights over the Nazca Lines today and that it only flies out of the Pisco Airport (not the Nazca Airfield). Furthermore, we wish to stress that the airplane’s instruments and mechanical components are strictly maintained according to the requirements of the General Directorate of the Civil Aeronautics of Peru (DGAC) and the plane is flown under the command of a duly certified pilot and co-pilot.

    We would like to thank all tour agencies and operators for their confidence in us and to assure them that T’ikariy will continue offering them completely safe services for their clients.

    Lima, Peru
    March 2, 2010