-1 101 Z In the desert north of the important Nazca centre of Cahuachi, there are many networks of lines made by removing dark stones to reveal the light ground beneath. Only from the air is it possible to see that these form designs in the shape of birds, animals and geometric shapes. Their enigmatic purpose has inspired many theories, including wild and improbable notions.
#Nazca Lines - opening PW
1 102 A A monkey with its tail coiled in a spiral. Although monkeys inhabited the jungles of the north and of the Amazon region and were foreign to the coastal desert, they were important in the iconography (religious imagery) of coastal cultures and monkey skeletons have been found in a number of burials in this area.
#Monkey
2 102 B A spider, important in local lore as a harbinger of rainy weather.
#Spider
3 102 C A killer whale, frequently associated with images of death including severed human heads. Death and sacrifice were intimately connected in Nazca religion with the fertility of both humans and plants.
#Killer whale
4 102 D A huge image of a bird, its wingspan over 350 ft, variously identified as a cormorant, condor or hummingbird. All three are shown on the Nazca pottery. Birds were often regarded as spirit messengers between gods and people.
#Bird
5 102 E A dog or fox: traditionally both were servants of the mountain gods and acted as their messengers to people, their appearance often being interpreted as a sign of imminent rain.
#Dog or Fox
6 102 F The frigate bird, a seabird nowadays not found further south than Ecuador, but represented on Nazca pots. It is identifiable by the red throat patch that the bird can inflate at will, to attract mates and to intimidate competitors for food.
#Frigate bird
7 102 G A humming bird, mythologically associated with the sun and also symbolizing both beauty and fierceness, was frequently represented in Nazca art. It was one of a number of birds regarded as messengers of the gods or incarnations of the gods themselves.
#Humming bird
8 102 H A bird with an immensely long zigzag neck, probably intended to represent a cormorant, one of a number of birds associated with rain.
#Cormorant
9 102 I Some designs are patterns of lines that lead a walker along them repeatedly to and from a central point. Following the lines is likely to have been part of the ritual associated with the Nazca Lines.
#Pattern
10 102 J Long straight lines often radiate from a central point marked by a small cairn at which offerings were made, and lead to other such central points. These resemble the later Inca roads which similarly led to shrines; their maintenance was the responsibility of individual communities or kin groups.
#Straight lines
11 102 K A number of designs seem to be connected with weaving and textiles, highly valued in Andean society. This design may represent a needle and thread; nearby images include a possible loom.
#Needle and thread
12 101 X A number of long thin triangles, from which all the stones had been cleared, are found among the lines. Several point to the Cerro Blanco sanddune which is linked in mythology to vital water supplies. A number of Nazca Lines radiating from Cerro Blanco are continued by the course of underground Nazca aqueducts.
#Triangles
13 101 X The Cerro Blanco, a vast dune of white coastal sand, was revered as the 'Volcano of Water', source of subterranean water in the Nazca valley tapped by Nazca underground aqueducts. Many legends surround the Cerro Blanco and offerings are still made there in time of drought.
#Cerro Blanco
14 102 N Among the Nazca Lines were many vast geometric shapes from which all stones had been carefully removed. They are always located near or connected to figures. Of these the Great Rectangle is the largest. They may have functioned as the scene of ceremonial activities; meticulously cleaned open areas are used for this purpose today.