Nasca

The Nasca lines is what the presentation is about.

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• The Nasca lines became widely known in the late 1920's
• When plane travelers discovered them.
• The Nasca lines have puzzled archaeologists, anthropologists

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Since 1997 a large Peruvian-German research collaboration has been under way near the town of Palpa

As there plane banked into another turn, Isla, a native of the highlands who works at the Andean Institute of Archaeological Studies, kept his broad, high-cheeked face pressed to the window. "Trapezoid!" he shouted, pointing out a huge geometrical clearing looming into sight. "Platform!" he added, gesturing with his finger.

He platform was pointing at a small heap of stones at one end of the trapezoid. If Isla and his colleagues are right, such unprepossessing structures may hold a key to understanding the true purpose of the Nasca lines. The story begins, and ends, with water.

The coastal region of southern Peru and northern Chile is one of the driest places on Earth and according to Eitel and his University of Heidelberg colleague Bertil Mächtle, the micro­climate in the Nasca region has oscillated dramatically over the past 5,000 years. When a high-pressure system over central South America called the Bolivian High moves to the north, more rain falls on the western slopes of the Andes.

Nasca