WASHINGTON - A new theory
has been advanced to explain one
of archeology’s most intriguing
riddles; Why were the Nazca lines
formed in southern Peru hundreds
of years ago?
The lines, which cover hundreds
of miles of arid plateau, have been
attributed to a coastal people
called the Nazca, who lived there
between 100 B.C. and A.D. 700.
Johan G. Remhard, an American
anthropologist and mountain
climber who has lived in South
America for the last four years,
thinks the lines were made to
honor gods thought to live in the
nearby mountains. They sup
posedly controlled the water
supply in the area and the fertility
of crops and animal herds.
A giant 150-foot-long spider one of the many Nazca lines
etched in the sands of southern Peru is clearly visible from
the air. Probably made about 2,000 years ago by a coastal
people known as the Nazcas, the lines, which cover hundreds
of square miles, range from animal figures to elaborate
geometric designs. Joffan G. Reinhard, an American an
thropologist, believes they were made as part of a water and
fertility cult associated with mountain deities.
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Mysterious Nazca lines explained by water-fertility cult theory
“To the Nazca people,
ceremonies worshipping these
gods must have been of prime
importance,” says Reinhard.
“Mountains to the east were
critical to agriculture, a mainstay
of the economy.”
The anthropologist points out
that the belief had a sound
ecological basis, because moun
tains do influence weather and are
the sources of many streams and
rivers upon which harvests and
animals rely.
“This also explains why
mountain worship is still common
throughout the Andes and was
prevalent among Incas at the time
of the Spanish Conquest,” he says.
People of the region still practice
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Based on Fact
Machu Picchu 8,000-foot-high citadel of the ancient Incas hangs on a moun
tainside in Peru. Since the discovery of Machu Picchu in 1911, scientists have
speculated about its function in Inca society. A new hypothesis suggests that it was built
not only for strategic reasons, but as a place to worship mountain gods. All of the major
peaks around Machu Picchu were considered sacred by the Incas and are still worshiped
by their Peruvian descendants.
the water-fertility cult. Exploring
the summit of Cerro Blanco, one of
the mountains near the lines,
Reinhard recently found offerings
of cotton plants and river stones
near the summit. The cotton was
meant to increase crops, the river
stones the water supply for the
fields.
Reinhard, whose work, is par
tially. funded by the National
Geographic Society, feels that
almost all the ancient Nazca
figures found on the desert floor fit
in with a water-fertility cult in one
way or another. For instance, the
image of a giant spider was
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probably made because the insect
was associated with rain.
The birds could all be linked in
one way or another with mountain
gods, and the monkey, he points
out, has been considered a
protector of water.
Bird’s-eye View
Why were the animal figures
visible only from the air? So they
could be easily viewed by the
mountain gods or their winged
emissaries, Reinhard believes.
As for the straight lines,
Reinhard thinks they served as
sacred paths to places where
fertility rituals were performed,'
or, in the case of shorter lines and
large triangles, they denoted
symbolic connectors with sources
of water.
He points out that the oscillatini
or spiral forms were symbols fo
water and the zigzag marking!
might represent either rivers or
lightning.
“In the case of phenomena so
complex and little known as the
geoglyphs at Nazca, we will
doubtless never be able to com
pletely understand their
meanings,” cautions Remhard. ■
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