All You Need to Know About Nazca Lines

This article is a continuation of a blog series.
If you missed the first part, check it out here.

How Many Nazca Lines Are There?

There is a total of 800 straight lines, 70 animal and plant figures, as well as more than 300 geometric figures.

In 2011, there was the announcement of two new small figures by a Japanese team from Yamagata University. And later, in March 2012, the University announced the opening of a new research center at the site. That was set up to facilitate the study of this area for the next 15 years.

Since 2006, the team is conducting fieldwork in this location. By 2019, the team announced the discovery of 143 new geoglyphs, courtesy of Yamagata University, and IBM Japan.

Can We Preserve the Nazca Lines for the Future?

Nazca lines, unlike most other relics around the world, can be spared from unintentional destruction. That’s all thanks to their convenient location. However, when it comes to the geoglyphs, these aren’t entirely safe.

People who have been trying to preserve Nazca lines over the years are mostly concerned about threats of erosion and pollution, mainly as a result of deforestation in this arid region.

In fact, ‘The Lines themselves are superficial, they are only 10 to 30 cm deep and could be washed away… Nazca has only ever received a small amount of rain. But now there are great changes to the weather all over the world. The Lines cannot resist heavy rain without being damaged.’ – Viktoria Nikitzki of the Maria Reiche Centre

Back in 2009, these Nazca lines recorded their first instance of rain damage. That was due to the torrential downpours that were flowing off the Pan-American highway. This flooding led to the deposition of both clay and sand into the three-fingers hand-shaped geoglyph.

Five years later, during a media stunt, Greenpeace damaged another region close by the hummingbird geoglyph. While on their errands to lay down a sign about renewable energy on a forbidden area of the desert, they trampled over the upper layer of rocks.

Later in 2018, there was a commercial driver who drove on to a particular portion of the geoglyphs. He was arrested, although he etched some profound scars into 100 feet by 300 feet area. Due to the damage caused by the driver, extra surveillance and security have been put in place.

Just like many other natural wonders in the world today, the Nazca lines too can disappear in our lifetimes if not well preserved. Although they have survived thousands of years, these Nazca lines could be swept away by rainstorms or climatic crisis.

These Nazca lines are exposed to the danger of human destruction. That’s because of road constructions, urbanization, among other human activities. These remain to be some of the biggest threats to the Nazca lines than any other natural reason.

And perhaps it’s this impermanence of the Nazca lines what makes them so special, and not the symbolism that people perceive them to hold…

Conclusion

As you have seen from this blog series, the Nazca lines and Nazca culture, in general, is one of a kind. However, due to human activities over the years, there is a risk of the potential destruction of this special place. And that is why saving and supporting world heritage is very important to our team.

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The best thing is that if you buy from our store, you support UNESCO’s work to preserve this important cultural and world heritage site because 10% of your purchase is donated to UNESCO’s World Heritage Center in every month.

You can read more about our Charity mission by clicking here.

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