…en Perú - Travel Culture History News

Descended from the older Paracas civilisation, the Nazca are of course most famous for their countless mysterious lines drawn in the rocky desert plains in which they lived. They were also great water engineers, creating a series of complex aqueducts.

When you think of the Nazca, you think of their mysterious geometric shapes and lines in the desert, which were seemingly important enough to dedicate such huge amounts of time and resources to create.

From their capital city of Cahuachi, archaeologists have gleamed far more information about this pre-Incan people. This city was of immense, memorising proportions. Most estimates put the terrain it covered at as much as 24km2, that’s, dare I mention it, bigger than Chan Chan, built centuries later. It stretches along the sandy slopes overlooking the fertile valley, in a line that is, by my estimate, about 12km. Here you’ll find dozens of pyramids, broken pottery scattered across the desert and textiles just beneath the surface.

What was found here told us that the Nazca were descendants of the older Paracas culture, continuing their production of some of the most complex and creative textile patterns in the Andean world, and continuing and improving upon their ceramic production techniques, creating new methods to produce colourful and more realistic decoration.

From their ancient burial ground of Chauchilla, we learn that far from being small, the average Nazcan was 1.7m or 5.57ft tall. They also sported long thing dreadlocks that reach the floor.

Other than the fascinating lines, or the huge ceremonial city of Cahuachi, the Nazca are also famous for their complex underground aqueducts, bringing water to the more arid parts of their world. Wells leading down into them are found at Cantalloc, near the much later Inca ruins of Paredones, eventual rulers of this land.

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Living on the altiplano – the Andean plateau – are the South American camelids. Llamas and Alpacas have found themselves domesticated by humans and have lived this way for as much as 6000 years. Guanacos and Vicuñas on the other hand still exist in the wild and are heavily protected by law. They are all somehow able to thrive on the tough vegetation and harsh extremes in temperatures that we find at these altitudes. Although these species are distinct, they are close enough to interbreed.

In fact, it’s probably due to the work of ancient humans that the four exist.

Pre-Inca cultures used camelids for food and clothing before beginning to herd them. By the time of the Incas, systemic breeding was taking place. Distinct breeds of llamas and alpacas had come about, and these were separated further into colours and fur lengths.

When the Spanish arrived in Peru, they found civilisations based on textiles. Textiles were used for everything, from clothing, to currency and even bridge construction. Debts, rewards and military salaries were paid in woven textiles with ever more complicated patterns.

To the native peoples, alpacas were considered divine gifts from Pachamama, given on the condition that humans were to care for them and respect them.

The Spanish, however, were only interested in gold. They slaughtered alpacas and llamas in an effort to subjugate the native people, banning their traditional weaving and uses for alpaca fur. It is estimated that as many as 90% of all alpacas and llamas in South America were killed and left to rot. Carefully bred herds, divided by colour and quality were killed or dispersed.

The animals we have today are the descendants of those hidden by natives out of the reaches of the Spanish conquerors.

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