Another group of geoglyphs
The famous lines and animals lie on the flat plain near the town of Nazca. A short distance to the north, around the town of Palpa, a different group of geoglyphs covers the slopes of hills overlooking river valleys. These have received less popular attention but are important to understanding the whole tradition, because many of them are older than the classic Nazca designs. The Palpa figures are the main reason scholars now describe geoglyph making in this region as a long tradition spanning many centuries, not a single episode.
Where and what
The Palpa area includes several valleys, among them the Palpa, Viscas, Ingenio and Nazca valleys, which flow from the Andes toward the coast. Geoglyphs are found on the surrounding hills and ridges. Because they are on slopes, they can be seen from the valley floor and from settlements below, in contrast to the plain’s designs, which are largely seen from within or from above.
The figures include:
- human or human-like figures, sometimes with raised arms or elaborate headgear;
- animals and birds, and in some cases composite beings;
- large circular or sun-like designs and geometric patterns;
- the occasional trapezoid or line, usually on lower ground.
Many are drawn in outline, but some are filled areas made by clearing or scraping the surface to expose pale ground, much as on the plain.
Linked to earlier peoples
Archaeological work in the Palpa region, notably by a joint Peruvian and German project led by Johny Isla and Markus Reindel, has combined survey of the geoglyphs with excavation of nearby settlements and cemeteries. The results connect many of the hillside figures with the Paracas culture, which flourished in the first millennium BCE, and with the Topara people, whose period overlaps the late Paracas and early Nazca phases. These attributions rest on the pottery found with the figures, on the style of the images, and on scientific dating of material associated with them.
The dating methods include radiocarbon dating of organic material and techniques that estimate when buried sediments were last exposed to light. Such dating has a margin of error, so periods are given as ranges. In broad terms, the hillside figures begin several centuries before the Nazca culture, and later Nazca-period people also made designs in the same area.
How they differ from the Nazca pampa lines
The contrasts are noticeable.
Placement. Palpa figures are on hillsides and visible from the valley, so they suggest display to a local population. Pampa designs lie on the flat plateau away from the settlements and suit walking along them.
Subject. Palpa figures are more often people and elaborate beings, and the style resembles figures on Paracas textiles and on pottery of the period. The classic Nazca plain, by contrast, is dominated by lines, cleared areas and animals.
Date. Many Palpa figures are older. The Nazca plain’s best-known designs mostly belong to the Nazca period.
Style. The older figures tend to be framed in a more varied way, showing detail such as hands, faces and headdresses, whereas many pampa animals are simple outlines.
These differences mean that the term “Nazca Lines” covers more than one tradition. Researchers now speak of the geoglyphs of Nazca and Palpa together, and the UNESCO listing was later widened to cover both.
What they may have meant
As with the pampa, the meaning is uncertain. The human figures are sometimes interpreted as ancestors, leaders or ritual participants, and their visibility from the valley fits an idea that they marked territory or communicated identity. Excavations have also revealed offerings and structures near some figures, which supports the idea of ritual use. Elements such as raised arms and large headgear echo images on textiles and pottery, a link that belongs to the broader study of Nazca iconography.
Researchers also point to the move over time from figures meant to be seen from the valley to lines meant to be walked on the plain, and some suggest that changes in social organisation, ritual and climate lie behind this. That kind of story is a hypothesis and remains under discussion.
Why Palpa matters
The Palpa geoglyphs show that people on the south coast of Peru had been creating large images on the landscape long before the Nazca culture. They also connect the lines with specific known peoples and with datable settlements, which helps counter the idea that the markings are isolated or unexplained. Work is ongoing, and new survey methods such as drone mapping and LiDAR survey are expected to refine the count and condition of the figures.
Conservation is a concern here too. Hillside figures are exposed to erosion, rain runoff and development, and the rural communities in the valleys share responsibility for looking after them as part of the living cultural landscape of southern Peru.