Start here
Unraveling the Enigma of the Nazca Lines
Why archaeologists reject ancient astronaut and landing strip claims about the Nazca Lines, based on dating, tools, experiments and the Nazca people's own record.
The Americas
Nazca Debates and Preservation
Rival explanations for the Nazca Lines, fringe claims and efforts to protect the site.
The Mysterious Case of the Nazca Lines' Purpose
Weighs the water and fertility hypothesis, ritual walking paths and the puquios against the early astronomical calendar idea for the Nazca Lines.
Unraveling the Secrets of the Ancient Nazca Lines
How the Nazca Lines survive in the Peruvian desert, what threatens them, and how drones and machine learning surveys are revealing more figures.
Related topics
More in the americas
Maya Calendar and Script How the Maya counted time, wrote and understood the cosmos. Maya Cities and History Maya city-states, their rise and collapse, and the Spanish conquest. Inca Empire and Road Inca society, roads, timekeeping and the Spanish conquest. Inca Cities Cuzco, Machu Picchu and other Inca stone cities. Aztec Empire and Conquest The Aztec Triple Alliance, its religion and its fall. Nazca and Andean Mysteries The Nazca Lines and the puzzles of the ancient Andes. Early American Cultures Lesser known cultures of North, Central and South America. Olmec and Isthmian Cultures The Olmec heartland and its Epi-Olmec successors on the Gulf coast of Mexico. Maya Rulers, Religion and Life Maya kings, myths and everyday life, from dynastic politics to the underworld. Inca Expansion and Resistance How the Inca empire grew, fought, fractured and held out against Spain. Lost Cities of the Americas Legendary lost cities of South America, separating evidence from myth and hoax. Easter Island and Rapa Nui The moai, the island people and the debate over what happened to them. Polynesia and the Pacific Ancient voyagers, island chiefdoms and the settlement of Oceania.