Archaeological tourism in Peru: the nazca lines as an irrigation system for mega water crops
Abstract
The Nazca Lines have been the subject of academic speculation since the beginning of the last century thanks to the German archaeologist and mathematician María Reiche Newman (1903–1998). Nationalized Peruvian, she dedicated her entire life to preserving, researching, and making the enormous geoglyphs known to the world, which today have become one main tourist attractions of the country.
The objective of this study is to review the contributions made so far and to apply reverse engineering to the different elements that make up the Nazca Lines, whose function is still unknown, so that a new story can be prepared to disseminate this knowledge.
The methods used have been taken from civil engineering. Satellite imagery programs and CAD programs have been used. Numerous images and videos have also been studied, in addition to field visits.
The results obtained reveal constant slopes of the terrain compatible with a continuous flow of water of different depths. The study of the different geometries shows the possibility of being elements integrated within the same system, whose functions range from the collection and conduction of water to its acceleration and deceleration, distribution, drainage, and its accumulation.
This leads us to understand the famous Nazca Lines as a complex water management system for irrigation of vast extensions of the desert, where the main objective was an exhaustive use and control of the water in the different seasons of the year, in the face of radically changing conditions of the humidity existing in that region.
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