Antiquities » Pre Columbian » The Nazca

The Nazca culture (often spelled Nasca) flourished in the Nazca region concomitantly with the Moche culture in what is now northern Peru. They are sometimes credited with creating the famous Nazca lines, and they also built an impressive system of underground aqueducts that still function today. On the pampa, on which the Nazca lines were made, the ceremonial city of Cahuachi (1-500 A.D.) sits overlooking the lines. The Nasca culture is characterized by its beautiful polychrome pottery painted with up to 12 distinct colors. The Nasca culture began about 100 B.C., at the end of the Early Horizon, developing directly from the Paracas culture. The Nasca, like all other Pre-Columbian societies in South America including the Inca, had no writing system, in contrast to the contemporary Maya of Mesoamerica. Thus the iconography or symbols painted on their ceramics served as a means of communication. The motifs depicted on Nasca pottery fall into two major categories: sacred and profane. The Nasca believed in powerful nature spirits who were thought to control most aspects of life. Scenes of warfare, decapitation, and the ritual use of human trophy heads by shamans reflect other aspects of Nasca religious life.