Travel guide
Theories about the Nazca Lines
The Nazca left no written records, so the purpose of the lines is still debated. Four explanations have serious support among archaeologists; one, the extraterrestrial theory, has none but remains the most famous. Here is what each says and what the evidence shows.
Updated: 2026-09-16
An astronomical calendar
Paul Kosok noticed in 1941 that a line pointed to the sunset on the winter solstice, and María Reiche spent decades measuring alignments with solstices, equinoxes and the rising of stars such as the Pleiades. In her view the pampa was a giant calendar that told farmers when to plant and when the rivers would rise.
Later statistical studies, notably by the astronomer Gerald Hawkins in 1968, found that the number of lines aligned with astronomical events was no higher than chance. Some alignments are real, but the calendar cannot explain the majority of lines.
Water and fertility rituals
The most widely accepted theory today. In one of the driest deserts on Earth, water was life. Many lines point to places where underground water surfaces, and the trapezoids are often aligned with the direction of the rivers. Figures like the Hummingbird, the Monkey and the Spider are symbols of water and fertility in Nazca pottery.
Excavations by the German Archaeological Institute at Palpa found offerings of Spondylus shells, a sea creature linked to rain and water throughout the Andes, at the ends of lines. The Cahuachi pilgrimage centre, 25 km away, is connected to the pampa by several straight lines.
Ceremonial walkways
The figures are drawn with a single continuous line that never crosses itself, with an entrance and an exit: they can be walked. Anthropologists such as Johan Reinhard and Anthony Aveni argue the lines were processional paths, walked during ceremonies to ask for water, and that seeing them from above was never the point.
The hundreds of small figures found with drones since 2019 sit beside footpaths and are best seen from the ground, which supports this idea.
Maps of underground water
The American researcher David Johnson proposed in the 1990s that the trapezoids and lines mark the course of underground aquifers and the puquios, the spiral wells the Nazca dug to reach them. Geologists have confirmed a link between some figures and water sources, though not for all of them.
Why the alien theory is wrong
Erich von Däniken's 1968 book Chariots of the Gods claimed the trapezoids were landing strips for spacecraft. The soil of the pampa is soft; any aircraft would sink. The stakes, ropes, pottery and radiocarbon dates show exactly who made the lines and when. And a team of students reproduced a large figure in a few days with the tools available to the Nazca.
The Astronaut, the figure that fuelled the myth, is an owl-headed man, a common motif in Paracas and Nazca textiles. The legend is good fun, and our Nazca Lines Alien Tour tells it with a smile, but the lines are a human achievement, which makes them more impressive, not less.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most accepted theory about the Nazca Lines?
That they were ceremonial paths and offerings linked to water and fertility. Offerings of sea shells, the alignment with rivers and springs, and the water symbols of the figures support it.
Did María Reiche prove the astronomical theory?
She documented real alignments with solstices and some stars, but later statistical work showed most lines do not point to astronomical events. Her greatest legacy is the protection of the lines.
Could the Nazca see the figures?
Not whole. They could plan them with scaled drawings and ropes, and walk them. Nearby hills give a partial view of some lines.
Were the Nazca Lines made by aliens?
No. Wooden stakes, ropes, pottery and radiocarbon dates show the Nazca people made them between AD 100 and 600 with simple tools.
