Throughout the Pacific coastal regions of  South America there are geoglyphs.  Several indigenous cultures produced and used geoglyphs for a variety of reasons, from religious to astronomical.  Here are some of the other geoglyphs that can be found in Peru, Chile, and Argentina (others will be added over time).

According to the Nazca-Palpa Project:

Ceramics found on geoglyphs, stratigraphic relationships between geoglyphs and other cultural features, as well as iconographic parallels show that the first geoglyphs were made in Late Paracas times at about 400 BC when motifs hitherto graved into rocks and boulders (petroglyphs) were transfered to the stone-covered desert surface on the hillsides framing the valleys. These earliest figures were not very large, showed human figures and were meant to be seen from far away. Later on, the first geometric geoglyphs, like straight lines and small trapezoids, were traced in similar settings on hillsides. By Initial Nasca times (200-1 BC) the flat plateaus above the valley were for the first time used for the tracing of geoglyphs that were no longer visible from the valley floors. In Early Nasca times (AD 1-250) geoglyph making and use reached its peak. A wide variety of geoglyphs, including different kinds of lines, biomorphic figures, spirals, and trapezoids, were created. All major plateaus surrounding the valleys were occupied by large geoglyph complexes that were used to walk on lines and trapezoids and to deposit pottery and food along geoglyphs and on stone platforms. In Middle (AD 250-450) and Late Nasca times (AD 450-600) geoglyph related activity dropped bit by bit to lower levels. Some geoglyph sites were abandoned, and formal variety was reduced to lines and trapezoids. New geoglyphs were still being constructed, however, among them some of the largest geoglyphs known in the Palpa area. This activity ceased only at the end of the Nasca era (after AD 600) when the Wari empire from the highlands to the east extended its area of influence down to the south coast. The deposition of pottery on the geoglyphs continued for a certain time, now with ceramics in the new style, before they were definitely abandoned before AD 800.

  Geoglyph complexes were most probably related to kin groups who possibly shared common land rights. Members of these groups gathered on different occasions out in the desert to create new geoglyphs, to remodel existing ones, or to walk along lines and trapezoids in a prescribed fashion, depositing ceramic vessels (possibly containing food or beverages), field crops, textiles, Spondylus shells and other goods on geoglyph borders or on stone platforms upon them. All these goods were in some way or another related to concepts of water and fertility. It is to assume that a cult revolving around these themes guided the activities on the geoglyphs. The relative uniformity of geoglyphs through time and space shows that these concepts were crucial elements of the worldview shared by the ancient inhabitants of the Nasca region (and elsewhere). It is important to note in this context that in a common effort vast stretches of the desert were marked at large scale and thereby integrated into the cultural domain of the valley-based society. Thus, like never before or later, the hostile desert was converted into dynamic and vibrant cultural space. However, the geoglyphs bear not only integrative, but also competitive elements. Visibility studies clearly show that intervisibility was an important aspect in geoglyph placement and order. Though the geoglyphs themselves were usually not easily discernable from neighboring sites, posts erected on them and people moving around them certainly were. Geoglyph sites therefore assumed a stage-like function, and group activity upon them raised awareness of group identity among members as well as outsiders. Thus, geoglyphs played an important role in defining group status. At the same time, geoglyph-related activity was somehow independent of changing societal circumstances down in the valleys. Distribution patterns of geoglyph sites proved to be much more stable than that of settlements, cemeteries and other cultural features. All in all, geoglyphs can literally be understood as common ground for all members of Nasca society.

visit the Nazca-Palpa Project website for more information

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One of the many recognizable geoglyphs just outside of Casma, Ancash, Peru.

This geoglyph - while it appear genuine - is so unusual that it automatically requires skepticism

Caral Half Faced Geoglyph (Caral, Peru, 2500 B.C.)
LEFT, Aerial View of Half-Faced Geoglyph
RIGHT, Drawing with demarcation line

The Atacama Giant - one of the largest geoglyph figures
in the world

The Atacama Giant, Atacama Desert, Chile

Concentric Rings Geoglyphs located in the Moche River Valley Peru

Quebrada de Santo Domingo
Across the river from Huaca de la Luna
Visible is the destruction caused by earth moving
close to the river valley.

Some photos coutesy of Melissa Massat, Daniel Massat,
Hans Lujan and Víctor Corcuera Cueva

A view across the Moche River Valley from Cerro Oreja

Help save Santo Domingo!
Send a letter or email to the
Peruvian Embassy near you!

Geoglyph at Quebrada del Oso, north of Rio Moche, Peru - It would appear the stone circle is the viewing point for this geoglyph

While these might be considered petroglyphs, and they are small - three meters in length at most, they are carved into the ground - they show characteristics of Chilean geoglyph design motifs - therefore we are treating them as geoglyphs

A Nazca-like monkey

A foot