One of the mysteries of the Nazca civilization, which existed from five hundred to 200 B. C., has finally been solved, because of satellite observations. This allowed the ancient Peruvian mystery solved from space. The Nazca are usually famous for their impressive lines created into the Peruvian desert, but they furthermore built an incredible system of aqueducts, many of which still function today. The system is definitely covered in spiral openings, known as puquios, but their function remained ambiguous until now.
Rosa Lasaponara and a team from the Institute associated with Methodologies for Environmental Analysis within Italy have discovered that the puquios corkscrew-shaped tunnels funnel wind into a system of subterranean canals that push the water exactly where it needs to go.
The particular team used satellite images in order to pinpoint the position of all the puquios throughout the Nazca region and then compared these to how water sources and funds were distributed. Their research is going to be published in the journal Ancient Nasca World: New Insights from Technology and Archaeology later this year.
The puquios were probably the most ambitious hydraulic project in the Nazca area and made water readily available for the whole year, not only for farming and irrigation but also for domestic requirements, Lasaponara told the BBC.
The girl added: Exploiting an inexhaustible drinking water supply throughout the year, the puquio program contributed to an intensive agriculture of the valleys in one of the most arid places on earth.
Aerial view ofthe puquios within Cantalloc, Peru. Don Mammoser/Shutterstock
The level and sophistication of the puquios aqueducts indicate that their construction plus upkeep must have required a collaborative and socially organized system. The particular builders must have had a deep understanding of the geology of the area in addition to an understanding of how to make the most of the yearly variation in water availability.
It is not surprising that a world that was able to build such a task of engineering was then capable of design the complex Nazca lines , which include numbers of animals, plants, humans, and a lot of geometric lines. They are believed to possess a religious connotation, related to the praise of mountains and water resources.
Whatever their importance and function, the builders understood what they were doing. Understanding the functionality of puquios might even get all of us closer to understanding for certain what the outlines were actually for.
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