Other archaeological relics of the Nasca culture

Aside from their world-famous geoliths in the desert, the Nasca people did leave a few other legacies behind. They built a few small pyramids, some burial mounds, stone living structures, and a complex aqueduct system.

It is this aqueduct system that is perhaps most impressive.

In the 1980s, a powerful earthquake toppled the vast majority of buildings and severely damaged modern aqueducts throughout this region of Perú. Not only did the ancient Nasca aqueducts survive unscathed, but they have done so in a very seismically active area for over 2,000 years.

Spiral aqueducts

Engineers and scientists have learned some valuable tricks from this ancient people whose language has not survived and who left behind no known written records.

• • The Nasca canals which channel water are nearly all underground, to prevent evaporation.
  • They run in wavy lines, rather than straight, to slow the flow of the water.
  • The walls are built in a “V” shape to prevent collapse.
  • Most surprising of all, the canals themselves are only about one foot deep and a couple of feet across in most places.

All these design elements combine to make for a very sturdy system that has stood for at least 2,000 years.

Because of the very small size of the channels, the Nasca build a series of wells to capture and store water. Nasca wells are built as spirals descending into the ground. When the water level is low, people can walk down the spiral path to get to where the water is.