Of Mummies and Lines

The Necropolis de Chauchilla sits in the middle of the bleached dusty desert and is only visible across the land because of the two small permanent buildings near it and the little shades seemingly randomly erected over the area. The story goes that the ancient Chauchilla people who lived in the nearby valleys would mummify their dead in seated fetal positions and place the bodies facing east in pits lined with adobe bricks, covered with bamboo. The graves were marked with rocks, but though there are many bodies on display and other undisturbed tombs covered by the desert sands, many are damaged and missing artefacts buried with them due to grave robbers over the years.

The following day, we were taken to the little airport near town where we boarded a six passenger Cesna to fly over the famous Nazca lines. It was about thirty or forty minutes of yawing to allow each side a clear view of the lines, but despite being in such a small aircraft, it felt quite safe and surprisingly free from being buffetted by winds as I would have expected. Some of the lines were difficult to make out, while others were very clear. As amazing as the glyphs were, so was the view of the desert and the mountains around it.