Ritual Water Pathways

The most compelling theory holds that the Nazca Lines were ritual pathways for water ceremonies. In one of Earth's driest deserts, water was sacred. Many lines point toward water sources, and broken pottery along them hints at processions. Walking the lines may have been a form of prayer for rain.

The Nazca also built underground aqueducts called puquios that still carry water today. Some scholars link figures like the hummingbird and the spider to constellations and rainfall patterns, which would make the lines the world's largest religious calendar.