Virtual flight over the Palpa geoglyps and geoglyph database

Abstract

From 1999 to 2004, 639 Nasca geoglyphs near Palpa, south Peru, were recorded in the framework of the PhD project of Karsten Lambers. Aided by Martin Sauerbier, he created a database containing detailed descriptions of all geoglyphs and produced a virtual flight over the geoglyphs.

The PhD project was part of the Nasca-Palpa Archaeological Project directed by Markus Reindel (DAI-KAAK, Bonn) and Johny Isla (INDEA, Lima). This project studied the societies of Paracas and Nasca in the northern part of the Nasca basin in south Peru from a variety of perspectives and from the Pacific coast up to the Andean highlands. Apart from a regional settlement survey and excavations at important sites dating from all pre-hispanic periods, the study of the geoglyphs was a key part of the project. In collaboration with Armin Gruen (ETH Zurich), the geoglyphs were photogrammetrically recorded and modelled in 3D, as a basis for their archaeological documentation and analysis. This resulted in the first comprehensive database of geoglyphs of a sub-region of the Nasca basin and shed new light on the origin, development, and social and cultural significance of the geoglyph phenomenon over time.