| Over two thousand years ago, the Nazca people dug grooves in the desert soil of the Peruvian pampas and thus drew impressive geometric figures and stylized depictions of plants or animals. This hummingbird which is about 98 m high is one of eighteen different silhouettes of birds on the site which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage in 1994. From 1945 until her death in 1998, the German mathematician Maria Reiche tirelessly updated, maintained and studied these and thanks to her work, we can still admire what was probably an astronomical calendar. Huaqueros, pre-Columbian tomb robbers, the influx of tourists, erosion and industrial pollution are now threatening the Nazca site. |
.&title2=Drawing of a hummingbird in Nazca, Peru (14°41 "download in wallpaper")
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