Nonesuch Silver Prints 1963 Early black and white photographs of the Nasca lines, Peru

1963 Nasca (Nazca) geoglyphs, Peru desert. The desert surface is covered by a layer of dark stones lying on top of fine yellow sediment left by an ancient alluvial deposit. The markings were made by simply moving the stones to one side as on a giant scraper board. In places the surface is so fragile that even footsteps will show.

Two low hills about 6kms from Nasca town appear to be the centre for many straight paths. (See picture Peru 63-44-01. Two slightly higher hills to the left of this picture are close to the 'whale' design and a long wide path with a length of 861 metres appears to connect the hills with the whale to the dried watercourse near the bottom right of the frame. These old watercourses have an intermittent flow and as the specialised plants reveal, some water exists far below the surface. Near the hills with the whale piles of stones were made by the line builders and pock marks show the work of modern local treasure hunters. On the right side of the picture the asphalted Panamerican Highway is bordered by two old roads which must have connected the Nasca valley bottom left with the Ingenio valley about 25kms away out of frame at the top.

Camera: MPP Microflex Twin Lens Reflex with F3.5 77.5mm Taylor Taylor Hobson lens. Film Kodak Verichrome Pan at F5.6 - 1/300 second with a 3 x orange filter (Actina) to increase the contrast between the stones and the yellow sediment. Developed by hand in Lima using Kodak Microdol at normal dilution.