News in Brief Archaeology

Peru’s famous Nazca Lines may include drawings of exotic birds

The pre-Inca people who crafted the enormous landscape art depicted winged fliers from far away

Nazca lines

DISTANT FLIGHT  An ancient figure stretching across southern Peru’s Nazca desert plateau depicts a bird known as a hermit, not a hummingbird as once thought, scientists report. Hermits, which are related to hummingbirds, live in rainforests far from the Nazca area.

M. Eda

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Massive drawings of birds etched by pre-Inca people on southern Peru’s Nazca desert plateau include several exotic surprises, Japanese researchers say.