German mathematician Maria Reiche (1903-98), known for her pioneering work into Peru's ancient Nazca Lines, was born in Dresden 115 years ago today.
Honoured in today's Google Doodle, Reiche became obsessed with solving one of Latin America's greatest mysteries: why did the land's ancient people carve giant bird and animal geoglyphs into the desert plains?
She had first arrived in Peru in 1932 after completing her studies, having accepted a job as governess to the children of the German consul in Cuzco.
She quickly became enraptured by the country - despite losing a finger to gangrene after being pricked by a cactus - visiting the Andes and the high plains of southern Peru before relocating to Lima in 1934.
Here she worked as teacher of German and befriended American ex-pat Amy Meredith, who would become her partner and who ran a fashionable local coffee shop where she first encountered New York academic Paul Kosok.
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It was Kosok who introduced her to the strange line drawings of creatures in the sands of Nazca, 248 miles from the capital. First discovered by Peruvian archaeologist Toribio Mejia Xesspe a decade earlier, Kosok had photographed them from the air and realised their true form.
Reiche was transfixed by his account and, after visiting the 140 square mile site, committed herself to their study as Kosok's side, describing the landscape as "a huge blackboard where giant hands have drawn clear and precise geometric designs".
Spending many nights camping in the desert, Maria became an object of curiosity herself: "The locals either thought I was a spy or completely mad. Once a drunk threatened me with a stone, so I took out my sextant and pointed it at him. He ran off screaming, and the next day the local papers ran the story of a mad and armed German spy in their midst."
Reiche and Kosok's study of the Nazca Lines in the 1940s led to the dramatic conclusion that the beasts were actually roughly equivalent to the signs of the zodiac and that they together comprised an early astronomical calendar, mapping out the celestial bodies in the heavens.
The geoglyph of a monkey is seen on the plains of the Nazca desert in southern Peru (Reuters)
Her book The Mystery of the Pampas (1949) detailed the theory that the giant monkey geoglyph was the Nazca interpretation of the Great Bear constellation, whose movement across the night sky was used to mark time and predict the onset of the rainy season. Her work debunked a myth popularised by Swiss conspiracy theorist Erich von Daniken that they were made by extraterrestrials.
Although Reiche's conclusion has now been largely sidelined in favour of the idea that the geoglyphs served a more earth-bound ceremonial purpose, she nevertheless played a vital role in preserving them, sweeping the lines, preventing vehicles from driving over them and ensuring they received Unesco protected status in 1994.
"The Lady of the Lines" spent her days living in a Nazca tourist hotel, was granted Peruvian citizenship in 1992 and published her complete scientific findings Contributions to Geometry and Astronomy in Ancient Peru in 1993 at the age of 90. She died of ovarian cancer in June 1998, a beloved figure in her adopted homeland.
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The Nazca Lines are a set of ancient gyoglyphs carved into the desert of southern Peru.
From the ground, they look like scratched white lines that stretch for miles. Some are straight and some are bendy.
From the air, they are revealed as giant drawings of animals, including a monkey, a spider and a hummingbird.
Today's Google doodle honours a woman who spent her life trying to unlock the mysteries of the shapes.
Maria Reiche was an astronomer, mathematician and expert in geography who was first introduced to the Nazca Lines in 1941.
She was selected from a slew of applicants to work with historian Paul Kosok to try and figure out what the symbols meant and who had created them.
She became the staunch guardian of the Nazca lines, which is now a UN World Heritage site.
Who was Maria Reiche?
Reiche was born in Dresden on May 15th, 1903, and went on to study mathematics, astronomy, and geography.
After travelling to Peru, she became fascinated by the lines and devoted her life to studying them.
Using a measuring tape, sextant, and compass, she measured almost 1000 lines, investigating their astronomical orientation. Reiche discovered that many of the lines function as markers for the summer solstice, and theorized their builders used the figures as an astronomical calendar. However, today they are believed to have served a more ceremonial purpose.
Upon mapping the area (with the help of the Peruvian Air Force), she discovered the figures represent 18 different kinds of animals and birds, in addition to hundreds of geometric shapes.
Reiche was was also devoted to the lines’ protection. With only a household broom, she physically shielded the figures from people and vehicles, in addition to raising money for their overall preservation. Gradually, the “woman who swept the desert” became known worldwide as the “Lady of the Lines.”
Reiche’s immense dedication deeply endeared her to the people of Peru, so much that in 1992 she was granted Peruvian citizenship, and the Nazca airport is named after her.
She died in Peru's capital Lima in 1998 aged 95. Today would have been her 115th birthday.
What are the Nazca lines?
(Image: Reuters)
The Nazca Lines are some 1,500 years old. The giant images depict plants and animals, including the hummingbird, a spider and a monkey.
They are so large they can only be appreciated fully from a high altitude, prompting many theories about how the creators made them.
The Peruvian government tightly controls visits to the site, which is considered vulnerable.
Where are the Nazca lines?
Located in the Nazca desert in southern Peru, the Nazca lines are a designated world heritage site.
Although Maria Reiche was famous for chasing away vandals, the lines have been subjected to publicity stunts in the past.
In 2014, Greenpeace was forced to apologise after protesters damaged the historic site while using it for a demonstration.
Activists placed giant letters in the soil saying "time for change, the future is renewable" - just metres from the figure of a hummingbird.
The message was intended to put pressure on those attending climate talks in the capital Lima, but there have been claims the ground was damaged by protesters leaving long-lasting footprints.
(Image: Reuters)
Greenpeace worked with the authorities to help restore the site, and confirmed that it would no longer use photos it took as part of any of its campaigns.
The organisation also said it was sorry that the demonstration caused "moral offense" to the Peruvian people.
Fly high over the Peruvian desert and you will see giant drawings on the ground. Some of them are straight lines, some are spirals and rectangles and trapezoids, and some are animals: whales, ducks, hummingbirds. Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the 115th birthday of Maria Reiche, a German mathematician who became known as the “Lady of the Lines,” the scientist known for studying these so-called Nazca Lines.
Reiche was emigrated to Peru in 1932 to be a governess for children of the German consulate there. Soon after, she learned about the giant line drawings in the desert, built by the ancient Nazcan people, and dedicated the rest of her life to studying them. (Because of the dry desert’s stable climate, the lines were well-preserved.) Over the next half-century, Reiche helped the Peruvian government map the lines, measuring over 1,000 of them. She discovered that some of them were marked for the summer solstice, proposing that the lines were some sort of astronomical calendar.
And she was dedicated to preserving them, too, fighting the government when it wanted to dig canals across them. “I used to live on a flat roof or sleep out in a tent in the desert,” she recalled. “The locals either thought I was a spy or completely mad. Once a drunk threatened me with a stone, so I took out my sextant and pointed it at him. He ran off screaming, and the next day the local papers ran the story of a mad and armed German spy in their midst.”
We still don’t fully understand the Nazca lines or know for sure what they mean, but today they are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Reiche became a Peruvian citizen in 1992, and died in 1998.
