納斯卡高原:線條和圖案

The Nazca plateau in Peru: a barren and unwelcoming landscape. But it contains one of the great mysteries of our world. The desert floor is covered with thousands of lines， geometrical figures and hundreds of pictures and spirals--like a leaf from a sketchbook. Straight lines， many kilometres long; figures hundreds of metres in length and breadth. The drawings were created by removal of the surface layer of dark stones， to reveal the lighter layer beneath. Who scraped the stones away to create these strange pictures? And what is their significance?

The lines and figures can really only be seen from the air. So for centuries people had walked the pampas without noticing a thing.

The South American continent is actually fertile. But a cold ocean current has given rise to a strip of desert along the west coast. Enclosed between the Pacific and the high mountain range of the Andes， the Nazca pampa is often veiled in mist. But the rain clouds pass it by. The land is cheerless and barren， arid as the Sahara. This view may have brought Nazca's desert figures their earliest and most resounding success.

Who created them， and what significance they had， remains a mystery.

The extreme dryness of the climate and the remote situation enabled the lines to be preserved for centuries. But today they are at risk because of mass tourism and climate change. Frequent rain is threatening to wash them away. As a unique cultural phenomenon they have meanwhile been put on UNESCO's list of world heritage sites.

秘魯境內的納斯卡高原是一塊貧瘠而荒涼的地帶，但這里蘊藏著我們世界上一處偉大的神秘景象。這片荒漠上有著數以千計的線條、幾何圖形和數百的圖畫及螺旋形線條--猶如寫生簿中的一頁。筆直的線條長達數公里，圖形的長寬都有幾百米。為制造這些圖案，深色石頭的表層都被削去了，使下面較淺的一層顯露出來。是誰把這些石頭削掉，創造這些奇怪的圖畫的?它們的意義何在呢?

這些線條和圖形只有從空中才能真實地看到。所以，多少個世紀以來人們走遍了這片荒原，卻什么都沒有發現。

南美大陸實際上是一片富饒的土地，但是一股寒冷的洋流在西海岸沿岸形成了一片狹長的荒漠。納斯卡草原被太平洋和高聳的安第斯山脈所包圍，經常云霧繚繞，但雨云卻不在這里停留。這片土地荒涼而貧瘠，干旱得一如撒哈拉。或許正是這種景觀給納斯卡的荒漠圖案帶來了最初的極大成功。

誰創造了它們?它們的意義是什么?這些仍然是個謎。

極度干燥的氣候和偏遠的地理環境使這些線條得以保存了數世紀之久。但如今，大批游客的到來和氣候的變化，使它們面臨著危險。頻繁的降雨使它們有被沖刷殆盡之虞。作為一個獨特的文化現象，它們被聯合國教科文組織列入了世界遺產名單。