What are the Sajama Lines?
The Sajama Lines are cleared areas of between 1m and 3m wide and upwards of 15km long. From the air or high vantage points, the lines appear as straight pathways upon a darker background. The majority of the lines are nearly straight, although some have slight twists or zig-zag changes of direction. Most lines are associated with radial line centers, upon which they converge (or from which they diverge). Many lines terminate at high points on the local landscape. Lines often cross natural topographic and optical barriers such as ridge crests, hills, valleys, and dry canyons. Some scholars have referred to cultural features that ignore natural topography such as the Sajama Lines as “landscape oblivious.” Why are they called “lines?” Similar phenomena found on the pre-Columbian cultural landscapes of Nazca on the desert coast of Peru are called “lines” in the scholarly and popular literature. Most, but not all, are incredibly straight over long distances and have clear beginnings and end
