Case file · Sacred site
Nazca lines as a calendar: Kosok's sunset
On 22 June 1941 historian Paul Kosok saw the sun set along a Nazca line on the winter solstice and called the desert 'the largest astronomy book in the world', launching scientific study of the lines.
1941 CE · -14.74, -75.13 · status: explained
The account
His assistant Maria Reiche spent decades mapping and protecting the figures. Later work by archaeologists links most lines to walking rituals, water and fertility rather than astronomy alone; the 'alien runway' idea came later.