Nasca puquios

What it is

Underground galleries and trenches that tap groundwater and bring it to the surface, with access wells (ojos) for cleaning them; the spiral shape of many ojos is partly due to modern reconstructions. They enabled permanent agriculture in one of the driest deserts on Earth.

Some authors consider them colonial, inspired by Spanish qanats; most accept a Nasca origin (Schreiber and Lancho, 2003). An independent invention from Persian qanats if pre-Hispanic.

What it led to

• continuous irrigation in the Nasca valley
• use still active in the 21st century

Links

Sources✓ verified 2026-09-23

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puquios
• https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-antiquity/article/abs/new-chronometric-dates-for-the-puquios-of-nasca-peru/1813C48FA131E0AAD3FC41C4C2500884