In this fascinating instalment of ‘Digging for the Truth’, we delve into the secrets of the Nazca lines, a mystifying series of geolyphs located in the Nazca Desert. The desert itself is a high arid plateau that stretches over 50 miles between the towns of Nazca and Palpa in southern Peru.

Created by the Nazca culture between 200BC and 700AD, the lines depict hundreds of individual figures. They show a complex range of simple lines, hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys and lizards.

Etched into the driest desert in the world, the mysterious lines and figures of Nazca in Southern Peru are invisible from the ground, and can only be recognised as coherent figures from the air. Since it is presumed the Nazca people would have been unable to view their work from this vantage point, there has been a great deal of speculation and conjecture regarding the builders’ abilities and motivations.

These huge drawings were not discovered until the 1930s - and only then by the commercial airline pilots who happened to fly over them. Ever since, they have intrigued the world. Who built them - and why? Were they an ancient chart of the heavens, or a message to the Gods?

Josh Bernstein takes on the secrets of the Nazca Lines, flying micro-lites and powered para-gliders, clambering through thousand-year old irrigation tunnels, even recreating rituals with contemporary Native Americans. His adventures take him deep into the mystery of the Nazca Lines and far from the deserts of Peru.