Cantalloc Aqueducts

The puquios are the most impressive thing the Nazca built that is not on the pampa. Faced with a river that runs on the surface for only part of the year, they dug galleries into the aquifer - stone-lined tunnels running for hundreds of metres underground - and connected them to the surface with ojos, spiral shafts that step down in a helix wide enough for a person to walk to the bottom. The spirals let people descend to clear the channels, and they also drive air into the tunnel, which helps push the water along. At Cantalloc a series of these spirals sits in a field beside a trapezoidal reservoir, and the system still delivers water to farmland - it has been maintained continuously for something like fifteen hundred years. Dating is debated, with some researchers placing construction later than the classic Nazca period, but the engineering is not in question.

What you actually see

• The spiral shafts - helical stone-lined openings stepping down to the tunnels.
• The underground galleries - channels running hundreds of metres into the aquifer.
• The living system - water still delivered to fields around the site.
• The reservoir - a trapezoidal holding tank at the surface.

When to go

Year-round; go early for heat and light. One hour. Combines easily with Nazca town and the Chauchilla or Paredones sites.

Honest expectations

Descending into the spirals is restricted at most of them for safety and conservation. Very hot with no shade. The site is small and takes under an hour. Guides at the entrance vary considerably in quality.

Nearby

Paredones is close to the same road; Nazca town is west.