Religion in Nasca culture

Abstract

The cosmocentric relation with nature was one of the factors that influenced the expression of the religious world of the Nasca Culture. In the earliest period of the Nasca civilization, deities belonging to the pantheon of the Paracas culture were represented, even if they were modified in their symbological content. The feline deity and the orca marine, in their dual connection with the land and the sea, were the highest religious representations of the Nasca cultural tradition. Some anthropomorphic or anthropo-zoomorphic deities underwent several changes in the evolution of the iconographic expression. The daily life of the Nasca population had a constant interrelationship with the supernatural world, and every action taken had a ritual purpose and a component of action with divine characteristics. Any building, renovation, and change in the ceremonial areas reflected a religious expression and the ritual activities.