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Lady of the Lines

  • Jeanne Walker Harvey
  • Aug 25
  • 2 min read

Updated: Aug 28

How Maria Reiche Saved the Nazca Lines

by Sweeping the Desert


A TRUE TALE WITH

A CHERRY ON TO

Blue-toned illustration of a woman with a broom, wearing glasses and a headscarf. "Lady of the Lines" text above, colorful patterns behind.

Astra Young Readers

pub. 4.8.2025

48 pages

Ages 7 - 10


Author: Michaela MacColl

   Illustrator: Elisa Chavarri


Character: Maria Reiche


Overview:


"Maria Reiche wanted to put her curious mind to the test. When visiting Peru in 1941, she trekked across the land and discovered hidden lines covered in centuries of clay and sand.


Fascinated, she picked up a broom from her tools and began sweeping for miles and miles to uncover more details, taking time to track her movement and sketch out the precise shapes she followed. Her first discovery was a spider-shaped carving spanning hundreds of feet of desert! Sweeping her way across the land, other shapes followed—a monkey, a condor, and a whale.


But in the midst of these discoveries, she found out the land was going to be used for farming. She got to work again, this time demanding a press conference to announce her discoveries and stop the destruction of these ancient works of art—and it worked! Her efforts protected the land, which was later named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 thanks to Maria’s tireless efforts."


Tantalizing taste:


"Maria lived long enough to see the United Nations name the Nazca Lines a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The whole world would protect the Lines now, not just Maria Reiche and her brooms.

Maybe someday someone will figure out what the Lines mean.

Maybe you will.

Maria Reiche saved them for you."


And something more: Michaela MacColl in A Word from the Author explains: "Once Maria discovered her life's passion at age thirty-eight, nothing could stop her from pursuing it. At the end of her life, Maria acknowledged that she would never know why the Nazca carved lines in the sand. Far from being disappointed, she decided that to know everything would be boring."

As she says, "Even if I were sure that my blindness is due to the severe sun and all the limitations of my life on the planes, I would never have given up my studies."

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