Maria Reiche
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Maria Reiche (1903-1998) was a German-born mathematician and archaeologist who is famous for her research in the Nazca lines in Peru.
Maria Reiche was born May 15, 1903 in Dresden. She studied mathematics, geography and languages at the Dresden Technical University.
In 1932 she began work as a nanny and teacher for the children of a German consul in Cuzco, Peru. In 1934 she lost one of her fingers to gangrene. The same year she became a teacher in Lima and did scientific translations. When the World War II broke out, she decided not to return to Germany.
In 1940 she became an assistant of an American archaeologist Paul Kosok who had discovered the Nazca lines. Around 1946 she began to map the figures in Nazca. When Kosok left in 1948 she continued the work and mapped the area.
Reiche theorized that the builders of the lines used them as a sun calendar and an observatory for astronomical cycles. Because the lines can be clearly seen only from above, she convinced the Peruvian Air Force to help her with photographic surveys. She spent most of her time alone in her home in Nazca. She explained her theories in the book The Mystery of the Desert and used the profits from the book to campaign for the preservation of the desert and to hire guards and assistants.
Reiche wanted to preserve the Nazca lines from the encroaching traffic - the area is near the Pan American Highway - and various government schemes, and spent most of her money in the effort. She convinced the government to restrict public access to the area. She had a tower built near the highway so that visitors could see more of the lines. UNESCO declared the lines a world heritage site in 1995.
Reiche's health deteriorated over the years. She was confined to a wheelchair, suffered from skin ailments, and lost her sight. In her later years she also suffered from Parkinson's disease.
Marie Reiche died of ovarian cancer on June 8, 1998 in an air force hospital in Lima. Reiche was buried near Nazca with official honors. Her former home has been turned into a museum. There is an Maria Reiche centre in Nazca where you can get information about her life and work. There are lectures about the lines with a scale model, current research and the different theories of the lines. There you can get literature, photographs and maps. The centre is held by Maria Reiche's assistant and friend Viktoria Nikitzki.
