Wiped out by tree felling

The mysterious people who etched the "Nasca Lines" across deserts in Peru hastened their own demise by clearing forests 1500 years ago, according to a Cambridge University study.

The Nasca people, famed for the lines that depict animals or geometric shapes most clearly visible from the air, became unable to grow enough food in nearby valleys because the lack of trees made the climate too dry, scientists said.