Battles of Junín and Ayacucho ~ 1824

     Simón Bolivar invaded Peru in 1823. On August 6, 1824 Bolivar and Antonio José de Sucre defeated the Spanish on the Pampas de Charcarmarca in Junín. They pressed on to Lima and arrived there in September. On December 9, 1804 the Republican army led by Antonio José de Sucre Acalá fought the Spaniards on La Pampa de La Quinua a few miles from Ayacucho near the town of Quinua. The Spainish troops were defeated and Viceroy José de la Serna surrendered and agreed to leave Peru.
     The stamps were issued by Peru to celebrate the final battle at Ayacucho

The Nasca Plain

     Geoglyphs, land drawings, were scratched on the surface of the ground between 500 b.c. and 500 a.d. in the Peruvian coastal plain south of Lima. The glyphys depict animals, plants, imaginary beings and geometric figures. They were discovered by Dr. Paul Kosok of Long Island University. In 1946 he passed all of his information to Maria Reiche, a graduate of Hamburg University. She became the protector, preserver, and interpreter of the drawings for 50 years. She died in 1998.
     The stamp shows a picture of Maria Reiche, and some of the drawings on the Nasca plain.