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Rock Art in the Atacama Desert
photo by Sefton Ipock
Llamas and alpacas have been an important source of meat and wool for Atacameños since ancient times. This petroglyph, located outside of Toconao, was created more than 3,000 years ago. view slideshow

Rock art consists of artistic manifestations of images and graphic symbols that have abstract and complex meaning. There are greater concentrations of rock art in northern Chile, defined by techniques used to create them.

Petroglyphs are relief or bas-relief figures carved or etched into rock or stones. Pictographs are paintings that are symbolic representations of man and his surrounding enviroment. These paintings were created by using tools, such as fingers, brushes or animal skins.

Rock art in the area has been divided into three phases within history:

Phase 1
Associated with nomadic hunters and collecters during the Precambrian period (3000 to 2000 BC). These rock art are commonly representations of nature and llamas, guanacos and vicuñas.

Phase 2
Influenced by the Tiwanaku civilization (400 to 900 BC). These figures emphasize llamas and human characters wearing head ornaments. This phase was also characterized by scraping and pecking carving techniques.

Phase 3
Characterized by representations of humans wearing shirts and hats with feathers, created by deep engravings. The figures are also shown holding heads of cattle with cords. These rock art originated between 900 and 1470 BC.

photo by Christine Nguyen
The driest desert on earth houses a number of ruins from the ancient Tiwanaku, Incan, and other Andean cultures. The ruins at Takir, on the road between Socaire and San Pedro, were built on a rock outcropping between two sweet water canyons and were used exclusively for ceremonial purposes. enlarge photo