One of the stops I made on my way to the town of Pica, in Pozo Almonte area, was to see for the first time live Cerros Pintados geoglyphs.
In northern Chile, there are countless places of interest to visit. In Tarapaca Region, close to Iquique, the main attractions are related to history and what happened years ago in the area.
The National Reserve Pampa del Tamarugal has been declared National Heritage in 1969 it has the biggest geoglyphs concentration in Chile and is the second most important site with geoglyphs in Latin America.
It is located in the middle of the driest desert in the world within 94 kilometers of Iquique and about 1,035 m.s.n.m.
The area were Cerros Pintados Geoglyps are located covers an area of 3km in length including 50,000m2 inside the Pampa del Tamarugal, into Pintados Salar.
What represents the Cerros Pintados geoglyphs?
The geoglyphs are representations built on the hillsides by prehistoric people to mark the trade routes that were formerly in the desert.
In pre-Columbian times, there was a complex system of exchange of goods in the Andes that was developed around the caravans of camelids, mainly llamas.
This allowed the exchange of products between different territories and ecosystems and helped maintain economic relations or religious policies among those who crossed the desert to exchange their products.
Within the same path, there are seven geoglyphs sites identified within these caravans routes from east to west: El Salto, Santa Rosita, Cerros Pintados, Sugar Loaf hill Mono, salar Soronal and Barranco Alto.
Cerros Pintados geoglyphs dating between 700 and 1500d.C. and were made by 95% with an extractive technique that involves removing surface material of the hill, to cause a contrast between natural and scraped surfaces of the hill.
Currently, 61% of the geoglyphs is intact and has been restored 16% of them.
This site has registered more than 60 panels with 450 figures representing animals, geometric shapes and anthropomorphic figures.
To account
To keep in mind when visiting this area
In your visit to the peoples of the Pampa del Tamarugal try to bring cash, as artisans and commerce, in general, do not handle bank cards system.
Timetable
Tuesday to Sunday 9:30 to 17:00
National Park Ticket Fee
Adult national value $ 2000
foreign adults $ 4000
Children from 7 years $ 1000
Foreign children $ 2000
How to get to Cerros Pintados Geoglyphs
In private vehicle
The unit can be accessed by Route 5, 75km from Iquique or from the same route 22 km from Pozo Almonte.
If you go by bus
Cruce Pintados-Pica – geoglyphs painting: Land route by dirt road.
More information at CONAF website
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