The Atacama Giant () is an anthropomorphic geoglyph on the Cerro Unitas area of the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. At about 119 meters (390 feet), is the largest

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

anthropomorphic geoglyph. It has been suggested that the petroglyph represents a shaman, spiritual figure or deity. Atacama Giant 01

The Atacama Giant is one out of nearly 5,000 geoglyphs (ancient artwork that is drawn into the landscape) that have been discovered in the Atacama region in the last three decades. It is believed that they are the work of several successive cultures that dwelt in this region of South America, including the

Tiwanaku Tiwanaku ( or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilometers and in ...

and

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. One suggested explanation for the figure's features and function is that the alignment of the points on the top and side of the head with the moon helped to determine the season, which was useful since knowing when the rainy season would come was crucial in the barren desert.

References

Archaeological sites in Chile Geoglyphs Atacama Desert Tourist attractions in Tarapacá Region Hill figures Geography of Tarapacá Region {{Chile-archaeology-stub

See also

References