Azapa Alto Cabuza Geoglyphs (Upper Azapa Cabuza Terrace)
Upper Cabuza Figures · Alto Azapa Cabuza Terrace
Formative to Early Intermediate (Alto Ramírez–Cabuza 400–800 CE)·Upper Azapa Cabuza Alto Ramírez farmers·🇨🇱 Arica y Parinacota, Azapa Valley km 28–33 Alto Cabuza Terrace (1800 m) Precordillera, Chile
About
About Azapa Alto Cabuza Geoglyphs (Upper Azapa Cabuza Terrace)
Upper Azapa Precordillera terrace (1,800 m) at Cabuza hamlet 30 km from Pacific, where Azapa narrows to incised precordillera canyon. 21 figures on flat mesa terrace 900×400 m: 11–25 m rhomb-headed anthropomorphs with square torsos (Azapa style distinct from Lluta bow-legged), 9 m water-bird (Andean goose) plus 110 m zigzag avalanche-line marking precordillera flash-flood debris flow channel. Additive varnished 5–8 cm alluvial pebble with pale lacustrine silt interior.
Terrace hosts Early Agro-ceramic village AZ-15 Cabuza (400–650 CE) with semi-subterranean circular houses cut into geoglyph pavement — stratigraphic proof village postdates figures. 1 km to Azapa river gorge 250 m drop — flood warning totem. Views to Pacific not possible — only down-valley.
Why it mattersOnly stratified Azapa sequence where village cuts geoglyph — direct relative dating of Alto Ramírez vs Cabuza.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why figures predate village vs typical village-adjacent pattern
Theories
- 01Flood-line as debris-flow warning on 250 m gorge rim — hydraulic folklore
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.400 – 800 CE (Cabuza village postdates; figures pre-village)
- Period
- Formative to Early Intermediate (Alto Ramírez–Cabuza 400–800 CE)
- Culture
- Upper Azapa Cabuza Alto Ramírez farmers
- Builders
- Alto Cabuza mesa pre-ceramic to Cabuza farmers
- Purpose
- Precordillera mesa waymark and flash-flood thalweg warning on incised gorge rim
- Abandoned
- c.900 CE (village AZ-15 abandonment)
- Rediscovered
- 1972 Muñoz Azapa survey; 2018 terrace drone mapping
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
400 CE
Mesa figures Alto Ramírez
500 CE
Village AZ-15 cuts into pavement
2018
Drone maps 21 figures Cabuza terrace
On the ground
Structures & features
18.4900° S · 69.9500° W · 1800 m · 2 mapped features
Square-Torso Anthropomorph Mesa File
geoglyph11–25 m square-torso figures across 900 m mesa
18.4890° S · 69.9490° WZigzag Flood Thalweg Line (110 m)
earthwork110-m zigzag along debris-flow thalweg 2.1 km to gorge
18.4920° S · 69.9520° W