Azapa Alto de Azapa Geoglyphs (Upper Azapa Precordillera)
Alto Azapa Precordillera Figures · Upper Azapa Desert Lines
Early Formative Alto Ramírez I–II·Alto Ramírez upper-valley·🇨🇱 Arica y Parinacota Region, Azapa Valley Upper Precordillera km 28, Chile
About
About Azapa Alto de Azapa Geoglyphs (Upper Azapa Precordillera)
Upper-Azapa precordillera terrace (980 m) 28 km inland, where valley narrows to 1.2 km between 1,200 m foothills. Comprises 18 hill-slope geoglyphs on 22° south scarp: 18–28 m boxy anthropomorphs with splayed legs, 35 m serpent, and 78 m stepwise pyramid outline. Technique uses mixed additive-subtractive: cleared dark pavement framed by boulder retaining walls (pirca) to prevent slumping on steeper grade. Associated with Alto Ramírez I ceramics and highland obsidian flakes; 2020 UTA lichenometry suggests 400 BCE–600 CE. Marks final valley bottleneck before Pampa de Chapina high pass to Zapahuira.
Why it mattersUppermost Azapa valley geoglyphs at ecological transition to precordillera.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Pyramid outline—local vs Wari influence
Theories
- 01High-pass bottleneck signal
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 BCE – 600 CE
- Period
- Early Formative Alto Ramírez I–II
- Culture
- Alto Ramírez upper-valley
- Builders
- Azapa precordillera communities
- Purpose
- Bottleneck marker at Azapa–precordillera high-pass entry
- Abandoned
- c.800 CE
- Rediscovered
- 2005 MIDEPLAN precordillera survey; 2020 UTA lichen dating
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
400 BCE
Earliest boxy anthropomorphs
2020
UTA lichenometry dates figures
On the ground
Structures & features
18.5450° S · 69.6900° W · 980 m · 2 mapped features
Alto Azapa Boxy Anthropomorph
geoglyph28-m boxy figure with splayed legs on 22° scarp
18.5430° S · 69.6880° WUpper Serpent Pyramid
geoglyph35-m serpent attached to 78-m stepped pyramid outline
18.5470° S · 69.6920° W