Azapa La Portada Geoglyphs (Eastern Extension)
Geoglifos de La Portada – Azapa · Azapa East Pampa Lines · Las Riberas Terrace Figures
Formative to Late Intermediate (Alto Ramírez–San Miguel)·Azapa–Cabuza agropastoralists·🇨🇱 Arica y Parinacota Region, Azapa Valley, km 28 La Portada–Las Maitas, Chile
About
About Azapa La Portada Geoglyphs (Eastern Extension)
Eastern pampa extension (480 m) of the Azapa Valley geoglyph system beyond the iconic Cerro Sombrero hill (km 12), at La Portada pass (km 28) where Azapa narrows into the precordillera. 18 figures distinct from Cerro Sombrero style: exclusively additive technique using dark andesite cobble on light granodiorite grus, forming 12-22 m anthropomorphs with splayed headdresses, 15 m camelid pairs, and 90 m trapazoid avenues pointing to Las Maitas springs 6 km east.
Avian figures absent (unlike Camarones), confirming Briones' Arica geometric vs figurative zonation east-west. Figures flank Formative-period San Lorenzo village terraces (800 BCE). La Portada controls the Azapa–Lluta pampa shortcut; petroglyph boulders intermix at quebrada mouth. Olivine basalt varnish gives high contrast.
Why it mattersEasternmost Azapa figurative province; additive vs subtractive technique frontier.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Additive age relative to Formative San Lorenzo below
Theories
- 01La Portada pass as Inca vs local caravan control
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.800 BCE–1200 CE
- Period
- Formative to Late Intermediate (Alto Ramírez–San Miguel)
- Culture
- Azapa–Cabuza agropastoralists
- Builders
- Azapa ayllu caravans + Formative villagers
- Purpose
- Eastern pass control and spring wayfinding at Azapa precordillera bottleneck
- Abandoned
- c.1350 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1980s Briones; 2005 Azapa Archaeological Museum survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1982
Briones maps Cerro Sombrero; notes La Portada as eastern group
2005
Museo San Miguel de Azapa La Portada drone mapping
On the ground
Structures & features
18.5200° S · 69.7850° W · 480 m · 2 mapped features
La Portada Trapezoid Avenue
geoglyph90-m cobble-edged trapezoid pointing to Las Maitas spring
18.5180° S · 69.7830° WLa Portada Splayed-Headdress Anthropomorph
geoglyph21-m additive cobble figure with rayed headdress
18.5220° S · 69.7870° W