Lluta Valley Geoglyphs
Valle de Lluta Geoglyphs
Late Intermediate Cabuza-San Miguel·Arica (Cabuza, Maytas-Chiribaya)·🇨🇱 Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile
About
About Lluta Valley Geoglyphs
Terrace-edge geoglyphs lining 6 km of the Lluta Valley where precordilleran runoff meets coastal desert. 45+ figures include 15-m feline, camelid trains and large 20-m abstract checkerboards formed by piling river cobbles on terrace silt 700-1300 CE (Cabuza and San Miguel phases). Positioned to be viewed from valley floor trail and opposite terrace settlements, the panels face the river rather than sky, indicating intra-valley signaling. Paleosol C14 under stone piles gives 860 +/- 40 BP for checkerboard panels. The assemblage bridges Azapa Valley's additive giants and Tarapaca interior clearing tradition, showing hybridity at the Arica crossroads.
Why it mattersValley-facing orientation unique in Atacama; demonstrates adaptation to riverine corridor.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Checkerboard meaning - cadastres or textile pattern
Theories
- 01Irrigated field claim markers
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.700-1300 CE
- Period
- Late Intermediate Cabuza-San Miguel
- Culture
- Arica (Cabuza, Maytas-Chiribaya)
- Builders
- Lluta Valley farmers and caravan intermediaries
- Purpose
- Terrace boundary marking and caravan wayfinding at bottleneck
- Abandoned
- c.1350 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1970s Virgilio Schiappacasse; 2008 Figueroa dating
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
700 CE
Earliest camelid trains
1972
Schiappacasse inventory 32 figures
2008
C14 paleosol 860 BP
On the ground
Structures & features
18.3850° S · 69.9500° W · 820 m · 2 mapped features
Feline Panel
geoglyph15-m feline with curled tail
18.3830° S · 69.9520° WCheckerboard Panel
geoglyph20-m checkerboard facing river
18.3870° S · 69.9480° W