Tiliviche Geoglyphs (Quebrada de Tiliviche)
Geoglifos de Tiliviche · Tiliviche Ravine Hill Figures
Late Intermediate (Arica / Tarapacá)·Tarapacá / Arica caravan tradition·🇨🇱 Tarapacá Region, Tamarugal Province, Chile
About
About Tiliviche Geoglyphs (Quebrada de Tiliviche)
Westernmost Tarapacá geoglyph cluster on the southern flank of Quebrada Tiliviche (1,070 m), 2 km west of the Pan-American bridge. Camiña commune. Comprises 15+ cleared-and-additive figures on dark alluvial pavement: 18-42 m anthropomorphs with rayed heads, 22 m camelid rows and 80-150 m rectilinear avenues. Surveyed by Luis Briones (UTA) in the 1980s, retouched edges expose gypsiferous pale substrate beneath varnished ignimbrite. Associated with Late Intermediate Azapa-Tarapacá caravan traffic (900-1450 CE) linking Pica oasis to the coast via Tiliviche spring. Best viewed late afternoon when low sun rakes pavement.
Why it mattersSouthernmost Tarapacá caravan geoglyph node controlling Tiliviche pass to Pica.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Rayed-head anthropomorph identification
Theories
- 01Water-source ritual marking
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.900-1450 CE
- Period
- Late Intermediate (Arica / Tarapacá)
- Culture
- Tarapacá / Arica caravan tradition
- Builders
- Tarapacá highland-coastal caravaneers
- Purpose
- Caravan wayfinding and ritual marking of Tiliviche watercourse
- Abandoned
- c.1450 CE
- Rediscovered
- 1980s Briones UTA retouch/mapping; AllTrails 2020 trail entry
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1982
Briones team retouches and plans figures
2019
Drone photogrammetry by Arica-UTA heritage unit
On the ground
Structures & features
19.5500° S · 69.9500° W · 1070 m · 2 mapped features
Tiliviche Rayed Anthropomorph
geoglyph38-m rayed-head figure with lateral camelid
19.5480° S · 69.9520° WTiliviche Southern Avenue
earthwork145-m cleared avenue descending to quebrada floor
19.5520° S · 69.9480° W