Giant of Atacama
The Giant of Atacama ( Spanish Gigante de Atacama or Gigante de Tarapacá ) is a large, anthropomorphic geoglyph in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile .
Description and function
In total, there are over five thousand geoglyphs in the Atacama Desert, dating from around 800 to 1500 and created by several successive cultures, most notably the Tiahuanaco and Inca people . Like the Nazca Lines , with which they are apparently not directly connected, they served primarily ritual purposes, but they also had the additional function of guiding travelers through the desert.
With a height of 115 m, the giant of Atacama , located on the Cerro Unitas hill, is the largest known prehistoric anthropomorphic figure. It is very likely a representation of a pre-Columbian deity.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Luis Briones-M .: The Geoglyphs of the North Chilean Desert. An Archaeological and Artistic Perspective . In: Antiquity 80 (307), 2006, pp. 9-24.
- ↑ Persis B. Clarkson: Atacama Geoglyphs. Huge Images Created Across the Rocky Landscape of Chile. , accessed March 6, 2014.
- ^ Luis Briones-M .: The Geoglyphs of the North Chilean Desert , p. 20.
Coordinates: 19 ° 56 ′ 56 ″ S , 69 ° 37 ′ 59 ″ W