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Geoglyphs from the Atacama Desert in Chile

2 August 2010
Electromagnetism

At http://archaeology.about.com/od/artandarchitecture/a/atacama_glyph.htm there is a post on geoglyphs from the Atacama Desert in Chile, and how they were made. Geometric shapes are common, such as circles, concentric circles, circles with dots, rectangles, crosses, arrows, parallel lines, rhomboids, all of the symbols are also common in pre Hispanic ceramics and textile design. One important image is the stepped rhombus, essentially a staircase shape of stacked rhomboids or diamond shapes (see image below)

Zoomorphic figures include llamas and alpacas, foxes, lizards, flamingos, eagles, seagulls, rheas, monkeys, and fishes such as sharks and dolphins. One frequently occurring image is a caravan of llamas, rows of llamas up to 80 animals in a single row. One of the references given is an article in Antiquity 80 (307):9-24, Luis Briones-m (2206) ‘The geoglyphs of the north Chilean desert; an archaeological and artistic perspective’.

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