The Atacama Desert in Chile is a coarse environment . Yet , once upon a sentence , humans were traipsing across the landscape painting confide enormous draught to the terra firma – drawing off that would endure for thousands of days .
Today we know them as geoglyphs , and while they ’re establish in various sites across the globe , Atacama is home base to the large see to date that depicts a human - similar fig . The Atacama Giant looks a flake like Weird Barbie whenviewed from above , with reefer branch and a pointy headpiece , and sits on the slopes of Cerro Unitá , look north - east .
InA Human Environment , put out in 2020 , Karsen Lambers of Leiden University ’s module of archaeology states that the geoglyph " is the biggest human shape known to have been produced in prehistory . ” It stretches for 119 meter ( 390 ) human foot across the hillside , according to Chile’sMinistry of National Assets , which declare it aProtected National Asset in 2020 . The Atacama Giant is just one of over 5,000 in the region that range between1,200 to 500years old , and countless more across the earthly concern .
Some of the geoglyphs in the Atacama Desert are more abstract in shape.Image credit: Jeremy Richards / Shutterstock.com
The majority of geoglyphs are created using the “ extractive ” technique by scrap the oxidized surface layer away , resulting in a lighter design that contrasts against the darker surrounding material . Others are make using an “ additive ” technique that commingle things like Harlan F. Stone to create a sort of mosaic that ’s darker than the surround material , and some geoglyphs blend both approach .
human being at the time of the creation of the geoglyphs in northern Chile did n’t have an easy life , and had to find originative solutions for survive in such a rough environs . They require llama to help them get around , work out where life - saving water source were as they traveled .
As they deny the landscape they pieced together acomplex connection of paths , and – incredibly – still found the time to place enormous geoglyphs to the ground . It ’s have a bun in the oven they check great cultural and religious implication , but exactly the use and significance of the Atacama Giant is n’t currently know .
When you step back, you get a better idea of the sheer size of the Atacama Giant.Image credit: Emilio Erazo-Fischer,CC BY-SA 2.0, viaWikimedia Commons
“ Some say that the ‘ Atacama Giant ’ hold potential alignment to solar eclipses and lunar phases , ” explain Marika Labas of the University of New Hampshire in a2012 clause . “ Supposedly , each of the four spikes protrude from the whale ’s head will align with the sun or the lunar month during specific times of twelvemonth . Others have even hint that they were created by other - worldly visitor . ”
Labas turned to local resident to gain further linguistic context , and was distinguish by one person :
“ Considering the existing limitations at the meter it was build , the ‘ Giant of Atacama ’ has succeeded to stand strong for centuries , which makes me think the substance it contains was a very relevant one for the former inhabitants of the Atacama Desert , and sure enough there is still something valuable for the coming generations to decode . ”
As the prominent geoglyph in the world that depicts a human - like figure , the Atacama Giant has certainly turned heading , but yr after yr we ’re getting more geoglyph material to ferment with . Agiant 2,000 - yr - old qat among the Nazca lineswas strike in Peru back in 2020 , and in 2023 , thelargest know cat geoglyph in Chilewas identified as the endangered Andean cat .
Who jazz what the desert malarkey will turn up next ?
