By Zhen Huang
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the discussion with Alex and Ricardo at Quintana’s, but I had looked into the culture history of San Pedro de Atacama as I was fascinated by this beautiful village. San Pedro de Atacama is located in northern Chile close to the border with Bolivia and Argentina (where the three countries join) and is considered one of the key destinations in Chile visit.
It is estimated that about 11.000 years ago the first towns of the north of Chile were founded, they chose the "Puna" region and the gorges of the Atacama desert. The Atacameños were the founders of the so called "San Pedro Culture" , they established themselves in the Loa's basing and in all the oases of the Atacama's desert. They were the first farmers of the country. As the cultivation zone was very little, they constructed terraces in the mountain slopes which were artificially irrigated and fertilized with llama's guano. Their main economic activity was therefore the agriculture , standing out the cultivation of seven corn varieties, quinoa, beans, Indian fig, cotton, pumpkins, potatoes, dry beans, etc. This people also raised llamas and alpacas and made use of the meat and wool of these animals. Llamas and alpacas were also used as a tool of transportation. The Atacameños showed their artistic development through pottery, weaves, basketry, wood carving as well as through metallurgy , specially of copper and bronze. In concern to the religion , it is known that they believed in life after death and that they buried their deaths with clothing and food for the travel to the other life. They adored different forces of the Nature . No temples or oratories have been found.
Nowadays this small town has a big importance not only because it is considered as the archeological capital of Chile but also because of its extreme geographic position , the beauty of the landscape and its eternal blue sky.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend the discussion with Alex and Ricardo at Quintana’s, but I had looked into the culture history of San Pedro de Atacama as I was fascinated by this beautiful village. San Pedro de Atacama is located in northern Chile close to the border with Bolivia and Argentina (where the three countries join) and is considered one of the key destinations in Chile visit.
It is estimated that about 11.000 years ago the first towns of the north of Chile were founded, they chose the "Puna" region and the gorges of the Atacama desert. The Atacameños were the founders of the so called "San Pedro Culture" , they established themselves in the Loa's basing and in all the oases of the Atacama's desert. They were the first farmers of the country. As the cultivation zone was very little, they constructed terraces in the mountain slopes which were artificially irrigated and fertilized with llama's guano. Their main economic activity was therefore the agriculture , standing out the cultivation of seven corn varieties, quinoa, beans, Indian fig, cotton, pumpkins, potatoes, dry beans, etc. This people also raised llamas and alpacas and made use of the meat and wool of these animals. Llamas and alpacas were also used as a tool of transportation. The Atacameños showed their artistic development through pottery, weaves, basketry, wood carving as well as through metallurgy , specially of copper and bronze. In concern to the religion , it is known that they believed in life after death and that they buried their deaths with clothing and food for the travel to the other life. They adored different forces of the Nature . No temples or oratories have been found.
Nowadays this small town has a big importance not only because it is considered as the archeological capital of Chile but also because of its extreme geographic position , the beauty of the landscape and its eternal blue sky.