MORE CHIUCHIU ENGRAVINGS

The river Loa has cut a deep gorge through soft volcanic rock (illustrated here, looking west). Boulders that have tumbled down from those cliffs provided excellent surfaces for engraving. The engravings however, are often of rather poor quality like this camelid on Boulder 2. On this boulder are also a fine solar symbol and a very primitive engraving of a human figure. This may indicate that the site has been visited by subsequent rock art manufacturers during intermittent periods. This is also evidenced by the several, much differing engraving techniques, styles of the images and weathering.

We have seen that felines play a very important role in Andean cosmology. Here at Chiuchiu there are several depictions of felines. This engraving is special as the feline clearly has spots and seems to hover over a camelid that is engraved between the legs (this camelid may be older). The association between felines and camelids is common in Andean mythology. The feline is not only regarded as a predator, but also as a guardian of the camelids. The second picture shows a serpentine groove that is associated with a comb-like groove, the meaning of which is completely obscure.

In the rock art of the Atacama several enigmatic features frequently occur. The two rock surfaces illustrated here show shallow rectangular depressions that mostly are of different sizes. The upper example is found on a vertical rock panel facing the cliff. The lower picture, also showing two cupules, shows such depressions on the horizontal upper surface of a high boulder with a wide view to the west over the valley (topmost picture). These features may represent the irrigation fields that are found in the river valley. They may have been created by the Incas who were well known rock sculptors (see for instance the sculptured rock at Kenko, just north of Cusco, Peru).

One of my papers about Chilean rock art, published in AZETA, the website of the Museo Arqueologico San Miguel de Azapa (MASMA) of the Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile.