Open air rock paintings in the world's driest desert pay testament to the importance of the llama to millennia-old cultures that traversed the inhospitable terrain.
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| The paintings left by shepherds almost three millennia ago on the walls of the rocks that flank the course of the Loa River, that crosses the Atacama Desert from east to west, turn the Taira Valley into the epicenter of art rock in Chile, which aims at becoming a UNESCO Heritage Site [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
Taira is "a celebration of life," said archaeologist Jose Bereguer, describing the site as "the most complex in South America" because of its astronomical importance as well as the significance to local shepherds.
The rock art was a "shepherd's rite" needed to ask the "deities that governed the skies and the earth" to increase their llama flocks.
First rediscovered by Swedish archaeologist Stig Ryden in 1944, the Taira rock art is between 2,400 and 2,800 years old.
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| The paintings left by shepherds almost three millennia ago on the walls of the rocks that flank the course of the Loa River, that crosses the Atacama Desert from east to west, turn the Taira Valley into the epicenter of art rock in Chile, which aims at becoming a UNESCO Heritage Site [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
The jewel in the crown are the Alero Taira drawings some 30 meters from the Loa in a natural shelter, in which the importance of the llama becomes abundantly clear.
Not just the principal source of wealth for desert dwellers over thousands of years, the llama has been used in ritual ceremonies throughout the Andes for just as long, such as in the "Wilancha," or sacrifice to "Pacha Mama," or Mother Earth.
"No one can understand the things done 18,000 years ago because the cultures that did them have disappeared," said Berenguer, curator at Santiago's Museum of Pre-Columbian Art.
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| The paintings left by shepherds almost three millennia ago on the walls of the rocks that flank the course of the Loa River, that crosses the Atacama Desert from east to west, turn the Taira Valley into the epicenter of art rock in Chile, which aims at becoming a UNESCO Heritage Site [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
According to Rumualda Galleguillos, one of around 15 indigenous people still raising llamas in the Atacama Desert like their ancestors, these pictures are a "testament" to forefathers who could neither read nor write.
Around 90 precent of the engravings, painted mainly in red but also ochre yellow and white, depict llamas of various sizes, some pregnant, others suckling their young.
But the remaining 10 percent depict the desert's diversity, such as foxes, snakes, ostriches, partridges and dogs.
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| The paintings left by shepherds almost three millennia ago on the walls of the rocks that flank the course of the Loa River, that crosses the Atacama Desert from east to west, turn the Taira Valley into the epicenter of art rock in Chile, which aims at becoming a UNESCO Heritage Site [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
What the paintings also demonstrate is that 2,500 years ago, people were already studying the stars in an area that has more recently become the astronomy capital of the world with some of the most powerful telescopes ever built.
A book written in conjunction with the Atacama observatory called "The Universe of our Grandparents," claims that the ancient inhabitants of this area studied the stars to help learn how to domesticate the inhospitable desert and survive its dangers.
In this vision, the universe is made up of the skies and Earth as one whole, with the skies forming the horizon of life. What is seen in the skies is a reflection of what there is on Earth.
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| The paintings left by shepherds almost three millennia ago on the walls of the rocks that flank the course of the Loa River, that crosses the Atacama Desert from east to west, turn the Taira Valley into the epicenter of art rock in Chile, which aims at becoming a UNESCO Heritage Site [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
They saw llamas, their eyes, corrals, a loaded slingshot and a shepherd standing with his legs spread wide and arms in the air, worrying about foxes, said Silvia Lisoni, a professor of history and amateur astronomer.
Taira is located on an axis that aligns the sacred Sirawe "sandy eye" quicksand from where locals would pray for rain, the San Pedro volcano, the Colorado hill, and the Cuestecilla pampas, another sacred spot.
Volcanoes, like springs, were considered deities by the Atacama natives, while llamas were thought to have been born of springs.
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| The paintings left by shepherds almost three millennia ago on the walls of the rocks that flank the course of the Loa River, that crosses the Atacama Desert from east to west, turn the Taira Valley into the epicenter of art rock in Chile, which aims at becoming a UNESCO Heritage Site [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
"There's evidence that this site was built here for specific reasons," said Berenguer.
Taira is not the oldest example of rock art in this part of Chile, though. To the north in the copper mining Antofagasta region lies Kalina, around 1,000-1,200 years older than Taira, and Milla.
This style of art has been found also in the Puna de Atacama plateau in neighboring Argentina, but Taira "has few equals in terms of beauty and complexity," said Berenguer.
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| View of the San Pedro Volcano, near the Taira cave, about 75 km north of Calama, Chile [Credit: Martin Bernetti/AFP] |
Source: AFP [July 31, 2018]
from The Archaeology News Network https://ift.tt/2LQPImE
Breaking News: Chile's rock art llamas divulge secrets of ancient desert culture - News Paper
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