2019 had been a year of geoglyphs for us, the mighty Nazca lines in July, Blythe in November, and then the most intriguing geoglyphs of the Atacama desert in December.

So Nazca lines are not the only enigmatic ancient drawings in South America. Chile’s the Atacama Desert is also host to a set of geoglyphs best seen from the air. Giant pictures of lizards, llamas, cats, and birds are doodled across the deserts of northern Chile. Atacama Giant or Tarapacá Giant or Gigante de Tarapacá is one of the most enigmatic figures of hundreds of these geoglyphs.

The Atacama Giant is an anthropomorphic geoglyph situated on a hill known as the ‘Cerro Unitas.’ Measuring 86 meters in height, the Atacama Giant is the largest known anthropomorphic in the world. The geoglyphs of the Atacama Desert are said to have been made between AD 600 and AD 1500. However, accurately dating geoglyphs has always been problematic, so their age cannot be decided with any certainty. These geoglyphs, over 5000, include geometric, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figures.

The geoglyphs of the Atacama Desert were created by either one of three techniques – ‘extractive,’ ‘additive,’ and ‘mixed.’ The ‘extractive’ method involves the removal of the top layer of soil on the hillside to create images on the surface. This is the more common of the two techniques. The ‘additive’ technique, on the other hand, involves the gathering of material, such as stones or gravel and piling them on the surface of the ground to form a raised outline. The ‘mixed’ technique employs both the ‘extractive’ and the ‘additive’ techniques in the formation of the geoglyphs. Fortunately, these geoglyphs have survived the passage of time, due to the weather conditions of the Atacama Desert.

Getting there

It is 92 km North-East of Iquique and lies 250 km south of Arica. Both cities have airports with plenty of flights connecting to Santiago every day. Unfortunately, most tour agencies run regular group tours daily from Iquique to the more famous counterpart ‘Geoglifos de pintados’ and other sites such as Humberstone and not to the Atacama Giant. So if you plan to take a guided tour, you might need to get a customized itinerary from one of the companies in the area. I know that Magical tour does a private one, I can speak for them as I did another tour with them, and they were fantastic.

In my opinion, there is no need to take a guided tour at all. Just rent a car, and you are all set. We faced no problem at all reaching there. Google maps are off by a Kilometer and take you a little ahead; otherwise, the driving directions are pretty straightforward.

Also, visit the ‘Geoglifos de pintados’ and ‘Geoglyphs of Tiliviche’ if you are in the area.