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All Chile Huara Atacama Giant

Atacama Giant

One of the largest ancient geoglyphs in the world is a tall desert god used for predicting the weather.

Huara, Chile

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Eric Grundhauser
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Atacama Giant   emelio on Flickr
Atacama Giant   Sznegra on Wikipedia
Atacama Giant   Pablo Trincado on Flickr
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About

Illustrated on a Chilean hillside known as Cerro Unitas and surrounded by thousands of smaller geoglyphs, the Atacama Giant, a massive image of a deity used to calculate the movements of the moon, stands as one of the largest geoglyphs ever discovered.

Likely created sometime between 1000 and 1400 CE by a successive series of indigenous cultures including the Inca, the massive figure rests among about 5,000 smaller images of birds, mystical designs, and other images that have been etched on the ground. The images were created by either digging out the lines of the design from the soil, or by placing patterns of stones and sand on top of it, and sometimes a mixture of the two methods. (Successive cultures worked to create the images, which accounts for the variation.)

The giant itself is 390 feet tall and built in a direct and unpretentious design with no flourishes, save for the straight lines emanating from its head and torso to imitate either some sort of ceremonial garb or the unearthly features of a god. Whichever the lines symbolize, researchers have determined that they very likely served a practical purpose as well. When they aligned with the moon, the lines in the giant's headdress, in conjunction with the other points on its body, the image would have been used to track the time of year, so that the ancient builders could predict the coming of the crucial rainy season.  

While the Atacama Giant may not be the most famous geoglyph in the game (that distinction goes to the Nazca Lines), the size, clarity, and former importance of the rain god to the people who made the design, allow it to stand tall regardless.

Related Tags

Geoglyphs Archaeology Art Seen From Space

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Added By

EricGrundhauser

Edited By

littlebrumble, lrt228

  • littlebrumble
  • lrt228

Published

December 22, 2014

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atacama_Giant
  • http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-americas/puzzling-case-atacama-giant-002223
  • http://www.thelivingmoon.com/43ancients/02files/Giant_of_Atacama_Chile.html
Atacama Giant
Cerro Unita Huara,
Huara
Chile
-19.95, -69.633333
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Nearby Places

The Nitrate Towns of Chile

Tamarugal, Chile

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Chile

Chile

South America

Places 87
Stories 22

Nearby Places

The Nitrate Towns of Chile

Tamarugal, Chile

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Chile

Chile

South America

Places 87
Stories 22

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