Magnificent representations carved on stone in the walls of caves and hillsides in Chile, represent ancient rock art, dating back about 30,000 years, and show its highest expression between the 1st and the 4th Regions.
These are prehistoric symbols where man stamped his expression using different techniques, making it the mass media that was to express and convey their ideas, beliefs and practices in social, political, economic, religious and spiritual areas. The lack of archaeological studies prevents us from knowing who the authors of these paintings were. This type of art can be represented in three different forms depending on their design and location:
The petroglyphs: are symbols carved in stone and often used as a mechanism to mark the way of the caravans that were circulating in different areas of northern Chile.
The geoglyphs: are designs drawn on the soil through the accumulation or removal of rocks and earth, being one of the most visible living traces of ancient civilizations, since their origins date back to between 1,000 and 1,400 years BC.
These signs exhibit three fundamental issues such as geometric models, images of animals (especially camelids, birds and snakes) and human figures carrying tools or weapons such as bows and arrows. Some experts have argued that this art is part of a ritual, but others argue that these were some kind of indicators of routes between the coast and mountains.
The pictographs: are paintings on rock, drawings with brush or stencil and which are made based on mineral dyes and a watery or oily binder. These are real sculptures on stone and can be found in the 2nd Region, specifically in the valley of El Medano, north of Tal Tal, one of the most important sites of rock art in Chile and in which most of the paintings depict deep-sea fishing to scenes from rafts and Taira, in a mix of engraving and painting, noted for its finishing in naturalistic style which were made about 4 thousand years ago.
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