Atacama Overview
Culture
For the past one hundred centuries, the San Pedro area has been an epicenter of human activity. The relative abundance of local fauna and flora has created fitting living conditions for the first inhabitants of our continent, despite the fact that it is such an inhospitable region.
The Licanantay, Aymara and eventually Inca cultures left their traces as evidenced by the vast quantity and variety of archeological remains in San Pedro. Fortresses like the Pucara of Quitor and the ancient settlement of Tulor are just a few of the literally hundreds of sites left by the original people.
The driest desert in the world has not been an obstacle for the flourishing of these complex cultures and their unique social traits. The most important culture of the area were the Licanantay, direct descendants of the first hunter gatherers that arrived to this area approximately 11.000 years ago.
This region of the Atacama Desert chronicles a history that combines the struggle for survival, the adaptation to environment and the comprehension of natural cycles.
This, coupled with an interaction with the elements developed a vision of the Cosmos that is deeply based on the amalgam of these factors.
Atacama lives through its people, and our mission is to understand their perspective, to embrace their essence and to tell their stories.
