Dec 2, 2021
Atacama Giant, Cerro Unitas, Atacama Desert, Chile,
It is the largest prehistoric anthropomorphic figure in the world with a length of 119 meters and represented a deity for the local inhabitants from AD 1000 to 1400.
The geoglyphs of the Atacama Desert were built using three essential methods, ‘extractive’, ‘additive’ and ‘mixed’.
The figure was an early astronomical calendar for knowing where the moon would set; by knowing this the day, crop cycle, and season could be determined. The points on the top and side of the head would say what season it would be depending on their alignment with the moon, which was important in determining when the rainy season would come in the barren Atacama.