Photo Gallery

The Pukará de Lasana is a pre-Columbian residential and refuge fortress built by the Atacameños in the 12th century. The ruins of these impressive stone structures stretch along the cliffs directly above the lush green valley floor of the Río Loa (in the middle ground). The combination of the barren canyon walls, the agricultural terraces (andenes) in the valley and the Andean peaks in the background makes this site a unique cultural monument in northern Chile. The twin volcanoes of San Pedro (6,145 metres) and, right next to it, San Pablo (6,092 metres) dominate the horizon. A little further east lie the peaks of Cerro Paniri (5,960 m) and the Cerros de Tocorpuri volcanic complex. – Chile – 1976

Pucará de Lasana, an abandoned Atacameño village on the Río Loa in the Atacama Desert, Chile. The Atacameños practised terraced farming with artificial irrigation and built their dwellings close together so as not to waste the barren arable land. - Book: Picture 53 - Chile - 1976