On my last day in San Pedro de Atacama, I did a small hike. About 3 km from the village, there are the partly restored remains of an old mountain fortress, the Pukara de Quitor.
I had already seen a pukara in Argentina. The main difference between the two is their use of construction materials. While the stones in Argentina were a light grey, the stones available near San Pedro are red:
This overview of the pukara shows the side from which the fortress could be accessed; all other sides of the hill were a lot steeper than that.
On one of the steep sides, there were two indigenous faces carved into the stone. As the park surrounding them was opened only recently, I'm not quite sure how old the carvings actually are; but impressive nonetheless!
Close to the pukara, another path led up to a mirador. Halfway up, it offered views of these fantastic red hills:
And from the top, there was a wonderful view of San Pedro. From this perspective it suddenly became clear to me why San Pedro was originally chosen as a settlement: it is an oasis!
Back in San Pedro, I visited the archeological museum. Due to the aridity in the region, many artefacts are preserved perfectly. The museum therefore has exhibits that would have decayed in many other parts of the world, for example baskets woven from plant fiber.
What I found quite surprising was that many of the museum's exhibits were related to the production, storage and consumption of hallucinogenic substances. Apparently, the usage of drugs, at least for spiritual purposes, was very common. This picture shows a sample of the instruments: a pestle for production, and a tablet from where the drugs were inhaled via a pipe.
I wonder if drug use was as widespread in ancient European cultures?
I had already seen a pukara in Argentina. The main difference between the two is their use of construction materials. While the stones in Argentina were a light grey, the stones available near San Pedro are red:
This overview of the pukara shows the side from which the fortress could be accessed; all other sides of the hill were a lot steeper than that.
On one of the steep sides, there were two indigenous faces carved into the stone. As the park surrounding them was opened only recently, I'm not quite sure how old the carvings actually are; but impressive nonetheless!
Close to the pukara, another path led up to a mirador. Halfway up, it offered views of these fantastic red hills:
And from the top, there was a wonderful view of San Pedro. From this perspective it suddenly became clear to me why San Pedro was originally chosen as a settlement: it is an oasis!
Back in San Pedro, I visited the archeological museum. Due to the aridity in the region, many artefacts are preserved perfectly. The museum therefore has exhibits that would have decayed in many other parts of the world, for example baskets woven from plant fiber.
What I found quite surprising was that many of the museum's exhibits were related to the production, storage and consumption of hallucinogenic substances. Apparently, the usage of drugs, at least for spiritual purposes, was very common. This picture shows a sample of the instruments: a pestle for production, and a tablet from where the drugs were inhaled via a pipe.
I wonder if drug use was as widespread in ancient European cultures?
