More than 10.000 years ago arrived to this region the first human groups of harvest hunters, they came from the western side of the Andes Mountain Range, at the latitude of the Capricorn Tropic, causing the first human travelling by Puna Salada.

Arriving to this zone, the primitive groups find gigantic lakes that now is the great Salt Flat of Atacama and Punta Negra. Here the life developed generous big herds of guanacos, vicuñas and groups of flamingoes having great varieties of vegetable species at the shore of the big paleolakes.

Maybe at this moment where population of Puna Salada started to develope their first agricultural experiences, by small families vegetable garden and the domestication of the camelloids, like the llamas.

Is here where man consodilate their farming knowledge, fact that later will be important when they go back to humidity systems at 1500 b.c. The ones that stayed in this
zone would be great farmers, domesticating the wild oasis that was formed in this period.

Like that, the atacamenian domesticated their llamas into beasts of burden, starting through extenses zones to win a foreign relationship with other villages on the Andes and the Pacific, that created the basis for the atacamenian society development.

Is known that the Tiwanakus kept important relationships with other villages of the andean world through camelloids caravans. The exchange of goods was the principal motour that made the caravans to travel acroos this extenses territories, the ideas and spirituality also travelled with them. The great ideology influence that ruled by Tiwanakus at the Andes at the begining of the christian time till the end of the first millenium, marked deeply at the atacamenians. The great quantities of Tiwanaku motives that can be observe at the graphic tablets for to inhale hallucinogen that are in San Pedro de Atacama, prove the deep connection between this society.

THE LAST 1000 YEARS

Sin duda los más complejos para el pueblo andino.

Without doubt the most complex for the andean villages.

After the disappearance of the Tiwanaku was necessary to fix the borders of the differents kingdoms that was formed because of the enrich of some sirs. The emergence of Pukaras, real fortresses builded on the slope of complicated hills, was essential for the farmers and their sirs to protect themselves. The Pukara of Quitor and Katarpe, located on the north side of San Pedro de Atacama, are the most important of the zone.

Facing the violent climate and changes, the atacamenian always was a pacific village, but this characteristic it will turn against them. 1540 marked the begining of their cultural breaking up: arrived the spanish.
The extreme repression by the conqueror affect hardly the atacamenian living and lifes. Imposing spanish over kunza , their native language and the catholicism for their age old believes will cause the lost of a lot of aspects of their cultural identity. More than three centuries the spanish wore in Atacama.

After the independence process and the conflicts of control of territories between Chile and the Peru bolivian Confederation, San Pedro de Atacama will stay under the administration of the chilean state. The nitrate becoming and the copper minning would revive the past of this village, been San Pedro de Atacama the obligated stop of the muleteer coming from Argentina to the nitrate companies. The things will change again. The decline of the nitrate companies will turn this town in the fall into oblivion and desolation.

Nowaday San Pedro de Atacama is visited by thousands of tourist atraccted by the amazing geography and their rich cultural patrimony.

Known as the archaeological capital of Chile, this village of geographic and human contraste is the ideal place for the reunion with the past.

Without doubt the great capacity to adjust at the historial culture process that here happened, prove big territorial loyalty, like the almost 5000 persons of San Pedro de Atacama, that feel it like this.