Cerros Pintados

2006 World Monuments Watch

Cerros Pintados, or “painted hills,” is an extraordinary site that boasts more than 350 geoglyphs that were rendered on the region’s barren hills between ca. A.D. 500 and 1450 to serve as guideposts for caravans crossing the Atacama Desert from the Andes to the Pacific Ocean. Although Cerros Pintados is within the National Reserve of Pampa del Tamarugal, the site has been damaged by illegal mining, erosion, and uncontrolled tourism. There are no tourist facilities or guards to monitor visitors, some of whom have vandalized the site with graffiti and removed archaeological material as souvenirs.

Since the Watch

In 2013 a new visitor center opened at the site. In addition, a trail with rest stations and signage about the geoglyphs were installed.