Image courtesy of Brigitte Baeuerle

From: Brigitte Baeuerle
Illuga, Chile, October 23, 2008

The largest human geoglyph - the Giant of the Atacama

On our way from Arica to Iquique, we visited one of the largest human geoglyphs - the Giant of the Atacama. Etched into the side of a solitary mountain, the 393 feet high human figure is one of many depictions of living creatures and geometric figures that can be found all across northern Chile and Peru.

The difference between a geoglyph and a petroglyph is that geoglyphs are designed on the ground by arranging or removing stones, gravel or earth, while petroglyphs are images carved into a rock surface.

Geoglyphs were first discovered when commercial airlines began flying across the Peruvian desert in the 1920's. Geoglyphs are are among archaeology's greatest mysteries.

Brigitte

Postcards from the Field: Climate Science from the Southeast Pacific

You might also be interested in:

Traveling Nitrogen Classroom Activity Kit

Check out our online store - minerals, fossils, books, activities, jewelry, and household items!...more

Atacama Desert

Chile's Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth. Much of the desert receives less than 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) of rainfall per year on average, making it 50 times more arid than California's...more

Mountain Building

Mountains are built through a general process called "deformation" of the crust of the Earth. One example of deformation comes from the process of subduction. When two sections of the Earth's lithosphere...more

Rhea George

Many students in atmospheric science were motivated to enter the field by some fascinating extreme weather event experienced as a child. This was not the case with me. When I was an undergraduate I was...more

Dr. Boris Dewitte

I'm a physical oceanographer interested in climate variability and especially the El Niño phenomenon. Other than the annual cyle of the seasons, El Niño is the largest pulsation of the climate. I'm interested...more

Dr. Paquita Zuidema

Hola! I am originally from the Netherlands and thereafter spent 3 years as a child in the Peruvian Andes, but I have lived most of my life in the United States. I received my bachelor's degree in physics...more

Lelia Hawkins

I am starting my fourth year of graduate school at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying atmospheric chemistry and climate science. I love earth science and have always wanted to do something...more

Dr. Jeff Snider

I am a university professor involved in studies of the concentration and type of particles contained within clouds. It is important to know these things in order to say how often clouds produce precipitation...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA