Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cultures > Arid North > Hunter-gatherers of the Puna

Art

The earliest evidence of artistic expression during this period includes stones painted with abstract designs. Lumps of red pigment have also been found that were used to color bones, shells and other artifacts, and also possibly as body paint. By the end of the Archaic Period, a new form of artistic expression emerged that was to become widespread: rock art. One of these early rock art styles, known as the Kalina-Puripica style, featured lifelike camelid images with two legs, engraved on the rock walls of ravines or on small boulders used for the walls of their dwellings.