Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cultures > Arid North > Pica

Economy

The Pica lived in farming communities in inland valleys and oases, complementing the produce they grew with those from the higher altitudes of the sierra and Altiplano. They constructed irrigation works and farming terraces to grow maize and quinoa, taking advantage of the water that flowed down their ravines from the high mountains after the summer rains. They also gathered the fruit of the algarrobo and tamarugo trees and hunted wild animals. From the ocean they obtained marine resources, establishing small settlements on the coast close to freshwater sources. They moved goods to and from these different zones by llama caravans that traversed the desert and foothill regions.