Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Cultures > Semi-arid North > Las Animas

Patrón de Asentamiento

Las Ánimas settlements were situated along the region’s coast and its nearby valleys, with only a few in the much more arid interfluvial areas. In the upper basin of the Copiapó Valley the people built several fortified villages close to fields where they grew crops. In the small encampments they established in the valleys, evidence of both coastal and mountain resources has remained, indicating a pattern of transversal movement across the territory. Their cemeteries were located outside their villages on hillside terraces and more commonly in coastal zones.