The Town

The Atacama town is an ancestral settlement whose first inhabitants date back to 10,000 BC. Today they live†in small valleys and rifts of the river Loa province and are known as Atacameños, but originally they where called Likan-Antai people ("people of this land" in kunza language). The Likan-Antai achieved cultural significance during the XVth century, before the†arrival of the Incas. The early arrival of the Spanish to American territory then ended the Inca’s 100 year rule and the Atacameños were persuaded to live within the Spanish socio-political and cultural system. These are subsistence farming villages and consist of agricultural fields which bear crops of wheat, corn, vegetables as well as supporting livestock. They are currently established as indigenous†communities,†which exist within a mutually supportive infrastructure which†allows them to work together. The area San Pedro de Atacama consists of 14 provinces: Conde Duque, Yaye, Sequitor, Larache, Solcor, Solor, Cucuter, Beter, Poconche, Coyo, Tulor, Quitor, Catarpe y Tambillo.