Between pachamama and the stars… pastoralist fertility rites, rock art, and gender Entre pachamama y las estrellas… rituales pastoriles de fertilidad, arte rupestre y género

ISASMENDI, MARÍA VICTORIA; LÓPEZ CAMPENY, SARA M. L.

Boletin del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Lugar: Santiago; Año: 2022 vol. 27 p. 47 - 66

0716-1530

Based on formal and compositional analyses of the rock art sequence of the Real Grande 3 (rg3) rock shelter, the authors propose that the site was used recurrently between ca. 5000 and 1500 Bp. Taking into consideration its location in an area of highland ravines (4000 masl), its proximity to a freshwater spring and year-round watercourse, its relationship to nearby sites with different functions, and the absence of occupations in the stratigraphic record, the rock art representations are interpreted in light of a series of Andean ethnographic sources associated with pastoralist practices and ceremonies propitiating camelid fertility.