Located in the community of Huara, province of Tamarugal, region of Tarapacá, the Atacama Giant is the biggest human-representing geoglyph on earth.
The falsely named “Atacama Giant” in the Atacama Desert of Chile was originally named “Tarapacá Giant”. The person that is represented in the stone geoglyph represents an ancient god whose name was Tarapaca (without the accent), Taapaca or Tunupa. The famous god traveled from the Titicaca Lake to the Pacific Ocean and passed on his agricultural knowledge to the people.
The Giant is located on the west flank of the hill Unitas, 84km away from Iquique. It was created by native indigenous people of Chile in the year 900. This human-shaped geoglyph is 86m high, even 115m including the crown, and covers a surface of almost 3000m².
Even though there are numerous geoglyphs to be found in the surrounding valleys, canyons and hills, cerro Unitas is a special example. It is a single hill with monumental stone images. Apart from the famous Atacama Giant, the hill is covered with other geometric and animal figures on the west and south flanks.
The applied technique is a mixed approach, meaning that it is a combination of cleaned earth and stone formations. There are 21 pictures in total, that are said to date back to the ancient cultures which rendered cult to local gods. On the south flank, 12 pictures can be found, while the west flank shows the Giant and additional geometric formations of a size between 100 and 200m². To his right, there is his baston, and his legs are decorated with representations of feathers.