Images that travel: Aguada rock art in North central Chile

Abstract

The presence of two petroglyphs ascribed to Aguada iconography (north-west Argentina) identified in the Province of Choapa, central-northern Chile (31° latitude south), is herein discussed. Through a formal comparison of the motifs of rock art and those recognised in the iconography of north-western Argentina, the homology of the representations is established. Specifically, the analysis allows identifying the presence of the feline motif, the main character of Aguada iconography, related to a particular symbolic system that expanded across the southern Andes about the middle of the first century of our era. With these antecedents, the implications of the presence of this motif in the area of study are discussed.