Abstract

Northern Chile, and particularly the Precordillera and Altiplano area, has climatic conditions characterized by aridity, but not exempt from intense rainfall events and very cold temperatures. Aymara communities have settled in this area since pre-Columbian times and have prospered and developed agropastoral activities despite these unfavorable conditions based on the observation of natural indicators. Based on precipitation and temperature data and semi-structured interviews, we identified those indicators and the climatic/meteorological behavior they predicted in the case of the populations of Putre (Precordillera) and Caquena (Altiplano). Thus, it was identified that these natural indicators allow predicting with a certain confidence the wet or dry, or cold or warm character of a coming season, but present certain limitations when it comes to predicting the occurrence of local extreme events. In this sense, this work is a good step forward in highlighting the traditional knowledge of Andean communities, which appears as another example of their heritage value.