Abstract

This article provides a new look at the emblematic site of Tamentica (Guatacondo Canyon, northern Chile). We describe and systematize three rock art motifs which, because of their redundancy and variability, we consider key icons of the Formative Period in Tarapac, namely: the Anthropomorphic Being with Dentate Headdress, the Bird with Extended Wings, and the Manned Sea Lion Hide Raft. We also review the distribution of these icons on other materials from Tarapac to Antofagasta. Finally, we discuss the potential role of these icons in their social context, as human groups were undergoing new processes of economic intensification, increasing sedentary life, and population nucleation, which required from the inhabitants of the oases, canyons, coast and highlands to find new ways of interaction between them.