Thousands of years ago, during the Pleistocene period, this was an area with cold and rainy weather, made up of big lakes and large flowing rivers that increased their volume due to ice thawing produced by volcano eruptions in the Andes Mountain Range ...

 

This was also a time when nomad hunters came in search of huge animals, extinct today, such as the Paleolama, the Mastodon and the Milodon.

During the Holocene, this area suffered a weather change transforming the cold and rainy weather into a warm and dry one. This change caused the evaporation of the water from these lakes and transformed them into what is known today as the Salar de Atacama (salt area). The families in the period between 1000 and 750 B.C. moved towards the rivers and streams in the valley of the Loa River in search of guanacos (a type of wild llama or alpaca), rodents, birds and fruit trees such as the Algarrobo and the Chañar.

The first settlements begin in 1000 B.C. in places like Tulor, Coyo and Beter, where people tamed animals and grew corn, potatoes, quinua and zapallos. These villages begin to communicate with villages on the coast and in the year 400 A.C., Chiu Chiu and Lasana become very important trade centers between these villages.

Starting from the year 500 B.C., the Atacamanean towns were economically, politically, artistically, religiously, and culturally   influenced by the Tiawanaku culture (Quitor phase). The consumption of hallucinogens used for spiritual means to contact the gods became very popular. They would inhale hallucinogenic substances in the forms of pills. In the year 700-900 B.C (Coyo Phase), the harmonic relationships begin to deteriorate increasing the production of weapons. Between 900 and 1450 B.C (Solor Phase), Tiawanaku dominance begins to decrease, thus consolidating the Atacamanean culture. The formation of fortresses or Pucaras such as Turi, Quitor, Lasana and Chiu Chiu, begin.