Description
Paredón de las Manos National Monument is one of the most important cave art representations of Chilean Patagonia made about six thousand years ago by the first hunter-gatherer settlers of the Region of Aysén, coming from the Patagonian steppes. The paintings are found on a rock wall of 35 meters, with more than a hundred imprints of hands, mostly left negative in red, both children and adults.
Location
Villa Cerro Castillo in the comuna of Río Ibáñez, Region of Aysén of General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo about 95 kilometers south of Coyhaique.
How to get
By plane, get to Balmaceda, a town near Coyhaique. From there, by car, take the Carretera Austral/ Ruta 7 for 72 km until you reach Villa Cerro Castillo. From the village take the neighborhood road for 3 km to the Cerro Castillo School Museum, located in Chacano sector.
History
The valley of the river Ibáñez, is one of the most important of the Patagonia by its impressive archaeological wealth. Scientists have recorded about 80 sites and almost half contain rock art, but not all are open to the public. There are many vestiges of the Tehuelche culture throughout the Patagonia in Chile and Argentina.
To make the paintings the artists extracted soil with minerals for color and animal fat as a binder, which has preserved them in time. These drawings are testimony of the fact that thousands of years ago clans of adults and children crossed the border of what is now Argentina.
Scientific project
Archaeologists Camila Muñoz from the Council of National Monuments and Francisco Mena from the Research Center on Ecosystems of Patagonia, have investigated for years the origins of these paintings to establish their exact date, using the technique of Carbon-14. Another important site that they have analyzed is "La Guanaca con Cría". This painting discovered in the 60's, has become a symbol of the regional identity, representing not only the coat of arms of the Ibáñez River and the entrance to Puerto Ibáñez, but also is in the Paseo Horn in the city of Coyhaique. In order to preserve it, the Municipali ty of Río Ibáñez and the Museum of Natural History, made a replica of the rock painting to protect the original that is very deteriorated.
Contact
It can be done individually or with agency www.tehuelchepatagoniatour.cl from $25,000 pesos per person. Official web:http://museoescuela-cerrocastillo.cl
Project developed with the support of: