A settlement preserved by sand
The Tulor Village is one of the oldest excavated settlements in northern Chile, with occupation dating from approximately 800 BCE to 500 CE. Located about 10 kilometers southwest of San Pedro de Atacama, the village was first formally excavated in 1956 by Jesuit priest Gustavo Le Paige. He uncovered a series of remarkable circular buildings made of adobe—a mixture of mud and straw. These structures are connected to one another through a series of passages and courtyards, forming a dense complex.
The village owes its exceptional preservation to the very forces that caused its abandonment: the advancing sand dunes of the Atacama Desert. Over centuries, sand completely buried the settlement, protecting the mud walls from erosion. This natural burial process left many walls standing at their original height, with some reaching up to two meters. The entire complex covers an area of about 5,200 square meters, though only a fraction of the site has been uncovered. The inhabitants eventually left as the climate became drier and the nearby San Pedro River shifted its course, making agriculture unsustainable.
Life in a desert oasis
The people of Tulor were farmers and pastoralists, living in a period when this part of the Atacama was a more hospitable oasis. Excavations have revealed corrals for llamas, which were a source of meat, wool, and a means of transport for trade caravans. Storage pits for agricultural products like maize and quinoa have also been found. The inhabitants developed a distinct style of polished brown-and-grey pottery.
Artifacts discovered at the site demonstrate that the village was part of a wide-ranging trade network. Archaeologists have found items from great distances, including numerous shell beads from the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of kilometers away. This evidence of trade shows connections with cultures in northwestern Argentina and the broader central-south Andean region. Stone tools, textiles, and even mural paintings on some of the structures provide further information about the daily activities and culture of the village's estimated 150 to 200 residents.