Customs

Spiritual World

Tumba diaguita, con ajuar y llama sacrificada. Plaza de Armas de Coquimbo.

Different grave-styles speak about their spiritual evolution and about their belief in a supernatural life and in divinities.

They had a very complex burial ritual, in which they sacrificed llamas or alpacas. These animals were buried with the deceased, evidencing the importance of livestock.

Basically, their burial sites consist on a rectangular enclosure, excavated below ground level, with two inclined stone blocks in order to protect the corpse. Also, some of them suggest that wives were buried next to their husbands. Such a tradition may have been a way of achieving balance between sexes.

Men and women were short in size, with clear olive colored skin. Their cranial deformation, a common practice among the Diaguita, did not produce unattractive or negative effects.