Tracing Images, Shaping Narratives: Eight Decades of Rock Art Research in Chile, South America (1944–2024)

Abstract

80 years of Chilean rock art research, from its early descriptive stages in the 1940s to the present-day integration of relational ontologies, archaeometric techniques, and interdisciplinary perspectives, is reviewed. 562 publications are analysed, covering four major regions: the Arid North, Semi-Arid North, South-Central, and Southernmost Chile. Drawing from a systematically constructed corpus, we trace the evolution of research questions, theoretical orientations, and methodologies over time, with attention to regional trends and institutional dynamics. Results reveal a gradual shift from typological classification toward more complex approaches addressing mobility, landscape, coloniality, visual agency, and human/non-human relationships. The Arid North emerges as the primary centre of innovation, while southern regions remain in exploratory stages despite recent advances. Comparison with global research trajectories shows how Chile’s situated approaches—marked by decentralisation, theoretical pluralism, and critical reflection—contribute to decolonial and southern perspectives in rock art studies. Rather than reproducing hegemonic models, Chilean scholarship offers alternative epistemologies rooted in context-specific materiality and historical processes. The review highlights the potential of Chilean rock art research to expand the theoretical and methodological horizons of the discipline, positioning it as a fertile field for dialogue with contemporary archaeology and global visual studies.