Kunza

Kunza, also called Likanantaí or Atacameño, is the extinct language of the Atacama people, whose self-name Likan Antay underlies the Licanantay label. It was spoken across the Atacama Desert and neighbouring altiplano. A polysynthetic tongue with a decimal number system, it is treated as a language isolate.

Atacameño culture grew in desert oases from about the fifth century, came under Tiwanaku influence, and early in the fifteenth century was conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui, who brought the sun cult and Inca administration. Diego de Almagro's Spaniards reached the area in 1536 and it was annexed in 1557.

In the eighteenth century Atacameño fighters such as Tomás Paniri joined the Andean risings of Túpac Amaru II and Túpac Katari. Kunza remained in daily use into the nineteenth century before giving way to Spanish, preserved in wordlists and place names.