Elki

The Elqui valley runs from the Andes to the Pacific through the semi-arid north of Chile. Its river watered communities whose history is reflected in the burial grounds and ceramics of the Diaguita people. Near the river mouth, El Olivar preserves evidence of several successive cultures, including Diaguita and Inca occupation. The pottery found in these burial grounds includes vessels with painted designs, a distinctive expression of the valley’s pre-Hispanic traditions.

The Spanish founded La Serena near the coast in 1544. Five years later Diaguita people took part in an attack that destroyed the new town, which was subsequently refounded. Colonial documents continued to refer to the upper valley as the land of the Diaguitas, while vineyards and mills spread through the valley in the centuries that followed.

The later city of La Serena lies here.