Uyuni Salt Pan

The Uyuni Salt Pan spreads across the high plateau of southwestern Bolivia. Seasonal water changes the appearance of its broad salt surface, while cold and sparse vegetation distinguish it from neighboring pastoral lands.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, the territory of the Aymara Killakas included a small part of the salt pan. Llama caravans carried salt from the highlands to valleys, where it could be exchanged for maize, fruit, and honey. These exchanges connected pastoral communities with crops produced at lower elevations. The Killakas' recorded territory covered only part of the salar, and its history should not be taken to describe every community around its shores.