* 
The Ahau Chronicles 

 

Volume 15 October 15, 2010 Subscribers: 333 

 

 

 Long Count: 12.19.17.14.0 “Los 33” 

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 For the second time this year my beloved Chile has been thrust into the spotlight. 
However, unlike the devastating earthquake at the end of February, this time a potential 
calamity has turned into a celebration of hope, endurance, and brotherhood. The 33 
miners trapped underground for a record 69 days have emerged, every last one, to the 
cheers of a nation and the whole world beyond. This newsletter is dedicated to the 
miners, known as “Los 33”, and to the bright future they now face after being reborn 
from an underground sepulcher that could very easily have become their common grave. 

 

 Of all of the South American countries that I have visited (Chile, Argentina, 
Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru and Colombia) I have spent the most time in Chile. The country 
is impossibly elongated in response to the extreme geography it contains. The varied 
territory within Chile creates some of the best natural defenses of any country in the 
world and may explain why the ancient Maya saw this land as the perfect repository for 
their greatest treasure. Surrounded in the north by the driest desert in the world 
(Atacama), in the east by the tallest mountain range in the western hemisphere (Andes), 
in the west by the largest ocean on the planet (Pacific) and in the south by the frozen 
continent of Antarctica, Chileans have been bred to be self-reliant and resourceful while 
at the same time enjoying a strong bond with their fellow countrymen. It was this rugged 
friendliness that first drew me to this far corner of the earth and the eventual discovery of 
the island monument. In the days immediately preceding my 1996 discovery on 
Robinson Crusoe Island, my tourist visa had expired. With no way to renew it on the 
island I waited until my return to the continent, whereupon I was given a fine and 48 
hours to exit the country. I hopped on a bus and made a 24-hour journey north through 
the Atacama Desert on my way to Arica and eventually across the border into Bolivia. 


 

 The San Jose Mine is located near Copiapo, 
shown as the red dot in the outline map of Chile at left. 
Santiago, shown as an “S”, is the capital city and is 
centrally located within Chile. The town of Copiapo 
lies near the southern end of the Atacama Desert, often 
described as the driest desert in the world with an annual 
rainfall of barely 1 millimeter per year. Some weather 
stations have never recorded rain. 

 

 The severe dryness of northern Chile arises from 
a variety of factors, most notably the parallel mountain 
ranges of the high Andes along the border with Bolivia 
and Argentina as well as the Coastal Range of 
mountains further west. These mountains create a rain 
shadow that prevents moisture from reaching the 
Atacama. Further exacerbating these conditions is an 
inversion layer of air created by the cold waters of the 
Humboldt Current coming up the coast from Antarctica. 
We have discussed the effects of this current in previous 
newsletters in relation to Robinson Crusoe Island. 

 

 The Andes Mountains represent the edge of the 
South American tectonic plate which is overriding the 
Nazca plate and being thrust upwards. This exposure of 
deep geological strata provides access to the raw 
materials exploited by the mining industry. The trapped 
miners were working the San Jose mine which has been 
in production since 1889. Both copper and gold are 
extracted from the mine. Overall, Chile produces about 
40% of all copper mined in the world and these 
revenues account for 45% of exports from the country. 

 

 Scientific studies have shown that the extreme 
environment in the Atacama Desert produces locations 
completely devoid of life. These include immense flats 
of salt-encrusted land known as salars and expanses of 
sand which are utterly sterile. For this reason, the 
Atacama region has been used by NASA as a test 
location for missions bound for Mars and other lifeless 
planets. Against all odds, ancient cultures nevertheless 
inhabited these regions, thriving enough to create 
ceremonial art, some of which is known around the 
world. 


The famous Nazca lines in Peru are but the best-known examples of huge 
geoglyphs written across more than 1,000 miles of the Andean Altiplano, or high plain. 
Given the arid climate it is not surprising to find many of the Altipano cultures fixated on 
the acquisition of water. David Johnson, a hydrologist who visited me at home to share 
his discoveries, has explored geoglyphs across Peru and northern Chile and found that 
they always appear related to underground aquifers and were almost always associated 
with ancient cemeteries. 

 

 

 

 Another close friend, Ricardo Moyano, has recently finished his Master’s thesis 
based on his fieldwork with Patricio Bustamante, whom I visited in Santiago prior to the 
recent Eclipse Expedition. They studied the indigenous inhabitants of the town of 
Socaire, situated at nearly 11,000 feet in altitude just east of the massive Salar de 
Atacama. This society revolves around water rights related to artificial canals channeling 
runoff from the nearby mountains, which are viewed by the inhabitants as forming the 
Hand of God, cradling their dusty valley. 

 


 Further south the Andes begin to rise in altitude culminating in the highest 
mountain in the Western Hemisphere, Cerro Aconcagua. At an elevation of 
approximately 22,841 feet (6,962 meters), Aconcagua is situated just over the border in 
Argentina and reaches more than 2,500 feet higher than Alaska’s Mount McKinley, the 
tallest mountain in the U.S. 

 

 

 

 

 The Andes continue 
south into Patagonia and drop 
into the sea near the Straits of 
Magellan. Further south, 
beyond Tierra del Fuego, lies 
the Drake Passage, rounding 
the tip of the continent and 
widely regarded as one of the 
most treacherous stretches of 
water on the planet. A sliver 
of peninsula known as 
O’Higgins Land reaches up 
toward South America from 
Antarctica. Chile makes a 
contentious claim to this 
region, defined by two lines 
of longitude radiating 
outwards from the South Pole. 
There are overlapping claims 
from neighboring Argentina 
as well as the UK. However, 
without a permanent human 
population, all of Antarctica is 
covered by the Antarctica 
Treaty system which regulates 
international relations. 


 As 2010 winds to a close I’m looking ahead to 2011 and the cosmic events of next 
year. There are no Total Solar Eclipses in 2011. In fact, the next Total Solar Eclipse is 
the one in November 2012 which is commemorated by the island eclipse monument. The 
year 2011 will have four partial solar eclipses, each of which will skirt either the North or 
South Poles. The partial eclipse of November 25, 2011, crosses over O’Higgins Land 
with observers potentially witnessing about 90% of the sun eclipsed. Working with 
Alejandro Briones in Chile and his Atakama Expeditions, we are beginning the 
preliminary planning of an expedition to Antarctica to witness this event. 

 

 

 

 As “Los 33” begin to adjust back to life on the surface, the global media hungers 
to hear their stories of life underground. All eyes are fixated on this scrappy bunch of 
men who survived for more than two months trapped some 2,000 feet below the earth. 
The resilience they demonstrated is a trait I have always recognized in Chileans and I 
look forward to my next journey to the southlands. I suspect we will be hearing much 
more about this fascinating country in the years to come. Vive Chile y Los 33!