Abstract

In pre-Hispanic iconography from the south-central Andes, and particularly in the rock art of the Atacama Desert, various representations of animals generically identified as felines have been documented. However, their specific zoological identification has not previously been addressed from a visual perspective. To address this gap, the present study adopts a multidisciplinary perspective, presenting a compilation of images of felids in the parietal art of the Atacama region, including both records previously published by other researchers and new evidence documented by our team. These images were compared with the morphological characteristics of three species (Leopardus jacobita, L. garleppi, and L. geoffroyi) belonging to the group of small wild cats, or lesser cats, of South America, which are currently threatened by anthropogenic factors, such as habitat loss and fragmentation. This analysis allowed us to identify L. jacobita and L. geoffroyi in the rock art images based on the recognition of certain morphological traits and visual patterns distinctive to both species. This in turn made it possible to distinguish these them from the visual pattern associated with the puma, a larger felid. Furthermore, the evidence gathered on the presence of these species in Atacama rock art, together with various ethnographic records, points to the possible symbolic significance that these small felids may have held in the belief systems of the pre-Hispanic communities that inhabited the region.

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