Chile's rock-art llamas divulge desert culture's secrets

Open-air rock paintings in the world's driest desert testify to the importance of the llama to the millennia-old cultures that have traversed the inhospitable terrain.

Conservationists working in Chile's Atacama Desert want UNESCO to recognize the Taira Valley drawings as a heritage site so they can develop sustainable tourism in the region.

Taira is "a celebration of life", says archeologist Jose Bereguer, describing the site as "the most complex in South America" because of its astronomical importance as well as the significance to local shepherds.