EL IMAGINARIO SALITRERO DEL DESIERTO DE TARAPACÁ (PUNTO, POZO, PAMPA, CANTÓN) EN LA PRIMERA MITAD DEL SIGLO XIX, Y DURANTE EL PROCESO DE INDUSTRIALIZACIÓN*

The need to start mining undertakings in the Tarapacá Desert during the first half of the 19th century, took cateadores to imagine/name what would be known as saltpeter pampas, because of the nonmetal mineral that would attract the industrial revolution to the coastal province of Tarapaca. It is postulated that this process to imagine/name the Tarapaca Desert started with the location of a geographical point, building a water well, and defining saltpeter pampas. After the middle of the 19th century those pampas, became socially and culturally saltpeter “cantones”. The transformation of the desert during the nitrate period was related to “habitar”, “habla especializada” and mining work from the first oficinas de Paradas, and expands with the oficinas de Máquina.