12,500-year-old rock art 'canvas' in the Amazon reveals early Americans' connection with wildlife

A gallery of striking ochre paintings drawn onto massive rock faces offers insight into the close relationship between humans and Animals living in the Amazon thousands of years ago.

The artwork is located on rocky outcroppings at Cerro Azul in Serranía de la Lindosa, a cliff in Colombia. It features 3,223 drawings of humans and Animals, including a menagerie of fish, reptiles and maMMAls of various sizes, according to a new study in the September issue of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

Some of the imagery even depicts Animals and humans morphing into each other, indicating "the rich mythology that guided generations of indigenous Amazonians," according to a statement from the University of Exeter. 

Although the researchers have not formally dated the canvas of art, they estimated that it has been around since 10500 B.C.

"These rock art sites include the earliest evidence of humans in western Amazonia, dating back 12,500 years," lead author Mark Robinson, an associate professor in the Department of Archaeology and History at the University of Exeter, said in the statement. 

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The team found at least 22 species of animals, including deer, birds, peccary, lizards, turtles and tapir. After comparing the animal drawings with ancient butchered animal bones found in nearby excavations, the archaeologists found that the proportional representation of drawings by species did not match the proportion of animal bones, indicating that the Indigenous people didn't just paint what they ate. The butchered bones included a diverse diet, including fish, mammals and reptiles, such as snakes and crocodiles.