Archaeology
4,000-year-old rock art in Venezuela may be from a 'previously unknown' culture
An archeological team in Venezuela has discovered 20 rock art sites that date back thousands of years in Canaima National Park, in the southeastern part of the country.
While archaeologists have found similar rock art designs elsewhere in South America, the newfound art "represents a new culture previously unknown," José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, an archaeologist and researcher at Simón Bolívar University in Caracas who is leading the team, told Live Science in an email.
Some of these designs, which researchers call "pictograms," were drawn in red and depict geometric motifs such as lines of dots, rows of X's, star-shaped patterns and straight lines that connect together to form a variety of designs. There are also simple depictions of leaves and stick figure drawings of people. Additionally, some of the images, called Petroglyphs, were incised into the rock and also show a variety of geometric motifs.
It's unclear why people created this art. "It is almost impossible to get into the minds of people living so many [thousands of] years ago" Pérez-Gómez said, but "definitely these signs had a ritual meaning." For instance, the different depictions may be related to birth, diseases, the renewal of nature or good hunting. The places where the rock art was created "most probably had a meaning and an importance within the landscape, just as the churches have a meaning for people today," Pérez-Gómez added.
Related: Sprawling 8-mile-long 'canvas' of ice age beasts discovered hidden in Amazon rainforest
While it's unknown exactly how old the rock art is, similar rock art in Brazil has been dated to around 4,000 years ago. However Pérez-Gómez thinks that the examples in Venezuela may be older.
Canaima National Park is a massive park, about the size of Belgium, that encompasses forests and mountainous terrain. One of its most famous features is Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall on land in the world. The park may have been the "ground zero" where this Mysterious culture first developed, Pérez-Gómez said, before later dispersing to places as distant as the Amazon river, the Guianas and even southern Colombia, which have rock art similar to the newly found examples in Venezuela.
-
Archaeology1m ago
Egypt’s Stυппiпg Archaeological Discovery: Alieп Symbols oп Aпcieпt Coiпs Spark Extraterrestrial Theories
-
Archaeology1m ago
2,800-year-old burial mound with sacrifices unearthed in Siberia is eerily similar to Scythian graves
-
Archaeology1m ago
Nabta Playa: A mysterious stone circle that may be the world's oldest astronomical observatory
-
Archaeology1m ago
Ancient DNA from South Africa rock shelter reveals the same human population stayed there for 9,000 years
-
Archaeology1m ago
'Extraordinary' burial of ancient Egyptian governor's daughter discovered in a coffin within another coffin
-
Archaeology1m ago
Grand tomb of Roman gladiator found in Turkey actually contains the remains of 12 other people
-
Archaeology1m ago
Neanderthals and modern humans interbred 'at the crossroads of human migrations' in Iran, study finds
-
Archaeology1m ago
Did Neanderthals wear clothes?