New and fascinating rock art discoveries from 2020 have impressed archaeological historians, revealing one of the world’s largest collections of late Pleistocene art in the Amazon rainforest. This remarkable site features thousands of breathtaking and perfectly preserved cave paintings located on high cliff faces, spanning nearly eight miles within the forest. It’s worth noting that this is only the early stage of exploration, and many other areas have yet to be discovered.
Recent excavations in the Serranía La Lindosa, located on the northern edge of the Colombian Amazon, were conducted by Professor José Iriarte and Dr. Mark Robinson from Exeter University.
The discovery is particularly impressive given the difficult access to the rocky Serranía La Lindosa region, which is heavily guarded by FARC and guerrilla groups. Ongoing social unrest in Colombia has made this area largely inaccessible to researchers. It is now part of Colombia’s largest national park, Chiribiquete, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
Photo: Marie-Claire Thomas, Wild Blue Media
Based on multiple rock shelters adorned with numerous rock paintings depicting geometric shapes, human figures, handprints, plants, and animals, Robinson states that the team is now analyzing the first inhabitants who reached the Amazon at the end of the last Ice Age, around 12,000 BC. These early peoples are believed to be the creators of the artworks.
Art so immense that it can’t even be seen from the ground. So, how did they manage to paint so high?
It is believed they used wooden scaffolding and ladders or constructed platforms from forest materials. It could even be argued that the landscape and people looked completely different back then—who really knows?
The depictions include now-extinct Ice Age animals, such as the mastodon, a prehistoric relative of the elephant. Additionally, images of fish, turtles, lizards, and birds can be seen, along with scenes of people dancing and holding hands.
It may take archaeologists years, possibly even generations, to fully study these findings. Some of the paintings are situated so high up on the cliff that they can only be viewed using drones.
Photo: gipri
According to Iriarte, it’s intriguing to note that many of these large animals are depicted surrounded by small figures of men with their arms raised, as if worshipping them.
One figure wears a mask resembling a bird with a beak, primarily drawn in red ochre, a natural clay pigment. Robinson noted that researchers studying the paintings can only speculate about the significance of certain scenes at present.
“For Amazonian people, non-humans like animals and plants possess souls and communicate with people in both cooperative and hostile ways through the rituals and shamanic practices depicted in the rock art.”
— José Iriarte
Video Representation – Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon
The discovery has been documented and featured in a major Channel 4 series, Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon. The emotional capture includes intriguing interpretations, with the segment featuring the images starting at the 56th minute.
