(CNN) – For more than 12,500 years, one of the world’s most important collections of prehistoric cave paintings was discovered in the Amazon rainforest of Colombia.
The drawings were painted by some of the first humans to arrive in the Amazon, depicting already extinct glacial-era animals, such as an elephant-like carnivorous mastodon, glacial-aged horses, and lazy sloths.
When groups of hunter-gatherers roamed the world in search of food, shelter, and land, they faced the enormity and diversity of the Amazon rainforest. Researchers have been perplexed by the decision of the first humans to settle in the Amazon basin, due to its harsh environmental conditions and its seemingly inhospitable landscape.
The biggest animal seen here is a bit mysterious for Mark Robinson, a member of the team from the last trip based in the UK. Other elements in this painting are likely to be a sun and a turtle.
Courtesy of ERC Last Journey
Covering nearly eight miles of cliff, the paintings were kept secret until they were revealed by a documentary late last year for Channel 4 in the UK. They are so far away that to reach the rocks, archaeologists had to complete a challenging four-day hike that led to three rock refuges: Cerro Azul, Limoncillos and Cerro Montoya
José Iriarte, a professor of archeology at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, led the expedition to the remote site, alongside Colombian and British researchers.
“We started seeing animals that are now extinct,” Iriarte said in a statement at the time. “The images are so natural and so well done that we have little doubt that you are looking at a horse, for example. The ice age horse had a wild, heavy face. It is so detailed that we can even see the horse hairs. It’s fascinating. “
The paintings, located in the Serranía La Lindosa, will not necessarily provide the answer to the reason why humans decided to settle there, but they can certainly take a look at an ancient civilization that scientists know little about.
“We are currently conducting analysis of the images we have been able to document,” said Mark Robinson, a member of the UK-based expedition team. “We have just finished a discussion on possible identifications of megafauna and another manuscript that assesses perspectivism and the beginning of Amazonian artistic traditions.”
This drawing may represent a group of pregnant women. This is the “most obvious interpretation,” says researcher Mark Robinson.
Courtesy of ERC Last Journey
‘Sistine Chapel of the Ancients’
Serranía La Lindosa is located on the banks of the river Guayabero, between the departments of Meta and Guaviare.
Fish, lizards, birds, dancers and a figure wearing a bird mask were some of the images the team found, which at the time was described as “the Sistine Chapel of the Ancients.”
The paintings were identified during the 2017 landscape surveys and experts named the shelters after the discovery. The art depicts geometric shapes, handprints, and people interacting with savannah plants, trees, and animals, suggesting that the Amazon team has not always been a rainforest.
In addition, there are drawings of deer, tapirs, alligators, bats, monkeys, turtles, snakes and porcupines, in addition to what appears to be the megafauna of the Ice Age. These extinct animals are depicted in the rock art of central Brazil, but experts believe these drawings are more realistic.
The paintings have been preserved so well, at least for the past half century, because the region was under the control of the FARC, Colombia’s largest rebel group. For years, the country was embroiled in a civil war, with many areas completely out of bounds as they were controlled by guerrillas.
Many areas of the country were opened after the peace agreement reached between the FARC, meaning Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), and the Colombian government in 2016.
Rock art, which dates back some 12,500 years, is located in a remote area of Colombia.
Courtesy of ERC Last Journey
Even after the 2016 peace process, the team had to negotiate with rebel leaders in order to enter safely during their 2017 expedition.
The placement of some of the drawings, ocher red, baffled the expedition; some were so high on the cliff walls that they could only be seen with drones.
The site, which has not yet been named, is not the first in the country to surprise archaeologists with prehistoric paintings. Chiribiquete National Park, the largest protected area in Colombia, is home to 75,000 paintings of hunting scenes, battles, dances and ceremonies through 60 rock shelters, dating back to 20,000 BC.
The central image of this painting is “so strange,” said researcher Mark Robinson. The figure is in a typical dance pose, or more commonly with monkeys, Robinson said. The little figures around him are monkeys, he said.
Courtesy of ERC Last Journey
Where to see ancient rock art now
Rock art is notoriously difficult to date, but adjacent materials, such as the tools used to create the images, were tested to the date of the site. Researchers have also identified animals that are now extinct, which helps in the dating process.
Excavations at Serranía La Lindosa, in the deep soil around the shelters, have revealed one of the earliest dates for the occupation of the Colombian Amazon.
“For Amazonian people, non-humans, like animals and plants, have souls and communicate and relate to people through shamanic rituals and practices,” Iriate said, speaking of the recent discovery. “The early expressions of Amazonian artists probably represent the origins of this different relationship.”
Returning to the area is a “distant reality” right now due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, said Robinson, a professor at the University of Exeter. Still, the team still hopes to be able to return in 2022.
Robinson expects a face-to-face symposium on rock art venues in Colombia next year, similar to the one the university organized online this year, but the event depends on Covid.
Although the public cannot yet visit the sites of Serranía La Lindosa, there are other ways to explore Colombian rock art.
Researchers believe that this figure, located at the top of a rocky wall, could be a Macrauchenia, an already extinct genus related to the flame.
Courtesy of ERC Last Journey
Chiribiquete National Park is essentially the gateway to the La Lindosa mountain range and in 2014 ancient rock art was found.
Even this park is hard to visit; the Colombian photographer who made the discovery filmed these paintings from a helicopter. The park is so protected as it houses these culturally and historically important paintings, as well as a wealth of wildlife, that most areas are outside the boundaries of tourists. However, if you can afford it, there are companies that offer helicopter rides for an hour through the park, departing from the nearest town of San José del Guaviare.
One way to learn about pre-Columbian culture that is much easier and more environmentally friendly is to visit the Bogota Gold Museum (the Gold Museum), which has two floors and contains more than 55,000 gold pieces. , many of them made by the country’s indigenous communities, many related to the legend of the Dorado.
Top photo: Cerro Azul is one of three sites showing ancient cave paintings that were discovered in recent years in the Serranía La Lindosa in Colombia. Photo: Courtesy of Vive Guaviare / Marcel Reina