 | |
| Location | Serranía de la Lindosa, Guaviare Department, Colombia |
|---|---|
| Region | Amazon Rainforest |
| Length | about 13 km (8 mi) |
| History | |
| Abandoned | Yes |
| Periods | Contested, see text |
| Site notes | |
| Discovered | 19th century |
| Archaeologists | Ella Al-Shamahi |
| Ownership | Government of Colombia |
| Public access | Limited |
The Serranía de la Lindosa is a 13 km (8 mi) stretch of cliff in Colombia that is covered by tens of thousands of painted rock art images.
Discovery
The rock art was first recorded by Europeans in the 19th century by Agustin Codazzi, who was mapping the region. It was also noted by Richard Evans Schultes in 1943. The first photographs of the art were taken in the 1980s. [1] The site was publicized in the early 2020s, leading to the false claim that the site was only recently discovered.[ citation needed]
Dating
The murals have not been directly dated. Some authors have suggested that they date to around 12,600 years ago, based on dating of archaeological sites near the art. [2] Others argue that their state of preservation is incompatible with such an age. [3] [4] It has been proposed that the art was made in the last 500 years by indigenous peoples, after the initial European discovery of the Americas. [1] [5]
Murals
The murals were painted with red ochre. [6] It has been controversially argued by some authors that the art depicts now extinct South American megafauna, such as ground sloths, gomphotheres, native equines ( Hippidion) and macraucheniids [2] but these interpretations have been contested by other scholars who support the younger age estimate, who suggest that they likely represent living animals, including domestic species introduced in the Columbian exchange like horses, cows, and dogs. [4] [1] [5]
References
- ^ a b c "This Amazon Rock Art Is 12,600 Years Old And Depicts Extinct Creatures". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ a b Iriarte, José; Ziegler, Michael J.; Outram, Alan K.; Robinson, Mark; Roberts, Patrick; Aceituno, Francisco J.; Morcote-Ríos, Gaspar; Keesey, T. Michael (2022-04-25). "Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon?". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 377 (1849). doi: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0496. ISSN 0962-8436. PMC 8899627. PMID 35249392.
- ^ ancientartarch (2022-03-08). "Are these pictographs 12,000 years old?". Ancient Art Archive. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ a b Hunt, Katie (2022-03-07). "Controversial rock art may depict extinct giants of the ice age". CNN. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ a b Ferreira, Becky (2022-03-07). "Does This Amazon Rock Art Depict Extinct Ice Age Mammals?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
- ^ Kelleher, Suzanne Rowan (December 3, 2020). "Photos: 'Sistine Chapel Of The Ancients' Cliff Drawings Revealed In Colombia". Forbes. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
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