Giant ancient rock art reveals secrets of first Amazonian people, from mythology to diet

Rock art is earliest evidence of humans in western Amazonia, scientists say

One of the panels studied as part of the Amazonian rock art project (University of Exeter)

Archaeologists have uncovered a giant rock in the Colombian Amazon bearing extensive ochre paintings of animals dating back to 12,500 years ago, a discovery that sheds light on the mythologies and diet of the continent’s first humans.

Cerro Azul hill in Colombia’s Serranía de la Lindosa hosts a stunning array of paintings depicting a range of creatures including animals and humans transforming into one another.

The free-standing tabletop hill hosts 16 “panels” of ochre drawings, several of which could only be accessed by researchers after strenuous climbing.

These spectacular rock paintings, likely to have served as a grand gallery for an ancient people for thousands of years, demonstrate the rich mythology guiding generations of Indigenous Amazonians, according to a new study published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

“These rock art sites include the earliest evidence of humans in western Amazonia, dating back 12,500 years ago,” study co-author Mark Robinson from the University of Exeter said.

One of the panels studied as part of the Amazonian rock art project (University of Exeter)

Researchers assessed animal remains recovered from nearby sites and cross-referenced them with the creatures depicted in the rock art.

Scientists particularly focused on six panels in detail, ranging from one that was 40m by 10m and containing over 1,000 images to a much smaller 60 square metre panel with 244 well-preserved red paintings.

Overall, using drones and traditional photography, researchers documented more than 3,200 images painted on the rock, most of which are related to animals such as deer, birds, peccary, lizards, turtles, and tapir.

Cerro Azul with the location of the rock art panels and the excavation site analysed in this study (University of Exeter)

They found that the ancient Amazonians had a diverse diet that included fish, a range of small to large mammals, as well as reptiles, including turtles, snakes and crocodiles.

While fish were found abundantly in the archaeological remains, their appearance in the art was limited to just two panels.

Since the proportions of animal bones do not match the representation of animals in the rock art, scientists suspect the artists did not just paint what they ate.

Photos of the rock art panels at Cerro Azul (Journal of Anthropological Archaeology)

There was also a noted absence of big cats in the paintings despite their position as apex predators in the region.

“The context demonstrates the complexity of Amazonian relationships with animals, both as a food source but also as revered beings, which had supernatural connections and demanded complex negotiations from ritual specialists,” Dr Robinson said.

Some figures combining human and animal characteristics hint at a complex mythology of transformation between animal and human states, a belief still present in modern Amazonian communities.

Examples of animals represented at Cerro Azul. a) armadillo, b) paca, c) coati, d) amphibian, e) tapir, f) stingray, g) feline, h) turtle, i) deer, j) crocodile/caiman, k) monkey, l) porcupine, m) horse, n) serpent with legs, o) lizard, p) deer, bat, spider, aquatic birds, q) sloth, r) canid (Journal of Anthropological Archaeology)

The paintings highlight the ancient people’s broad understanding of a range of habitats in the region, including savannah, flooded forests and rivers.

“They had intimate knowledge of the various habitats in the region and possessed the relevant skills to track and hunt animals and harvest plants from each, as part of a broad subsistence strategy,” Javier Aceituno, another author of the study from Medellín, Colombia said.

“Though we cannot be certain what meaning these images have, they certainly do offer greater nuance to our understanding of the power of myths in indigenous communities,” Jose Iriarte, a study co-author from Exeter said.