Incredible ochre-colored rock paintings with various animal speciesincluding images of people turning into animals, show the rich mythology that surrounded and guided generations of indigenous Amazonians. 16 “panels” with ochre-coloured paintings, some of which are only accessible by climbing ropeswhich were found on the rocky outcrop of Cerro Azul in the Serranía de la Lindosa, cannot yet be precisely dated. They have probably been used as galleries for thousands of years, as early as 10,500 BC.
Evidence of the earliest human settlers
The research, led by an international team from the universities of Exeter, Antioquia, Medellín and Nacional de Colombia, was published in the journal Anthropological Archaeology. The paintings and artworks were excavated alongside animal remains that revealed different dietswith fish, mammals and reptiles. The proportions of the animal bones found do not match the proportional representation of the animals depicted in art, which suggests that the settlers did not only paint the animals they ate.
“These rock art sites include the earliest evidence of human existence in the western Amazon, dating back 12,500 years”said Dr Mark Robinson, Associate Professor of Archaeology in the School of Archaeology and History at Exeter.TThe art offers an amazing insight into the way these early settlers understood their place in the world and how they built relationships with animals.The context illustrates the Complexity of the Amazon’s relationship with animalsboth as Food sourcet but also as revered beingsthe supernatural connections and demanded complex negotiations by ritual specialists.”
The team decided to focus its research on 6 panels from the site in detail. These included a 40 x 10 meter panel called El Más Largo with over 1,000 images and a smaller 10 x 6 meter panel called Principal with 244 extremely well preserved, bright red imagesA total of 3,233 images from the panels were catalogued and classified by form. Figurative images were the most common, accounting for 58% of all images catalogued.More than half of them involved animals, and 22 different animals were shown, including Birds, lizards, tapirs, turtles and deer.
Although fish remains were common at the archaeological site, they were only painted in two panels as part of fishing scenes. Big cats were completely absent, although they were found in art at other Colombian sites. The research team believes that the artists may have been restricted in their painting skills and were not allowed to paint powerful animals such as the jaguar. The depictions of figures combining animal and human characteristics reveal the complex mythology of transformation between human and animal states. which can still be found in the Amazon population today.
Variation in animal species
The variety of animals depicted in the artwork and the archaeological remains show a Understanding and utilizing many different environments in the regionincluding flooded forests, rivers and savannas.
“The indigenous people of Cerro Azul and the surrounding areas hunted and represented a variety of animals from different ecologies – from aquatic fish to arboreal monkeys; from terrestrial deer to aerial birds, both nocturnal and diurnal,“They knew the different habitats of the region very well and had the skills to track and hunt animals and harvest plants as part of a comprehensive subsistence strategy,” said Dr. Javier Aceituno of the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín.
“Our approach reveals differences between what indigenous communities exploited for food and what is conceptually important to represent – and not represent – in art.“, said Professor Jose Iriarte from Exeter. “While we cannot be sure what meaning these images have, they certainly provide a more nuanced representation of our understanding of the power of myth in indigenous communities.. They are particularly revealing when it comes to more cosmological aspects of life in the Amazon, such as what is taboo, where power resides, and how negotiations with the supernatural were conducted.”
Source of the message:
Robinson, M et al (2024). Animals of the Serranía de la Lindosa: Investigating representation and categorization in rock art and zooarchaeological remains of the Colombian Amazon. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
