Serranía de la Lindosa
 | |
| 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 covered by tens of thousands of painted rock art images.
Discovery
[edit]The rock art was first recorded in the 19th century by Agustin Codazzi, who was mapping the region. It was also recorded by Richard Evans Schultes in 1943. The first photographs were taken in the 1980s.[1] Some sources erroneously suggest that the site was only recently discovered when it was publicized in the 2020s.
Dating
[edit]The murals have not been directly dated. Some authors have suggested that they date to around 12,600 years ago, based on dating of sediment layers containing ochre flakes within excavations near the art,[2][3] but others suggest that they are too well preserved to be so old.[4][5] Local interpretative guides at the Cerro Azul site within Serranía De La Lindosa have said that the ochre paste was mixed with tree saps to aid in its preservation.[3] It has been alternatively proposed that the art was made in the last 500 years by indigenous peoples after the initial European discovery of the Americas.[1][6]
Murals
[edit]
The murals were painted with yellow and red ochre.[7][3] Some paintings at the Cerro Azul and Nuevo Tolima sites show figures climbing ladders or palm trees, indicating how they were able to reach the high upper painted walls.[3] Some authors claim that the art depicts now-extinct South American megafauna, such as ground sloths, gomphotheres, native equines (Hippidion) and macraucheniids;[2] others argue that they likely represent living animals, including domestic species introduced in the Columbian exchange like horses, cows, bears, and dogs, leading to a younger age estimate.[5][1][6][3]
References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e Trupp, Tony (June 15, 2022). "The Rock Art of Serranía De La Lindosa". Earth As We Know It. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
- ^ 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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