Pedra Furada Rock Art
Pedra Furada · Boqueirão da Pedra Furada · Serra da Capivara Pedra Furada
Pleistocene to Early Holocene·Nordeste Tradition (early Amerind)·🇧🇷 Piauí, Serra da Capivara, Brazil
About
About Pedra Furada Rock Art
Central arch shelter (Pedra Furada) of Serra da Capivara National Park, Piauí, housing 1,150 rock paintings of the Nordeste tradition — capybara, rhea, dancing figures and comb motifs — in stratified levels debated from 50,000 to 9,000 BP. Excavator Niède Guidon's pre-Clovis claim based on charcoal under paintings remains globally contested. WHS 1991 protects 400 shelters; Pedra Furada stratigraphy includes hearths, lithics and pottery to historic Kaingang.
Why it mattersCenter of Americas peopling debate; largest rock painting clustering in Americas.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 0150 ka charcoal association with paintings vs sediment mixing
- 02Capybara motif totemic meaning
Theories
- 01Pre-Clovis 25 ka entry via Atlantic
- 02Nordeste stylistic seriation Guidon vs Pessis
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.50,000–9,000 BP (Guidon) or 12,000–9,000 BP (consensus)
- Period
- Pleistocene to Early Holocene
- Culture
- Nordeste Tradition (early Amerind)
- Builders
- Early Amerind groups of northeast Brazil
- Purpose
- Painted rock shelter chronicling caatinga fauna and human dance
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.50,000–9,000 BP (Guidon) or 12,000–9,000 BP (consensus)
Initial construction
c. 1662 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
8.8333° S · 42.5500° W · 450 m · 2 mapped features
Boqueirão Arch Wall
painting panelDancing figures and capybara frieze
8.8335° S · 42.5505° WPedra Furada Hearth Trench
excavationDeep excavation trench with hearth charcoal
8.8331° S · 42.5498° W
Gallery