Serra da Capivara Rock Art
Parque Nacional da Serra da Capivara · Pedra Furada
Upper Paleolithic to early Holocene (~25,000 BCE – 2000 BCE disputed; art ~9000 BCE onward)·Paleoindian / early Nordeste tradition; Pedra Furada phase·🇧🇷 Piauí, Northeast Brazil, Brazil
About
About Serra da Capivara Rock Art
Semiarid caatinga plateau with over 400 painted shelters bearing perhaps 30,000 figures, among the densest and most narrative rock-art landscapes in the Americas. Dynamic scenes of dancing, coitus, childbirth, hunting with atlatl and tree-climbing uniquely depict daily life with motion. Occupation layers at Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada yielding charcoal to ~22 ka remain fiercely debated as natural fires vs earliest South American settlement.
Why it mattersSemiarid caatinga plateau with over 400 painted shelters bearing perhaps 30,000 figures, among the densest and most narrative rock-art landscapes in the Americas. Dynamic scenes of dancing, coitus, ch
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Dynamism and narrative choreography unmatched in Paleoindian art
- 02Pedra Furada pre-Clovis dates – anthropogenic fires or early peopling?
Theories
- 01Niède Guidon's contested 22 ka pre-Clovis occupation of caatinga refuge
- 02Nordeste tradition as cradle of independent South American artistic tradition
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.9000–5000 BCE (rock art); occupation claimed to 22,000 BCE
- Period
- Upper Paleolithic to early Holocene (~25,000 BCE – 2000 BCE disputed; art ~9000 BCE onward)
- Culture
- Paleoindian / early Nordeste tradition; Pedra Furada phase
- Purpose
- Rock shelters with choreographic polychrome scenes of ritual, hunting and gathering
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.9000–5000 BCE (rock art); occupation claimed to 22,000 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1080 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
8.6667° S · 42.5500° W · 400 m · 2 mapped features
Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada
rock shelterFlagship stratified shelter with 22 ka contested occupation layers
8.6500° S · 42.5460° WToca do João Leite Battle Scene
painted panelDynamic battle/dance composition with dozens of figures
8.6700° S · 42.5530° W
Gallery