Rock art along the Orinoco river in South America is made up of some of the largest etchings we know of and could date back 2000 years
By Chen Ly
4 June 2024
Prehistoric engravings of giant snakes along South America’s Orinoco river are among the largest examples of rock art we know of anywhere in the world, with some stretching for more than 40 metres.
The Orinoco is one of the world’s largest rivers, flowing through Venezuela and along its border with Colombia. “There’s an outstanding record of rock art along the Orinoco, especially on the Venezuelan side,” says José Oliver at University College London. “Usually, they are paintings found in rock shelters.”
Engravings are common in many open-air sites along the river, he says, but not all of them have been officially recorded. Since 2015, Oliver and his colleagues have taken several trips to areas along the Colombian and Venezuelan margins of the river to build a better picture of its rock engravings.
“It wasn’t difficult to encounter new sites,” says team member Philip Riris at Bournemouth University in the UK. “Every time you go round a corner, there was always more.”
Of the 157 rock art sites that the team has managed to visit, 13 were made up of engravings that were at least 4 metres tall. “Anything that size is monumental in our view,” says Riris. “That means they’re often visible from quite far away, maybe 500 metres to a kilometre.”
Most of the engravings depict people, mammals, birds, centipedes, scrolls and geometric shapes, but snakes were among the largest motifs, with the biggest measuring 42 metres across. In the mythology of the Indigenous Orinoco people, anacondas and boa constrictors are primordial creators, so are held in high regard, says Riris.
More:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2433595-ancient-snake-drawings-are-among-the-largest-known-rock-art-worldwide/
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