Ancient Cave Drawings Offer Look into Brazil's Past

Cave drawings left by hunter-gatherer societies thousands of years ago offer new insights into the societies that once called the forests of Brazil home.

A team of researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society accidentally stumbled upon the drawings while tracking white-lipped peccaries, a hog-like animal native to Central and South America, in the forests linking the Pantanal and Cerrado biomes.

The finding was passed off to a team of archaeologists who determined the drawings were between 4,000-10,000 years old and were created by those who either occupied the caves, or simply used them for artistic endeavours.

"Our work with the Wildlife Conservation Society focuses on promoting sustainable land use practices that help protect important wildlife species and the wild places where they live," Alexine Keuroghlian, researcher with WCS's Brazil Program, said in a statement. "Since we often work in remote locations, we sometimes make surprising discoveries, in this case, one that appears to be important for our understanding of human cultural history in the region."

The style of some of the drawings reflects a Planalto, or central Brazilian plateau, tradition, while others harken to a more Nordest, or northeastern, trend. Still others are consistent with Argeste, or the forest-to-arid land transition also in northeast Brazil, depictions.

Human figures and a wide range of animals, including armadillos, deer, large cats, birds and reptiles, are portrayed in the drawings, though noticeably absent are the peccaries themselves.

"These discoveries of cave drawings emphasize the importance of protecting the Cerrado and Pantanal ecosystems, both for their cultural and natural heritage," said Julie Kunen, Director of WCS's Latin America and the Caribbean Program and an expert on Mayan archeology. "We hope to partner with local landowners to protect these cave sites, as well as the forests that surround them, so that the cultural heritage and wildlife depicted in the drawings are preserved for future generations."