Over the past six years, researchers from the University of Exeter, Universidad de Antioquia (Medellín), and Universidad Nacional de Colombia investigated indigenous rock art in the Serranía de la Lindosa, a 12-mile-long sandstone formation in the department of Guaviare in Colombia. As reported by My Modern Met, the research team documented tens of thousands of red ocher paintings depicting humans, animals, mythological beings and geometric designs.
These ancient works of art, some believed to date back more than 11,000 years, form part of a larger narrative of human history in the region.
The researchers collaborated with indigenous elders and ritual specialists from the local Tukano, Desana, Matapí, Nukak and Jiw communities. According to My Modern Met, the elders helped researchers understand the true spiritual meaning behind the images. This collaboration was described as the first time that indigenous elders’ views on the rock art of their ancestors were fully incorporated into research in this part of the Amazon.
“This incredible collaboration marks the first time that indigenous elders’ views on the rock art of their ancestors have been fully incorporated into research in this part of the Amazon,” said Professor Jamie Hampson, according to Mirage News. “It allows us to understand that this is a sacred and ritualistic art, created within the framework of an animistic cosmology, in sacred places in the landscape,” he added.
Rock art often depicts theriantropic transformations, showing humans transforming into animals such as snakes, jaguars or birds. IFLScience reports that these representations reflect a spiritual realm. Shamans, by ritually shedding their surface coverings, could enter this realm where the boundaries between species blurred.
“I tell you that each of these figures contributed to shamanic knowledge for our own management of the territory where we are…. When this knowledge comes out, it appears as a wardrobe, as a shamanic wardrobe, as a guide to be able to practice shamanism,” said Ulderico, a specialist in Matapí rituals, according to IFLScience.
Elders identified animals that inhabit and symbolize liminal spaces, such as anacondas, jaguars, bats, and herons, as important around shamanic transformation. Mirage News reports that these creatures play a central role in the spiritual beliefs of indigenous communities, representing mediators between the human and spiritual worlds.
“How would you paint up there? How would you do it? They didn’t do it with a ladder… they didn’t do it with some big devices that were placed there… Why? Because the natives in the old days lived spiritually… They were a spirit…” said Victor Caycedo, a Desana elder who accompanied the team to the sites in 2022 and 2023, according to Newsweek.
According to Science Alert, in at least one of the languages spoken in the area, Desana, the word “yee” means both jaguar and shaman. This reflects the belief that shamans can take the form of jaguars as they navigate the supernatural dimension, accessing the knowledge and spiritual power that the animals hide beneath their physical appearance.
Efforts to preserve rock art have been supported by the creation of a diploma that will support sustainable cultural heritage tourism in the region, according to Mirage News. The elders emphasized the importance of preserving rock art to avoid severing the link between indigenous people and their ancestors and traditions.
Following the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC, archaeologists were able to resume their work in the Guaviare region.
The study was published in the journal Arts.
The article was written with the assistance of a news analysis system.
