An archeological team in Venezuela has discovered 20 rock art sites that date back thousands of years in Canaima National Park, in the southeastern part of the country.
Some of these designs, which researchers call "pictograms," were drawn in red and depict geometric motifs such as lines of dots, rows of X's, star-shaped patterns and straight lines that connect together to form a variety of designs. There are also simple depictions of leaves and stick figure drawings of people. Additionally, some of the images, called petroglyphs, were incised into the rock and also show a variety of geometric motifs. It's unclear why people created this art. Related: Sprawling 8-mile-long 'canvas' of ice age beasts discovered hidden in Amazon rainforest.
While it's unknown exactly how old the rock art is, similar rock art in Brazil has been dated to around 4, years ago. Canaima National Park is a massive park, about the size of Belgium, that encompasses forests and mountainous terrain. One of its most famous features is Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall on land in the world. Additionally, more rock art sites are likely to be found in Canaima National Park as research continues, he noted.
The research was presented at the "New Worlds New Ideas" prehistoric archaeological congress held in Valcamonica, Italy from June 26 to A paper that discussed one of the rock art sites was published in November in the journal Rock Art Research. Owen Jarus is a regular contributor to Live Science who writes about archaeology and humans' past. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University. James Webb Space Telescope celebrates Independence Day by showcasing dazzling 'cosmic fireworks' light-years away.
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