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 outcrop in Colombia’s Guaviare department. As reported by My Modern Met, the research team documented tens of thousands of red ochre paintings depicting humans, animals, mythological beings, and geometric designs.
These ancient artworks, some believed to date back over 11,000 years, are part of a broader 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 aided the researchers in understanding the true spiritual significance behind the images. This collaboration was described as the first time that the views of Indigenous elders on their ancestors’ rock art were fully incorporated into research in this part of the Amazon.
“This incredible collaboration marks the first time that the views of Indigenous elders on their ancestors’ rock art have been fully incorporated into research in this part of the Amazon,” said Professor Jamie Hampson, according to Mirage News. “It enables us to understand that this is a sacred, ritualistic art, created within the framework of an animistic cosmology, in sacred places in the landscape,” he added.
The rock art often depicts therianthropic transformations, showing humans transforming into animals such as snakes, jaguars, or birds. IFLScience reports that these depictions reflect a spiritual realm. Shamans, by ritually shedding their superficial coverings, could enter this realm where the boundaries between species blur.
“I tell you each one of these figures contributed the 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 Matapí ritual specialist, according to IFLScience.
The elders identified animals inhabiting and symbolizing liminal spaces, such as anacondas, jaguars, bats, and herons, as important around shamanistic transformation. Mirage News reports that these creatures play a central role in the spiritual beliefs of the Indigenous communities, representing mediators between the human and spirit 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 put 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 while navigating the supernatural dimension, accessing the knowledge and spiritual power that animals hide beneath their physical appearance.
Efforts to preserve the 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 stressed the importance of preserving the 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 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.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
