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Rock art aarchaeoastrono

research at monte alegre do Pbrasil. new art discove

2009-2010 field sea


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dy

r,ieson

Rock art andarchaeoastronomy

research at monte alegre do Par,

Brasil. new art discoveries2009-2010 field season

University of illinois, chicago, usa

C H R I S T O P H E R D A V I S


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ROCK ART AND ARCHAEOASTRONOMY RESEARCH AT

MONTE ALEGRE DO PAR, BRAZIL. NEW ART DISCOVERIES

2009-2010 FIELD SEASON

Abstract

This report covers the field season from December 19th, 2009 toMarch 1st 2010. The objectives were to make archaeoastronomymeasurements of the rock art at Serra da Luaand Painel do Pilothat might coincide with the Winter Solstice on December 21st,to locate and record all the previously recorded and publishedrock art of the region, and to locate and excavate art-related sitesat Serra da Luaand Gruta 15 de Maro in order to produce moredates that coincide with the age of the art. However, during this

field season the most surprising results were the discoveries ofpreviously unrecorded rock art. Although dates for the new arthave not been determined, they are believed to be authentic andancient, not recent graffiti or imitations, due to the remote loca-tions and pristine conditions in which they were found.

Keywords: archaeoastronomy, rock art, Amazon.

ARTE RUPESTRE E PESQUISA ARQUEOASTRONMICA EMMONTE ALEGRE, PAR, BRASIL. DESCOBERTA DE NOVAS

PINTURAS NA ETAPA DE 2009-2010

Resumo

Este relatrio se refere pesquisa de campo realizada de 19 dedezembro de 2009 a 1 de maro de 2010. Os objetivos eramregistrar medies arqueoastronmicas das pinturas rupestres naSerra da Lua e Painel do Pilo, que poderiam coincidir com osolstcio de inverno em 21 de dezembro, localizar e registrar todasas pinturas rupestres antes registradas e publicadas na regio, e lo-

calizar e escavar stios relacionados pintura rupestre na Serra daLua e Gruta 15 de Maro, para produzir mais datas que coincidis-sem com a idade das pinturas. No entanto, durante esta etapa decampo, os resultados mais surpreendentes foram a descoberta dearte rupestre at ento desconhecida. Apesar de as dataes paraa nova arte no serem ainda conhecidas, parecem ser autnticase antigas, no grafites ou imitaes recentes, tendo em vista sualocalizao remota e condies prstinas nas quais foram encontradas.

Palavras-chave: arqueoastronomia, arte rupestre, Amaznia.

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Relatrio de pesquisa

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ARQUEOASTRONOMA Y LA INVESTIGACIN DEL ARTE

RUPESTRE EN MONTE ALEGRE, PAR, BRASIL. EL DESCU-

BRIMIENTO DE NUEVAS PINTURAS EN LA ETAPA DE CAMPO

DE 2009-2010

Resmen

Este informe se refiere al trabajo de investigacin llevado a cabodel 19 de diciembre de 2009 al 1 de marzo de 2010. Los objeti-vos eran registrar mediciones de arqueoastronoma de las pinturasrupestres de Serra da LuayPainel do Pilo, que podran coincidircon el solsticio de invierno en 21 de diciembre, localizar y registrartodas las pinturas rupestres ya conocidas publicadas de la regin,y localizar y excavar sitios relacionados con las pinturas rupestresde Serra da LuayGruta 15 de Marzo, para producir ms fechaspara coincidir con la edad de las pinturas. Sin embargo, duranteesta etapa del campo, los resultados ms sorprendentes fueron eldescubrimiento del arte rupestre hasta entonces desconocido. Apesar de que data de la nueva arte no se conoce todava, pareceser autntica y antigua, no grafiti reciente o imitacin, dada suubicacin remota y condiciones prstinas en el que se encontr.

Palabras-clave: arqueoastronomia, arte rupestre, Amazona.


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FIELD SEASON SUMMARY

Due to the archaeoastronomy objec-tives of the winter solstice, researchbegan shortly before December 21st,2009. The crew revisited the sites ofPainel do Pilo and Serra da Lua eachday from December 19th until Decem-ber 23rd to observe the movement andposition of the sun in relation to thelandscape and art images suspected todepict the same. Measurements weretaken with a Brunton compass, video,

and camera recordings. These posi-tions were later verified by astronomysoftware StarryNightTM.

The last day before the holiday break,the crew sought to find the art locationspublished in Edithe Pereiras (2004)book, Arte Rupuestre na Amaznia, par-ticularly the locations she labeled asAbrigo do Irupu, Gruta da Baixa Fria I and

II, and Painel da Baixa Fria. In search ofthese locations, the crew encounteredseveral caves without art, includingCavernados Gmeos(also referred to as Cavernado Miritiep in Milhomens et al. 2008)and Caverna dos Morcegos. Finally, wefound Abrigo do Irupu. However, wenever found the art of the Baixa Frias,as forest overgrowth was too thick tosee beyond a few feet.

After the Christmas and New Yearsholidays the crew went to work im-mediately with the excavation at Gruta15 de Maro. The objective here was toexcavate underneath a rock art panellocated inches above the ground. Thelogic was that perhaps we would findrock art that had been subsequentlyburied by stratigraphic layers that we

could date accurately. A 1 x 1 meter

unit was opened near the wall in a lo-cation relatively flat, dry, and not easilydisturbed. However, due to a hole in

the ceiling and two large cave open-ings, much of the cave would not havebeen ideal for excavation otherwise.

Finally, after all the excavations andmappings were done, we made sev-eral new discoveries in Serra da Paitunaand Serra do Erer, which appear onthe maps (Figures 1and 2). Those ar-eas include Pedra Sozinha, and the geo-

logical areas of historical significance,Pedra dos Seixos, Pedra Cruera, and PedraMelado (see Figure 2). These three geo-logical features are large flat groundformations with peculiar stones. A lo-cal informant claimed that Pedra Cruerawas an area that Indian women like hergrandmother used nearly a century ear-lier to dry out manioc. The other twoareas were probably similarly utilized.

The rocks in this area have a meltedsandstone appearance, as if they wereexposed to intense heat. The actualprocesses that affected the stone, how-ever, might have been some sort ofchemical reaction that took place withthe manioc juices, sunlight, and pro-longed periods of time.

ARCHAEOASTRONOMY

For five days, from December 19th toDecember 23rd the crew visited Paineldo Pilo in the afternoon between 3 and5 PM to try to observe if and when thesun would pass through a rock-windowprecipice near a panel of art that mighthave been a calendar demarking suchan event (Figures 3a, b). From there,

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Figure 1 - Google earth view of Serra do Erer with site locations superimposed.

Figure 2 - Google earth view of Serra da Paituna with site locations superimposed.


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the crew would then head over to Serrada Luato try to observe the exact lo-cation that the sun would set in front

of the art panel there (Figure 3c, d).The rationale for both locations is thatthe winter solstice marks the positionfurthest south that the sun can set onthe horizon (and across the sky). Forany ancient culture observing a renew-al of a solar cycle (a year), the winteror summer solstice would be the mostimportant dates to physically track theposition of the sun. This might be par-ticularly true at Monte Alegre which, at2 south, is essentially on the equator,and thus cannot rely on a more obvi-ous change of the seasons or shorten-ing of daylight.

At Serra da Lua the crew discoveredthat indeed the southernmost sun im-age on the wall was positioned to face

the sunset on the winter solstice, andeven appears to be physically repre-sentative of the sun dipping below a

rocky platform (Figure 3d). At Painel doPilo the crew was less successful. Onthe solstice, the sun dipped too far be-low the mountain before it reached therock-window. However, the observa-tions taken at Painel do Pilo allowed thecrew to better understand the move-ments of the sun there, and by usingStarryNightTM astronomy software Isubsequently was able to determinethat the sun passes through the rock- window approximately from Novem-ber 1st to November 17th 1 to 3 days,and as the sun moves north across thesky again from January 24th to Febru-ary 10th 1 to 3 days. Although thosedays dont seem in-sync with the cal-endar art, those days do roughly cor-

Figure 3 (3a) Photo of calendar image at Painel do Pilo em Serra da Paituna; (3b) Photo of sunintersecting with rock window above Painel do Pilo em Serra da Paituna; (3c) Photo of sunset onDecember 21st 2009. Sun descends below the edge of Serra do Bode; (3d) Painted sun image facingthe setting winter solstice sun in Figure 3. Image is in red and appears to be a sun image setting on apedestal, above this image is a higher daytime-sun image. Image at Serra da Lua on Serra do Erer(Photographs by Christopher Davis).

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at a 22 arc around the sun or moon,but sometimes they can also occur at44 arc. I believe that this effect oc-

curs more commonly around the win-ter solstice at Monte Alegre, when therainy season produces more moisturein the upper atmosphere. In the pe-riod between the Winter Solstice untilthe end of January we observed fourmoon halo nights. Those meteorologi-cal/astronomical effects probably in-spired many of the concentric circleimages at Serra da Lua (Figure 4c).

relate with the coming rainy season(at least in recent years) in this region.Many streams and rivers begin to fill

up shortly after this time frame.Finally, the sun halo meteorologi-cal effect was observed in 2008, butit wasnt until this field season on thedays around New Years that a moonhalo was observed. The sun halos aredramatic but the sun usually outshinesthe visibility of the halo. However, themoon halos were incredibly large and

awe-inspiring. These halos (Figure 4a,b) are a meteorological effect causedby ice crystals refracting light in the up-per atmosphere. They typically appear


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Figure 4 (4a) A 44 Moon halo, formed from ice crystals high in the atmosphere reflecting thelight of the moon. Note the halo dwarfs the constellation of Orion to the right of the photo. Photocontrast was enhanced to show the halo but the real event was more visible than this enhanced photo(Photograph by Christopher Davis); (4b) A 22 Sun halo observed over Painel do Pilo (misstated ina previous publication to be over Mirante). A sun halo is formed by the same meteorological effect asa Moon halo. (Photograph by Carmen Silvia Viana Trindade); (4c) A painted concentric circle imagenow believed to depict sun and moon halos. Images like this are dispersed throughout Serra da Luaand Serra do Sol. Most are just painted red but some use alternating red and yellow concentric circles.

(Photograph by Christopher Davis).


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THE EXCAVATIONS

GRUTA 15 DE MARO

The excavation at Gruta 15 de Maro was carried out in natural layers, theuppermost of which consisted of ex-tremely fine charcoal that flowed as eas-ily as sugar. This fine layer of charcoalcontinued to a depth of about 50 cm,though it can be divided into three sub-layers. From 30 to 50 cm, the last sub-layer was a jet-black layer with a bril-liant sparkle. The charcoal smelled likegunpowder, perhaps due to the fact thatbat guano from the small bat popula-tion mixes with charcoal blown in frombrush fires outside the cave. However,Serra da Paituna(where Gruta 15 de Marois located) currently seems consistentlywet, unlike Serra do Erer(where Serra daLua is located), which has seen brushfires in recent years. Therefore, until I

can get C14

dates on the charcoal, Imnot sure how recent the layers are.

Below the charcoal layers was a muddy,dull, pale brown layer with small pebblesthat extended for another 20 cm. Thislayer changed into a more reddish san-dy clay layer from about 80 cm to 110cm depth. The next layer was a distinctmud-concretion layer about 10 cm thick.Below that layer was a moist orange tosmooth yellowish-tan sand layer somewhat reminiscent of beach sand. Thislayer extended for another 25 cm to adepth of 150 cm, which was the begin-ning of a wetter, smoother, pale-tanbeach sand layer with lots of small roots.After 13 levels, the excavation unit termi-nated at 170 cm, mostly due to the wallsteadily curving inward at greater depth.

The art at the base of the wall did notcontinue below depth. The wall itself hada dark linear feature that became less vis-

ible as the freshly exposed surface dried;therefore it probably was a geologic fea-ture, not paint. Along the wall from levels2a to 3a, there was a feature that con-sisted of a difference in soil color associ-ated with a stone alcove. A few largestones were positioned near the wall andupright, as if to enclose an area within thedarker soil region.

In this region we found a ceramic bor-der with red paint on it, as well as alarge orange sherd, a few polished redstones, and a few bifacial fragments,some of which seemed to be ground-stone. The base of this feature in level3a near 34 cm depth contained bonefragments perhaps from a Tracajtur-tle (see Figure 5a). Other artifacts inlevel 3 included a ceramic sherd with

yellow paint, a ceramic sherd that hada buff-colored interior and a whiteexterior, and an abstract star-shapedobject (Figure 5b). Also, there were 5different concentrations of bone inthe rest of the unit. The bones appearto be from a larger sized mammal, butone collection had the resemblanceof human teeth. In retrospect, many

bones were probably misidentifiedbecause the excavation was conductedin a cave with poor lighting, but alsomany of the pebbles resembled teethin the subsequent levels.

Some bones and tooth-like pebblescontinued through level 4, but ceramicartifacts were no longer found, andmore lithics and ground-stone-likefragments continued throughout, to a

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Figura 5 (5a) Potencial turtle bones found during excavation of Gruta 15 de Maro on Serrada Paituna (Photographed by Christopher Davis); (5b) Pink-colored abstract found duringexcavation of Gruta 15 de Maro on Serra da Paituna (Photographed by Christopher Davis);(5c) Mud-like concretion from layer of similar consistency found during excavation of Gruta15 de Maro on Serra da Paituna (Photographed by Christopher Davis).

depth of about 85 cm in level 8. It is im-portant to note that many of the lowerlithic and stone artifacts were found in

the muddy-concretion layer between 60to 80 cm depths. The consistency of thesoil at this layer was such a concretionthat I considered the possibility that itwas either a floor or several mud-formed vessels (Figure 5c). No objects of sig-nificance were found from levels 9 to 13,and their chemistry drastically changed tothat of sterile sand. Once the materialscan be analyzed in a laboratory and dated,a more official report will be published.

SERRA DA LUA

The excavations above Serra da Lua in-cluded two units, both excavated to bed-rock. The soil remained relatively con-

sistent throughout (Munsel 5yr/2.5/1black), with the exception of the slightlydarker top layer. The units were adjacent,

running north south, and their depthsto bedrock were both roughly 80 cm. What initially seemed like stone tools when taking auger samples were prob-ably just rock fragments, as most of thepit contained rock fragments. However,the excavations did encounter some cu-rious fragmented rocks (Figures 6a, b)from levels 4 through 7 (33cm to 77 cm).These levels were marked by large roots,particularly of a bright red and yellowcolor, much like the color of the art. Also,some of the rocks were red or white, andat level 8 there were many rocks that hadorange interiors when chipped into them.I considered the possibility that some ofthe smaller fragments were rocks used


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for paint, but the rocks were very hard,like sandstone.

Upon excavating the two units aboveSerra da Lua, my crew visited Serra do Solto test the depth of the soil directly be-low the large sun image there. The ledgethere, like the ledge at Serra da Lua, wasnot deep enough for excavation. How-ever while there, I discovered a hole inthe rock that turned out to be a cachefor lithic tools (Figure 7). From the hole -that was only as big as my fist- I extracted

about 23 lithics that had the initial ap-pearance of stone tools. Although theycannot be dated, I took them as samplesfor further laboratory analysis as well.

DISCUSSION

Although no ceramics were found onSerra do Erer, several things becameapparent while excavating there. Thered and yellow roots in the groundfurther strengthen the connection ofthese same colors in the art, to that ofthe landscape. In researching this area

weve discovered that the lichen formbright red and yellow circles on therocks and trees, the vegetation turns

red and yellow only when fires passthrough the region, and now the rootsin the ground, as well as many of thedeeply buried rocks are red and yellow(or orange as a mix of the two).

Another note that became apparent af-ter excavating here is that Serra do Erer,and particularly the side that Serra daLuais on, has an abundant source of

pre-form lithics. The rocks here havenaturally fragmented (perhaps fromfires) to the degree that many of thestones I encountered while excavat-ing appeared to be lithics. Some of theoldest ones probably could have beenthe debitage of humans, but many nat-ural fragments had a sharp edge. Anyancient population could simply graba handful of rocks to carry back to

their camp for use. Serra da Paituna, onthe other hand, has many inhabitablecaves, and the excavation at Gruta 15de Maro adds further evidence to the

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Figure 6 (6a) Lithic artifacts found during excavation above Serra da Lua on Serra do Erer(Photographed by Christopher Davis); (6b) Lithic artifacts with orange-ish interiors, foundduring excavation above Serra da Lua on Serra do Erer (Photographed by Christopher Davis).


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excavations at Pedra Pintada(Roosevelt,et al. 2002; Roosevelt, et al. 1996), thatprove the mountain range was indeedinhabited in antiquity.

THE NEW FINDINGS

SERRA DO ERER

Transportation to and from the excava-tion sites remained a concern of mineso I planned on camping at the excava-tion site on top of Serra do Erer. Onthe first day, I set my tent up at the pro-posed excavation site and as my trans-

portation left, it occurred to me thatfinding a cell phone signal would behelpful for my survival. So with a hand-held GPS unit and cell phone in hand, Iset out before sunset for the other sideof the mountain peak - the side of themountain that faced the city of MonteAlegre and its cell phone tower.

I hiked further into the center of the

mountain and sought the higher peaks.

The plateau level on the other sideof a peak where my tent was pitchedseemed to be a wide grassy valley withsoft sandy soil gouged from centuriesof water drainage. Fortuitously, a fire

had passed through the area a fewmonths earlier, acting as natures lawnmower to make the grass low. Highergrass would have made it impossible tosee snakes, a risk that no doubt struckfear in the rest of the crew who re-fused to camp there.

I reached a new summit but my cellphone still had not picked up a signal,

so I continued further to a new interi-or peak that was previously not visiblefrom the lower valley. The new peakwas particularly rocky with sharp andangled rocks making every step precar-ious. This second peak was open to theintense rays of the sun even as the sunwas setting in the distance. And yet itwas at that low sun angle that one of thevertical surfaces on the peak seemed to

Figure 7 - Cache of lithic artifacts found below the large sun image at Serra do Sol (visiblein Figure 5) on Serra do Erer (Photographed by Christopher Davis).


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be bathed by the suns red glow, reveal-ing a red design on its smooth surface. Iwent closer to investigate.

I arrived at that vertical surface, which was erected perhaps eight to 10 feethigh and seemed to have a top slabacting as a roof. The vertical wall wasrounded and had a smooth sheen. Onits surface was the faint but unmistak-able design of a human stick figureidentical to the stick figures at Serra daLuaand throughout Erer and Paituna

with just one exception. This stickfigure had two rows of circles alongits torso, as if to represent buttons,perhaps denoting some sort of higherrank (Figure 8). I named this area Picoda Raposa(Peak of the Fox) for the sumtotal of three foxes I encountered here.

While the other known rock art at Ererwas along the cliff-face perimeter of the

mountain, this lone image was erectedon a slab near the top of the mountain.None of the previous explorers and re-searchers in the past 200 years reportedcoming across any art on top of themountain. Unfortunately, the only cam-era with me was the camera of my cellphone, which I then used to take a fewsnapshots. Luckily the GPS unit I wasalready using to prevent myself from get-

ting lost was already with me, so I meticu-lously recorded the location and returnedlater to take better pictures. When I re-turned with my crew, we also discoveredsome more rock art images at Vista do Sol(View of the Sun, Figures 9-11).

SERRA DA PAITUNA

After the excavation at Serra da Lua, a

Paituna crew member and I returnedto Gruta 15 de Maro to map the loca-tions of the paintings and to take a

panoramic picture of the cave (post-ed at http://share.gigapan.org/giga-pans/45488/). After completing thatlast task, my companion wanted to vis-it the nearbyAbrigo da Corujacave thathe had never seen. I had been there be-fore so I agreed to escort him.

We arrived atAbrigo da Corujaperhapsafter 30 minutes of wrong turns, but

it was during the return to Gruta 15 deMaro where we truly got lost. Our des-tination was at a lower elevation and yetwe bizarrely chose every path that tookus to a higher elevation. Perhaps sub-consciously I wanted to explore a bit,but I truly could not find our way back.Instead we arrived at a large boulderwall that had two peculiar ovals carvedinto its side. The ovals appeared to be

more like feet but could also be inter-preted as eyes. Either way, they werethe first unmistakably carved-stone de-signs discovered in the region and theyseemed to beckon a wandering travelerto investigate further, and so we did.

My companion entered the shelterfirst, which was a cliff shelter thatopened up to a grand vista of the

Amazon River valley below and thesouthwestern horizon beyond. How-ever the expansive view was not themost impressive find. At his feet laythe cleaned, sun-bleached bones of alarge animal. The bones were mostlyplate-like and robust, likely belongingto a large Amazonian turtle. Certainlythe animal, whether dead or alive, hadto have been carried to this shelter


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Figure 8 Smiling figure with buttons in red paint, although teh buttons are unique,the posture of the body is in a style common throughout these mountains. Total heightand width ~46 cm. Pico da Raposa on Serra do Erer. Digital sketch (right) of Figurewith buttons; sketch details are more visible in reality than in the photo (left). Pico daRaposa on Serra do Erer (Photographed by Christopher Davis).

Figure 9 Concentric red circles facing 290, radius to outer circle is 12 cm (left). Digital sketchclarifies pattern. Vista do Sol on Serra do Erer (right) (Photographed by Christopher Davis).


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Figure 10 Interpreted as a crouching jaguar, but the red image (with signs of once hav-ing been yellow) was very faint; the red in the image is enhanced to maintain the features(bottom left). Image was made using photoshop lab-a of the original chromatic image,which contrasts red with green colors (top right). Digital sketch of the same image. Vistado Sol on Serra do Erer (bottom rigth) (Photographed by Christopher Davis).

Figure 11 This all-yellow image is positioned high on a stone tower and the left edgeappears more like rays of the sun (left). Photoshop lab-b contrast of yellow seems toshow a seated figure in an unconventional chair (right). Vista do Sol on Serra do Erer(Photographed by Christopher Davis).


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nearly 200 meters above the river.

The large bones lay on top of a plat-form boulder that seemed prepared onone side. There was another group ofbones, probably from the same animal,located a short distance away in someshrubby weeds to our right side. Theleft side was the major structure of therock shelter, which had a slanted ceil-ing similar to a lean-to.

Before I entered the shelter I noticedthe dust on the ground had no impres-

sions from previous visitors. There were no human or animal footprints,not even bird tracks. The dust was pos-sibly half an inch thick and even-coat-ed throughout. There were no visiblesigns of erosion from the ceiling andno vegetation, which suggested to methat the dust had been laid down andundisturbed over the course of a very

long period of time.Lying in the dust were scattered ar-tifacts mostly of well preserved bututilized stone tools. One ceramic flake was discovered. The tools includedblades, flakes, scrapers, choppers, andhammer stones. All of the tools werelying within the dust and dull with nosharp edges. No tools were found nextto the bones, but the bones had markson some of the edges. Those markswere almost certainly caused from ro-dent nibbles some time in the past.

As interesting as the ground was, therewas also rock art on the slanted ceiling(Figure 12). The art was red paint in thedesign of a meandering line. Immediatelythe art seemed to me like more of a di-rectional mark than an artistic design. Be-

cause the design was on a slanted ceiling Igained the sense that it was referring to alocation above the rock shelter.

On the far sidewall was more redpaint. It was in the form of a simplered line encircling the side of an orificein the wall, but that wall contained sev-eral orifices like a catacomb. There wasno apparent reason why the one ori-fice was encircled with red paint whileothers were not. Perhaps the hole wasused as a cache to stash something im-

portant in the past. However, I did notfind anything in the hole that day.

We returned a few days later with therest of our research team to take morepictures and samples. While there, Iagain considered the ceiling design asdirectional. I went to the edge of therock shelter cliff and tried to lookabove it. There seemed to be a cham-

ber above the shelter so we returned tothe trail and followed it further up. Wecontinued climbing another 30 metershigher and came upon another shelter.This shelter had a level ceiling but wassmaller and circular. There was a holethrough an entire wall making the shel-ter appear more like a column. Herewe did not find stone tools or bonesbut there was a rocky alcove with a

wooden club, and more rock art.The rock art at this columnar shelterwas of an artistic nature. There weretwo designs along the base wall (Fig-ure 13) and one very interesting de-sign near the ceiling (Figure 14). Ofthe two images below, one resembledthree teardrop shapes arranged in apattern that to me resembled a crown.

The other base design was a sideways


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face with streaks that made the overallappearance similar to that of a comet.Both basal designs were in red paint.

The ceiling design was two ovals perpen-dicular to each other, giving the overallshape of a cross or plus sign (Figure 14).However, the ovals were filled in with agrid pattern. The image was polychro-matic, seeming yellowish in some areasand reddish in others. The difference incolor was gradual as though the paint it-self was turning colors, such as is com-

mon for yellow iron oxides to turn redover the course of thousands of years.The grid pattern was somewhat reminis-cent of the calendar-like pattern found atPainel do Pilo and a small but checkeredpattern atMirante.

While the meaning of these patterns isstill unknown, I contend that they areall positioned where the open-sky can-

not only be observed but the passageof the sun or moon can be marked.This newly discovered image appearsclose to the ceiling of a shelter locatedat the top of that side of the moun-tain. Unlike the shelter below it, noother features lay above it. Additional-ly the window feature of this shelter,which faces in an eastern direction, caneasily be used to capture the sun at a

certain time of day or day of the year.The comet-like feature at the base ofthe window further strengthens thetheory of a sky association.

While only the lower rock shelter hadbones discovered within it so far, therock art on its slanted ceiling indeedserved, in our experience, to be a di-rectional mark or rather a landscape

map for the rock shelter above it. The

lower rock shelter was named Cavernados Ossos 1 and the higher rock shelterwas named Caverna dos Ossos 2 to re-

flect their probable association.

THE BAT-EATING FROG

On the day that I returned to Gruta 15de Maro to map the images, during theprocess I heard a thud right behindme. When I turned around I saw a frogon the ground with a bat in its mouth.

The frog had entered the cave througha crevice in the ceiling and leaped inmid-air to catch the bat, which hadbeen dangling upside down on the ceil-ing. The frog, having leapt to catch itsprey, fell to the ground with its meal.I was completely surprised by the in-credulity of the event and I reachedfor the only camera I had handy atthe time, my cell phone camera. With

that camera I took these low-gradephotos of this bat-eating frog with adark torso and bumpy red sides. Thesignificance of this event is that for meit removed all doubt that the patronimage ofGruta 15 de Maro is an imagedepicting a climbing frog.

CONCLUSION

In summary, ancient people wereprobably drawn to the mountains ofMonte Alegre while navigating the Amazon River. Once in the region,they could have made use of the natu-ral caves and animals inhabitingSerrada Paituna, which is closest to the river. The longer they remained in the re-gion and explored, they perhaps also


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would have learned and made use ofthe edged rocks on the western side ofSerra do Erer. Those early inhabitants

would have observed several naturaland astronomical events the longerthey remained in the region.

Simply by trying to make sense ofthese peculiarities, they would havemade cognitive associations relating

one observation to another, or group-ing several coincidences together bytime of occurrence. Some of their

Figure 12 This red design on the slanted ceiling encouraged us to search above this shelter (left).Photoshop lab-a contrasts red with green (right top). Photoshop lab-b contrasts yellow with blue(right bottom). Abrigo dos Ossos on Serra da Paituna (Photographed by Christopher Davis).

Figure 13 Red painted tear drop shapes; all these photos are located low on the same wall as tehecroosshatch (top). Comet-shape with two faint eyes (bottom). Abrigo dos Ossos II on Serra da Pai-tuna (Photographed by Christopher Davis).


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someone to mark where the event oc-

curred. Before witnessing the unusualfrog event, I was not certain that theprominent cave image was a frog.

Before we discovered the new art loca-tions I also was uncertain how much ofthe land had been investigated by earlierpeople. The heat, altitude, and difficultyof the terrain naturally discourages peo-ple from surmountingSerra do Ererbut

we now know that at least one of thepeaks had been visited and commemo-rated by an anthropomorphic rock paint-ing (Figure 8) at Pico da Raposa. Similarly,the possible jaguar (ona ) image (Figure10) at Vista do Solnow provides poten-tial graphic evidence that jaguars onceroamed these mountains - to my knowl-edge, jaguars no longer exist there today.At the Grutas dos Ossoswe have a new site

Figure 14 This crosshatch pattern appears near the ceiling of the shelter, to the rightof the janela leste. Its red and yellow colors blend throughout, probably chemicallytransformed, not intentional. Abrigo dos Ossos II on Serra da Paituna (Photographedby Christopher Davis).

art, presumably the earliest, were re-

cordings of observations marked atspecific places, particularly the sunand moon halo effects. Since someof these events are related to naturalcycles, the time-of-year probably be-came a significant correlation as well.The summer and winter solstice wouldhave been the most consistent markerfor the annual cycle renewal. Hence,some of the art images are recordsconnecting time, place, and event.

However, not all the art satisfies an as-tronomical purpose. Some of the caveart seems to be more closely associatedwith the biota of those specific caves.Our unusual encounter with a frog thatfell from the ceiling with a bat in itsmouth in Gruta 15 de Maro is evidenceof how a peculiar event can inspire


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with ceramic, lithic, and bone artifacts, aswell as potential graphic impressions of acomet (Figure 13), possible evidence of

human masonry that formed the buracocom pau feature, and the peculiar cross-pattern whose colors are in the processof chemically transforming between yel-low and red (Figure 14).

Our research has led us to further dis-coveries that answer some questionsbut raise new ones. We hoped to re-discover all that had already been writ-

ten about, but instead we come awayrealizing that there is even more to bediscovered here in Monte Alegre. The2009-2010 field season has revealed tous that humans not only visited thisarea, but also explored it, altered it, andinhabited the region for a long enoughtime to gain an understanding of itsnatural characteristics.

REFERENCES

Milhomens, A., D. S. Nascimento, L. Salvo,W. Rodrigues, F. Ferreira, A. Mota, R. Gan-gana, E. R. de Carvalho and R. d. C. M.Moreira. 2008. Plano de Manejo do ParqueEstadual Monte Alegre (PEMA), preparedby Legal, PROECOTUR- Programa deDesenvolvimento do Ecoturismo na Ama-zonia, pp. 303. Ministrio do Meio Ambi-

ente. Government DocumentPereira, E. 2004.Arte Rupestre na AmazniaPar. So Paulo: UNESP.

Roosevelt, A. C., J. Douglas and L. Brown.2002. The migrations and adaptations of thefirst americans: clovis and preclovis viewedfrom South America, in The First Americans:The Pleistocene Colonization of the New World.Edited by Jablonski, N. G., pp. 159-236.Vol. 27. Berkeley: Memoirs of the California

Academy of Sciences.

Roosevelt, A. C., M. Lima da Costa, C. L.Machado, M. Michab, N. Mercier, H. Val-

ladas, J. Feathers, W. Barnett, M. Imazio, A.Henderson, J. Silva, B. Chernoff, D. S. Re-ese, J. A. Holman, N. Toth and K. Schick.1996. Paleoindian cave dwellers in the Amazon: The Peopling of the Americas.Science272(5260):373-384.


Amaznica 3 (1): 172-191, 2011

artigo chris 2011

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