Rock Art Research

A large area with rock art sites, including thousands of petroglyphs dating back up to 4000 BP, has been defined in northern Uruguay in recent years. Some of the most abundant motif types are ‘crosses’, which can be attributed to the Jesuit-missionary regime (17th–18th centuries CE). Post-Columbian rock art, as rock paintings and petroglyphs, is found all over America, either on its own or together with pre-Columbian images. Crosses were used to weaken and conquer indigenous resistance, as a way to ‘eradicate idolatry’ by introducing Christian symbols in areas of indigenous art, or by destroying that rock art altogether (damnatio). This iconography became a form of fighting evil and devilry, as frequently occurred both in Europe and in America. In both cases, it was used as a political tool that remained set in stone. This has allowed us to recover the long history of some of these sites. This article aims to define these representations as local to the north of Uruguay and incorporate them into the realm of Andean rock art.