Rock Art Research

This study presents four newly identified rock art sites within Canaima National  Park, southeastern Venezuela, expanding the understanding of pre-Historic cultural landscapes in the region. Located in diverse environments, including a boulder in a dense forest,  a cliff overlooking a savanna, and rapids along the Caroní and Carrao Rivers, these sites significantly enhance the archaeological record of this part of South America. Stylistic analyses reveal connections with existing rock art in the Upuigma-Tepui at the Arauák River Valley,  160 km southeast of Canaima, as well as broader parallels with sites across the Guiana Shield,  Orinoco Basin, southern Colombia, and northern Brazil. Lithic tools were discovered at newly identified pictogram sites. These tools align with artefacts reported by José Maria Cruxent in the Canaima savanna in 1959. While establishing direct connections between the region’s lithic traditions and rock art remains challenging due to the absence of precise dating. The lithic evidence suggests a cultural continuity spanning the transition from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. This article considers the new rock art within the region’s broader archaeological context, emphasising the cultural complexity of the Canaima region as an important centre of pre-Historic interaction and cultural continuity.