Colombia: Prehistoric rock art created by 'first humans' discovered in Amazon rain forest

A series of prehistoric rock paintings created some 12,500 years ago have been discovered across cliff faces in the Amazon rainforest. According to the Observer, the paintings were discovered last year but was kept secret as it was being filmed by Channel 4 for a documentary series titled 'Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon'. The paintings were discovered by a team of British and Colombian archaeologists, who were funded by the European Research Council.

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Prehistoric animal portrayal helped date the rock art

The cliff faces, on which the paintings were made by the indigenous people of America in the ice age, are situated deep inside the Amazon jungle in the Chiribiquete National Park, Colombia. The date of the paintings has been partly determined by the prehistoric animals portrayed on the cliff faces. Some of the paintings have portrayed Mastodon, a prehistoric Mammut inhabited North and Central America some 10,000 to 11,000 years ago. 

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The historical paintings, which are now being called the 'Sistine Chapel of the ancients', also contain depictions of ice age horses, giant sloths, and palaeolama. It is believed that the paintings were created by one of the first humans that arrived in the Amazon rainforest, although researchers claim that the artwork is so massive it would take generations to study. Yanomami or the Kayapo tribes, who have lived in the Amazon for thousands of years, are thought to have created the paintings. 

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The paintings also contain handprints of people, probably of those who created the artwork. The discovery took so long because the paintings are way too deep inside the Amazon forest as the team of archaeologists who found it trekked four hours on foot after driving for two hours. The paintings will be shown in the documentary film that will air on Channel 4 starting this week. 

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