Animal painted at the Gruta do Índio archaeological site in Analândia, São PauloValentina Tong
Rock art has been found in several states in Brazil, but rarely in São Paulo. Recent research revealed that Indigenous people who occupied the region before European colonization painted and engraved images of birds, reptiles, crustaceans, and mammals in at least nine locations in the state that are currently classified as archaeological sites. The researchers classified images at a total of 58 locations, where they took high-resolution photographs and processed them to create three-dimensional models to digitally preserve this heritage for future generations. The animals were pictured in red, black, and white paint, in various positions: deer are represented from the side, birds from the front or side, and reptiles and crustaceans from the front only. “Through these analyses, we can observe similarities between rock art in various regions of São Paulo State and suggest hypotheses about the circulation of ideas and people in a territory,” says archaeologist Marília Perazzo, a postdoctoral researcher at the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology of the University of São Paulo (MAE-USP). The biggest problem faced at the sites is deterioration caused by humans, such as graffiti and fires, or by natural phenomena, such as the erosion of rocks (Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, November 4).
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