Artworks from an enigmatic culture dating back 4,000 years have been discovered in droves at Canaima National Park in Venezuela.
According to Live Science, extensive excavations at Canaima National Park have successively revealed up to 20 prehistoric artistic sites, belonging to a culture that thrived thousands of years ago in what is now a remote mountainous jungle area.
An artwork from the mysterious culture in Venezuela – (Photo: José Miguel Pérez-Gómez).
The research team, led by archaeologist José Miguel Pérez-Gómez from Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela), has analyzed these remarkable artworks.
The findings were compared with a range of artworks from other ancient South American civilizations outside of Venezuela, but no complete similarities were found.
The only reasonable conclusion: These artworks must belong to a completely distinct culture that has never been recorded in history before.
One of the areas where ancient artworks were discovered – (Photo: José Miguel Pérez-Gómez).
Another artwork under normal light – (Photo: José Miguel Pérez-Gómez).
Canaima National Park may be the “starting point” of this mysterious culture, which first developed here before spreading to distant locations such as the Amazon River, the Guianas, and even southern Colombia.
In these areas, several other prehistoric artistic sites have been found more recently, which, while differing, likely represent a legacy of what has been uncovered in Venezuela.
In addition to the carvings on the cave walls, scientists also collected numerous ceramic artifacts and stone tools at the 20 sites mentioned.
Initial analyses suggest that these sites date back approximately 4,000 years.
Canaima National Park is a vast area, comparable in size to Belgium, featuring complex mountainous terrain and forests, and is home to Angel Falls, the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall.
Perhaps due to its deep concealment in this mountainous jungle, the aforementioned culture remained largely isolated from the rest of humanity, remaining unknown despite once having a robust development.
Further excavations and analyses will be necessary to understand more about this culture. Archaeologists are still actively surveying this enormous national park.
They believe there are many more sites containing rock art, tools, and even direct human traces or settlements hidden beneath the forest canopy.
