Evidence of 4,000-Year-Old Lost Civilization in South America Found in Ancient Artworks Discovered on a Flat-Top Mountain in Venezuela

A trace of an ancient civilization that once occupied South America thousands of years ago has been found.

Ancient Artwork From Lost Civilization Discovered in Venezuela

Archaeologists found evidence of a long-lost civilization in South America at least 4,000 years ago. They discovered prehistoric artworks that included vibrant patterns of dots, leaf motifs, and stick figures that might have been a part of an enigmatic ceremony on a flat-top mountain in Venezuela. The artwork used red ochre, a naturally occurring oxide pigment with a faint orange tint derived from crushed clay, quartz, and chalk.

José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, the lead researcher, said prior investigations had not revealed any evidence of human habitation in the area, indicating the artwork was created by a civilization that had not yet been discovered.

The newly discovered group may be "ground zero for the emerging of this culture," as the only way to distinguish it from other cultures is "through stylistic comparisons to other places in the region."

The rock art was found in the more than 11,500 square mile Canaima National Park in Bolivar. Some designs, such as the one that seemed to show a leaf, are in difficult-to-reach places and are "positioned on a clean oval-shaped rock space that may have served as the artist's inspiration for this specific design."

Some themes bore a resemblance to claviforms, a club-shaped emblem or symbol with faded figures surrounding and beneath it that would indicate successful hunting pursuits. The drawings may be linked to birth, disease, nature, or hunting.

According to Pérez-Gómez, they witnessed a new hunter-gatherer society that most likely originated in the Canaima National Park region around the end of the Pleistocene, which lasted between 2.5 million and 11,700 years ago. After settling and evolving there, they dispersed over the rest of the area, eventually reaching the Amazon Basin.

Thus far, stylistic analyses have revealed resemblances to rock drawings near the Brazilian border, estimated to date to approximately 4,000 BP. However, recently discovered rock art is much more primitive, indicating that it may be even older.

He added that these discoveries are novel to science and close a gap in an area that has never been thoroughly studied from an archeological perspective. Additionally, they offer background information for additional regional research in the Guianas, southern Colombia, and northern Brazil.

Hunter-Gatherer Society

Hunter-gatherers were a wandering group of prehistoric people who learned to use fire, became knowledgeable about plants, and developed advanced technology for domestic and hunting use. Up to 11,000-12,000 years ago, early humans lived in hunter-gatherer cultures. Their way of life revolved around gathering food by foraging and hunting.

They spread from Africa and migrated to Asia, Europe, and elsewhere. The evolution of humans may be traced from African hominins 2 million years ago to modern Homo sapiens by the tools and settlements left behind by these early humans, which provide insight into their food and way of life.

While the Neolithic Revolution caused most hunting and gathering societies to vanish, hunter-gatherer communities still exist today in a few parts of the world.

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