Venezuelan explorer's new discovery gives clues on ancient settlers
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Rock art panel in the Upuigma-tepui table-top mountain area of Canaima National Park, Venezuela. Courtesy of José Miguel Pérez-Gómez/Proyecto Arqueológico Canaima
Rock art recently discovered in Venezuela is providing new clues about how early South American settlers spread out across the region.
Why it matters: It is the first rock art to be discovered in southern Venezuela, a country mired in crisis — and may even point to "a heretofore unknown culture," the lead researcher says.
What they're saying: "This is relevant not only for Venezuela but points at a cultural and ethnic richness that will enhance, worldwide, how we think about the region," archeologist José Miguel Pérez-Gómez, affiliated with Simon Bolívar University, tells Axios Latino.
- Pérez-Gómez, who presented the findings internationally for the first time in a UNESCO-backed conference in Italy on Thursday, says so far he and his team have found 20 caves or sites with the rock art in Canaima National Park in Venezuela.
- "But the park itself is larger than countries like El Salvador or Belgium, so it wouldn't be surprising to find even more traces if research continues more in depth, depending on resources," he adds.
The glyphs, pictograms, engravings, and geometric forms bear some similarity to rock art already studied in parts of the neighboring countries of Brazil, Colombia, and Guyana.
- But "Venezuela had a bit of a vacuum on these matters," says Pérez-Gómez.
- He says he's in touch with researchers from the other countries for early discussions on how to join forces and determine if all the sites are from the same period or perhaps attributable to a single group or a yet unidentified people.
The big picture: The work to study these sites and photograph them in 3D is especially notable given the situation in Venezuela, where an exodus over the last decade has contributed to massive "brain drain."
- About 20% of Venezuela's population from 2013 has left the country, among them at least 1.3 million college graduates, according to a study on the diaspora.
- The economic crisis means there are scant resources for academic work (some professors say they barely have enough to eat, let alone to carry out research).
- "Those of us still here are trying to fill the voids for work of those professionals now abroad," sociologist Claudia Vargas Ribas said in a recent conference.
The pipeline to professional work within Venezuela has also shrunk.
- About one-third of teens say they've stopped their schooling because they need to work or the school system is too fractured to actually learn, according to a 2023 poll and analysis from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.
What to watch: Pérez-Gómez says the next steps in Canaima are more in-depth digs and analyses at the sites.
- His hope is that the area can eventually be declared a heritage site to ensure its preservation. In the meantime, he says he is pushing for grants and hoping for resources.
- "Some countries are way further than us on work of this kind, but us Venezuelan researchers have still managed to stay active."
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