Serra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel
Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE)·Multi-period rock art·🇧🇷 Piauí, Serra da Capivara, Brazil
About
About Serra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel
Serra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel in Piauí, Serra da Capivara, Brazil is a Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE) rock art attributed to Multi-period rock art. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal panel 12 m long × 3 m high and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at -8.8290N -42.5520E controls access to Piauí resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey rock art for Piauí, Serra da Capivara, illustrating Multi-period rock art construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Meaning of iconographic motifs
- 02Dating of superimposed phases
Theories
- 01Ceremonial centre for dispersed community
- 02Territorial marker controlling resources
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 15000 BCE–500 CE
- Period
- Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE)
- Culture
- Multi-period rock art
- Purpose
- Rock art sanctuary and ritual landscape with petroglyphs/pictographs
- Rediscovered
- 1967 survey
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c. 15000 BCE–500 CE
Initial construction of Serra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel main structure
c. 1947
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically
1962–2007
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Serra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
8.8290° S · 42.5520° W · 409 m · 3 mapped features
Serra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel — Main Structure
panelPrincipal rock art — Panel 12 m long × 3 m high with diagnostic masonry/panel
8.8282° S · 42.5511° WSerra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel — Ancillary Complex
complexAncillary settlement debris and ceramics surrounding main feature
8.8300° S · 42.5527° WSerra da Capivara Toca do Boqueirão Panel — Peripheral Feature
outlierPeripheral feature with petroglyph panel extension
8.8275° S · 42.5508° W