Ancient rock art found in Brazil

Researchers have discovered an tremendously old anthropomorphic figure impressed in rock in Brazil. Petroglyph, which dates to between 9,000 and 12,000 years old, is the oldest consistently dated instance of such rock art yet found in the Americas.

Art from this time era in the New World is quite rare, so little is known about the variety of symbolic thinking of the early American settlers. The authors of this study, led by Walter Neves of the University of Sao Paulo, write that their findings suggest symbolic thought in South America was very diverse at that time, supporting the hypothesis that humans settled the New World relatively early.

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