When we talk about prehistoric petroglyphs, we usually think of the inscriptions found in the caves of Europe, or those petroglyphs dating back a few centuries or so. A few thousand years In various places in the Americas. However, they are almost always representations – of animals, humans or geometric shapes – less than one meter in size. Reaching 40 meters in length, these snakes are in a class of their own.
Little is known about the peoples of this region. The designs were engraved on the banks of the Orinoco River, which today flows through Venezuela and Colombia before flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Many of these petroglyphs have been found along this river, but many have not been recorded. Researchers note In the magazine Antiquity. Of the 157 sites, they described 13, including at least one drawing more than 4 meters long (including two people), the record being a 42-metre-long snake.
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We do not know its meaning :Hypotheses go Regional tags Even religious rituals. However, the researchers noted that the larger drawings always faced the river and could sometimes be seen from afar.
They also note that in Orinoco indigenous mythology, giant snakes such as anacondas and boas were seen as the creators of the world. Furthermore, the same type of drawings have been observed on ceramics from the region dating back to 2000 years ago: suggesting that these petroglyphs are of the same age.
