doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx7205
Credibility: 989
#Ancient rock art
Along the border between the United States and Mexico, more precisely in southwest Texas and northern Mexico, there is an impressive tradition of rock paintings that lasted an incredible four thousand years
Researchers have discovered that indigenous peoples of the region painted these works of art between approximately 6,000 years ago and about 1,000 or 1,400 years ago, which equates to about 175 consecutive generations keeping the same form of expression alive.
These paintings, known as the Rio Pecos style, are found mainly on the limestone walls of the canyons in the region called Lower Pecos Canyonlands.
Most surprisingly, throughout this enormous period, the way of painting and the themes hardly changed.
The artists followed very strict rules regarding the order of colors, the symbols used, and the way of telling stories, as if there were a secret manual passed down from generation to generation.
For scientists, these images are not just pretty drawings: they represent the “worldview” of these peoples, that is, the entire way they understood the universe, the creation of the world, time, life, and death.
They are true visual narratives that tell ancient myths and teach sacred rituals.
Some of these paintings are gigantic, over 30 meters long and 6 meters high, full of figures of animals, people, and mysterious symbols, all done in various vibrant colors.
Those who made these works were nomadic hunter-gatherers, people who lived on the move, but who had an extremely sophisticated knowledge of the spiritual world.
Although they changed stone tools and weaving techniques over the millennia, the way of painting and the meaning of the images remained practically the same, which shows how important and strong this worldview was for them.
The researchers were able to date the paintings precisely using two different carbon-14 dating methods that had never been combined before.
Thus, they were certain that the works are indeed between 6,000 and 1,000 years old.
When they analyzed the content of the paintings, they saw that the artists always followed the same sequence when applying the colors, even separated by hundreds or thousands of years.
The most fascinating thing is that many elements of this ancient worldview later appear in larger civilizations, such as the Aztecs, and are still alive today in indigenous communities, for example among the Huichol people of Mexico.
For the current indigenous peoples who visit these places, the paintings are not just images of the past: they are considered living beings, sacred ancestors who continue to create and care for the universe to this day.
These murals may be the oldest existing visual record of the same profound belief about the cosmos, a belief that has spanned millennia, influenced great civilizations, and still pulsates strongly in the hearts of the original peoples of the Americas.
It’s as if, within the canyon walls, lies a giant library written by 175 generations of artists, telling stories that have never ceased to make sense.
Published in 11/30/2025 17h22
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption. Information about DOI, author and institution can be found in the body of the article.
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