The extreme drought currently affecting the Amazon has caused rocks, decorated with engravings, to appear on the banks of the Rio Negro, in the state of Amazonas, in northwestern Brazil. The river has seen its level fall by 15 meters since July, reaching its lowest flow rate in 121 years. In 2010, a previous episode of drought had already revealed part of these engravings, but the Praia das Lajes site is even clearer this year. Most of the engravings represent human faces, rectangular or oval, sometimes smiling. Some could have been formed by the friction of arrows or spears that the natives came to sharpen there.
“This time we not only found engravings, but also the sculpture of a human face dug into the rock,” archaeologist Jaime de Santana Oliveira, who works at the Institute, told Reuters. national historical and artistic heritage (Iphan), responsible for the preservation of such sites. “These carvings are prehistoric or precolonial. We cannot date them precisely, but based on evidence of human occupation in the area, we believe they are between 1,000 and 2,000 years old,” he told the news agency. The reappearance of these engravings testifies to ancient episodes of severe drought in the Amazon basin, the current situation being aggravated by the El Niño phenomenon.
For Beatriz Carneiro, historian and member of Iphan interviewed by AFP, Praia das Lajes has an “invaluable” value in allowing us to better understand the first inhabitants of the region, a part of history that is still little studied. “Unfortunately, this is reappearing today with the worsening drought,” she continues. Finding our rivers (in flood) and keeping the engravings submerged will contribute to their preservation, even more than our work. »