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Citation: Hampson, Jamie, JoséIriarte,
and Francisco Javier Aceituno. 2024.
‘A World of Knowledge’: Rock Art,
Ritual, and Indigenous Belief at
Serranía De La Lindosa in the
Colombian Amazon. Arts 13: 135.
https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040135
Academic Editor: David Whitley
Received: 12 July 2024
Revised: 5 August 2024
Accepted: 7 August 2024
Published: 19 August 2024
Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
arts
Article
‘A World of Knowledge’: Rock Art, Ritual, and Indigenous Belief
at Serranía De La Lindosa in the Colombian Amazon
Jamie Hampson 1, * , JoséIriarte 1and Francisco Javier Aceituno 2
1Department of Archaeology and History, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QJ, UK; j.iriarte@exeter.ac.uk
2Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín 050001, Colombia;
francisco.aceituno@udea.edu.co
*Correspondence: j.g.hampson@exeter.ac.uk
Abstract: There are tens of thousands of painted rock art motifs in the Serranía de la Lindosa in the
Colombian Amazon, including humans, animals, therianthropes, geometrics, and flora. For most
of the last 100 years, inaccessibility and political unrest has limited research activities in the region.
In this paper, we discuss findings from six years of field research and consider the role of rock art as a
manifestation of Indigenous ontologies. By employing intertwining strands of evidence—a range of
ethnographic sources, local Indigenous testimonies from 2021–2023, and the motifs themselves—we
argue that the rock art here is connected to ritual specialists negotiating spiritual realms, somatic
transformation, and the interdigitation of human and non-human worlds.
Keywords: rock art; La Lindosa; northwestern Amazon; shamanism; animism; tiered cosmos;
transformation; Indigenous ontologies
1. Introduction
‘There are the paintings
. . .
The great spiritual worlds are captured here
. . .
’
(Ismael Sierra, a Tukano Oriental elder, at the site of Principal, 20 September 2023;
translation by the authors)
‘We have to read a figure, we have to read it from inside out
. . .
If we begin to look
at the figure of each image it will give us many stories, and then what appears in
each image is the knowledge of each species, and that is what is handled at the
shamanic level
. . .
. And that is how we begin to know the pictographs
. . .
. Because
this is a world of knowledge
. . .
. I tell you each one of these figures contributed
the shamanic knowledge for our own management of the territory where we
are
. . .
When this knowledge comes out it appears as a wardrobe, as a shamanic
wardrobe, as a guide to be able to practice shamanism.
. . .
To understand the
pictographs you have to have different levels of knowledge
. . .
. One part is that
you have to look at them from the shamanic viewpoint
. . .
that corresponds to the
shamans
. . .
you have to have another vision which is the oral shamanism which
is the one that I manage
. . .
.we have to concentrate very well for it to provide us
with information’. (Ulderico, a Matapíritual specialist, at the Raudal site, 1 September
2022; translation by the authors)
In the Colombian Amazon, in the vicinity of Serranía de la Lindosa (Figure 1), are thou-
sands of painted human and animal figures, plant motifs, and geometric designs (Trujillo
2016;Urbina and Peña 2016;Becerra 2019;Castaño-Uribe 2019;Muñoz 2020;Morcote-Ríos
et al. 2021;Iriarte et al. 2022a,2022b;Robinson et al. 2024). Having returned to the region
after the Colombian government and the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de
Colombia) revolutionaries signed a peace treaty in 2016, Indigenous descendants of the
original artists have recently explained to us that the rock art motifs here do not simply
‘reflect’ what the artists saw in the ‘real’ world; they also encode and manifest critical
Arts 2024,13, 135. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040135 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts
Arts 2024,13, 135 2 of 25
information about how animistic and perspectivistic Indigenous communities constructed,
engaged with, and perpetuated their ritualised, socio-cultural worlds. As Ulderico, a
Matapíritual specialist, told us in front of one of the painted panels in September 2022,
‘you have to look at [the motifs] from the shamanic viewpoint’.
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW2of26
notsimply‘reflect’whattheartistssawinthe‘real’world;theyalsoencodeandmanifest
criticalinformationabouthowanimisticandperspectivisticIndigenouscommunitiescon‐
structed,engagedwith,andperpetuatedtheirritualised,socio‐culturalworlds.As
Ulderico,aMatapíritualspecialist,toldusinfrontofoneofthepaintedpanelsinSeptem‐
ber2022,‘youhavetolookat[themotifs]fromtheshamanicviewpoint’.
Figure1.MapofthelocationoftheCerroAzul,Raudal,andNuevaTolimarockartsiteswithinthe
SerraníadelaLindosaintheColombianAmazon.
Aswithotherregionsglobally,analysingethnographicandethnohistoricrecords
alongsidetherockartpanelsstrengthensinterpretation(e.g.,Lewis‐Williams1981,2006;
McDonald2013;Valleetal.2018;Mundurukuetal.2021;Whitley2021;Tuyukaetal.2022;
StewartandChallis2023).Inthispaper,weemployamulti‐strandedapproachwhencon‐
sideringtherockartmotifsatmultiplepanelsatthesitesofSerraníadelaLindosa.We
addressregionalethnographiccontextsandincludetranslationsofnarrativesgivenby
Indigenouseldersinfrontoftherockartpanels.
1
Dozensofgroupsinthewiderregion
practisedsomeformofshamanism(Métraux1949;Reichel‐Dolmatoff1978a,1978b,1987,
1997;Rivière 1994;Shepard1999;AlbertiandBray2009;Santos‐Granero2008,2009;
KopenawaandAlbert2013;Wright2013;Langdon2017;Castaño‐Uribe2019;Iriarteetal.
2022b;Robinsonetal.2024).Moreover,thetestimonyofnumerousIndigenouseldersat
therockartsitestodaysystematicallyandunequivocallydemonstratestheconnectionof
manyofthemotifstoshamanisticandanimisticbeliefs.
2
2.SerraníaDeLaLindosaandItsEnvirons
TheSerraníadelaLindosa(LaLindosaforshort)isa20kmlongsandstoneoutcrop
locatedalongtheGuayaberoRiverinthenorthwestoftheDepartmentofGuaviare,Co‐
lombia.ThisregionformstheborderbetweenOrinoiquiasavannahstothenorthandthe
Amazonrainforesttothesouth;itischaracterisedbyanintersectionoffloraandfauna
betweenthedistinctivesavannahandtropicalforestenvironments(Vriesendorpetal.
2018).Thepresentclimateiswarmandhumid,receiving~2800mmofrainannually.
Untilthe2016peaceagreementbetweentheFARCrevolutionariesandtheColom‐
biangovernment,civilwar,politicalunrest,andinaccessibilitymaderesearchinthere‐
gionalmostimpossible(althoughseeCorrealetal.1990;Gheerbrant1993;Urbina1994;
Brito‐SierraandLópez‐Arévalo2015;Trujillo2016;UrbinaandPeña2016;Rostain2019).
RecentarchaeologicalexcavationscarriedoutbymembersoftheERC(EuropeanResearch
Council)projectLASTJOURNEYhaveestablishedLatePleistocene(ca.12.5kaBP)human
contexts(Aceitunoetal.2024;Morcote‐Ríosetal.2021);wenowknowthatduringthese
earlytimestheareawasoccupiedbymobilegroupsengagedinabroad‐spectrumecon‐
omythatincludedhunting,fishing,andplantexploitation(Morcote‐Ríosetal.2021;
Figure 1. Map of the location of the Cerro Azul, Raudal, and Nueva Tolima rock art sites within the
Serranía de la Lindosa in the Colombian Amazon.
As with other regions globally, analysing ethnographic and ethnohistoric records
alongside the rock art panels strengthens interpretation (e.g., Lewis-Williams 1981,2006;
McDonald 2013;Valle et al. 2018;Munduruku et al. 2021;Whitley 2021;Tuyuka et al. 2022;
Stewart and Challis 2023). In this paper, we employ a multi-stranded approach when
considering the rock art motifs at multiple panels at the sites of Serranía de la Lindosa.
We address regional ethnographic contexts and include translations of narratives given
by Indigenous elders in front of the rock art panels.
1
Dozens of groups in the wider
region practised some form of shamanism (Métraux 1949;Reichel-Dolmatoff 1978a,1978b,
1987,1997;Rivière 1994;Shepard 1999;Alberti and Bray 2009;Santos-Granero 2008,2009;
Kopenawa and Albert 2013;Wright 2013;Langdon 2017;Castaño-Uribe 2019;Iriarte et al.
2022b;Robinson et al. 2024). Moreover, the testimony of numerous Indigenous elders at
the rock art sites today systematically and unequivocally demonstrates the connection of
many of the motifs to shamanistic and animistic beliefs.2
2. Serranía De La Lindosa and Its Environs
The Serranía de la Lindosa (La Lindosa for short) is a 20 km long sandstone outcrop
located along the Guayabero River in the northwest of the Department of Guaviare, Colom-
bia. This region forms the border between Orinoiquia savannahs to the north and the
Amazon rainforest to the south; it is characterised by an intersection of flora and fauna
between the distinctive savannah and tropical forest environments (Vriesendorp et al. 2018).
The present climate is warm and humid, receiving ~2800 mm of rain annually.
Until the 2016 peace agreement between the FARC revolutionaries and the Colombian
government, civil war, political unrest, and inaccessibility made research in the region
almost impossible (although see Correal et al. 1990;Gheerbrant 1993;Urbina 1994;Brito-
Sierra and López-Arévalo 2015;Trujillo 2016;Urbina and Peña 2016;Rostain 2019). Recent
archaeological excavations carried out by members of the ERC (European Research Council)
project LASTJOURNEY have established Late Pleistocene (ca. 12.5 ka BP) human contexts
(Aceituno et al. 2024;Morcote-Ríos et al. 2021); we now know that during these early
times the area was occupied by mobile groups engaged in a broad-spectrum economy
that included hunting, fishing, and plant exploitation (Morcote-Ríos et al. 2021;Robinson
et al. 2021;Aceituno et al. 2024). The region has long been a crossroads and enclave
Arts 2024,13, 135 3 of 25
for numerous Indigenous communities, including Arawakan, Cariban, Makú-Puinave,
Tukanoan, Desanan, and Witoto ethnolinguistic groups (Cayón and Chacon 2014; see also
Iriarte et al. 2022b).
It is likely that uncontacted Indigenous groups in nearby Chiribiquete National Park
(the border of which is less than 100 km to the south) and other neighbouring regions are
still creating rock art (van der Hammen 2006;Castaño-Uribe 2019). On the other hand,
it seems that Indigenous groups in and around the hills of La Lindosa are not. There are
Nukak Makú, Jiw, Tukano and Desana Indigenous reservations (Resguardos) in the vicinity
of La Lindosa; several Tukano and Desana speakers live close to the rock art sites, and
within the nearby town of San Josédel Guaviare. Since 2018, we have carried out interviews
with Tukano, Desana, Matapí, Nukak, and Jiw elders in front of the painted panels; as we
outline below, much—but not all—of the information tallies with shamanistic and animistic
narratives recorded in the twentieth century in other regions of the Amazon.
Hundreds of rock art panels are present throughout the hill chains of La Lindosa,
including well-known examples at the sites of Cerro Azul (a prominent free-standing
tepui i.e., table-top hill), Nuevo Tolima, and Raudal del Guayabero (Figure 2) (Trujillo
2016;Urbina and Peña 2016;Becerra 2019;Castaño-Uribe 2019;Iriarte et al. 2022b;Robin-
son et al. 2024). Sixteen large painted panels—with thousands of images, mostly in red
ochre—adorn the 400
×
150 m Cerro Azul outcrop.
3
Ochre pieces have been recovered
from the earliest occupational levels, including ochre tablets with striations from grinding
found in contexts dated to ~11.54 ka cal BP, and painted rock fragments from contexts
dating from ~10.28 ka cal BP to approximately 500 years ago (Morcote-Ríos et al. 2021;
Iriarte et al. 2022b;Aceituno et al. 2024). Attempts to directly date the parietal images are
ongoing. Because we have not yet been able to chronologically separate images with any
degree of confidence, we do not discuss potential chronological changes or sequences in
the artwork.
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW3of26
Robinsonetal.2021;Aceitunoetal.2024).Theregionhaslongbeenacrossroadsand
enclavefornumerousIndigenouscommunities,includingArawakan,Cariban,Makú‐
Puinave,Tukanoan,Desanan,andWitotoethnolinguisticgroups(CayónandChacon
2014;seealsoIriarteetal.2022b).
ItislikelythatuncontactedIndigenousgroupsinnearbyChiribiqueteNationalPark
(theborderofwhichislessthan100kmtothesouth)andotherneighbouringregionsare
stillcreatingrockart(vanderHammen2006;Castaño‐Uribe2019).Ontheotherhand,it
seemsthatIndigenousgroupsinandaroundthehillsofLaLindosaarenot.Thereare
NukakMakú,Jiw,TukanoandDesanaIndigenousreservations(Resguardos)inthevicin‐
ityofLaLindosa;severalTukanoandDesanaspeakersliveclosetotherockartsites,and
withinthenearbytownofSanJosédelGuaviare.Since2018,wehavecarriedoutinter‐
viewswithTukano,Desana,Matapí,Nukak,andJiweldersinfrontofthepaintedpanels;
asweoutlinebelow,much—butnotall—oftheinformationtallieswithshamanisticand
animisticnarrativesrecordedinthetwentiethcenturyinotherregionsoftheAmazon.
HundredsofrockartpanelsarepresentthroughoutthehillchainsofLaLindosa,
includingwell‐knownexamplesatthesitesofCerroAzul(aprominentfree‐standingtepui
i.e.,table‐tophill),NuevoTolima,andRaudaldelGuayabero(Figure2)(Trujillo2016;
UrbinaandPeña2016;Becerra2019;Castaño‐Uribe2019;Iriarteetal.2022b;Robinsonet
al.2024).Sixteenlargepaintedpanels—withthousandsofimages,mostlyinredochre—
adornthe400×150mCerroAzuloutcrop.3Ochrepieceshavebeenrecoveredfromthe
earliestoccupationallevels,includingochretabletswithstriationsfromgrindingfound
incontextsdatedto~11.54kacalBP,andpaintedrockfragmentsfromcontextsdating
from~10.28kacalBPtoapproximately500yearsago(Morcote‐Ríosetal.2021;Iriarteet
al.2022b;Aceitunoetal.2024).Attemptstodirectlydatetheparietalimagesareongoing.
Becausewehavenotyetbeenabletochronologicallyseparateimageswithanydegreeof
confidence,wedonotdiscusspotentialchronologicalchangesorsequencesintheart‐
work.
Figure2.CerroAzulwiththelocationofrockartpanel.
3.Methods
Inthispaper,wefocusonsixpanelsfromCerroAzul:Currunchos,Demoledores,
LasDantas,ElMásLargo,Principal,andReserva(Iriarteetal.2022b)(Figure3).These‐
lectedpanelsprovidearangeinthelocation,size,andnumberofimages;theyarealso
relativelywell‐preservedandaccessiblefordronephotography.LasDantasandElMás
Largoarelargerockshelterswith998and1031imagesrespectively.Principalhasahigh
densityofwell‐preservedmotifs(244).Currunchoscontains153images,andaccesstothe
siterequiresachallengingtraversefrominsideacavemoutharoundarockoutcrop.Ac‐
cesstoReserva(244images),higherupthecliffface,isalsodifficult,andrequiresclimb‐
ing.The171motifsatDemoledoresareinaconcavealcovewithanimpressiveviewover
therainforest.
Figure 2. Cerro Azul with the location of rock art panels.
3. Methods
In this paper, we focus on six panels from Cerro Azul: Currunchos, Demoledores, Las
Dantas, El Más Largo, Principal, and Reserva (Iriarte et al. 2022b) (Figure 3). The selected
panels provide a range in the location, size, and number of images; they are also relatively
well-preserved and accessible for drone photography. Las Dantas and El Más Largo are
large rockshelters with 998 and 1031 images respectively. Principal has a high density of
well-preserved motifs (244). Currunchos contains 153 images, and access to the site requires
a challenging traverse from inside a cave mouth around a rock outcrop. Access to Reserva
(244 images), higher up the cliff face, is also difficult, and requires climbing. The 171 motifs
at Demoledores are in a concave alcove with an impressive view over the rainforest.
Using photogrammetry from drone and traditional photography, we created a 2D and
3D stitch of each of the panels before employing GIS software (ArcGIS Pro 3.3) to apply
relative x and y coordinates and a unique identifier number to each motif. Motifs were
Arts 2024,13, 135 4 of 25
then assigned to one of four descriptive categories: Figurative, Geometric, Abstract, and
Unknown.
4
The Figurative category includes sub-categories: humans, animals (includ-
ing therianthropes), schematised figures, handprints, flora, and objects.5
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW4of26
Figure3.PhotosoftherockartpanelsatCerroAzul:(a)Currunchos,(b)LasDantas,(c)Demole‐
dores,(d)ElMásLargo,(e)Principal,(f)Reserva.(Allphotosinthisarticlearebytheauthors.).
Usingphotogrammetryfromdroneandtraditionalphotography,wecreateda2D
and3DstitchofeachofthepanelsbeforeemployingGISsoftware(ArcGISPro3.3)to
applyrelativexandycoordinatesandauniqueidentifiernumbertoeachmotif.Motifs
werethenassignedtooneoffourdescriptivecategories:Figurative,Geometric,Abstract,
andUnknown.4TheFigurativecategoryincludessub‐categories:humans,animals(in‐
cludingtherianthropes),schematisedfigures,handprints,flora,andobjects.5
4.ACloserLookattheRockArtofLaLindosa
Atotalof3223imageswerecataloguedacrossthesixpanels.Inthispaper,wecon‐
centrateontheFigurativeimages(Table1),forthesimplereasonthattheethnographic
andethnohistoricrecordscontainmoreinformationaboutthesemotifscomparedwith
non‐Figurativeimages(formoreonthegeometricandabstractmotifsatLaLindosa,see
below,andIriarteetal.forthcoming).
Aswedemonstratedinapreviouspaper(Robinsonetal.2024),animalsatLaLindosa
arerepresentedindividuallyandingroups(Figures4and5).Theyareshownboth‘stati‐
cally’(i.e.,standing)and‘dynamically’(e.g.,runningdeer,leapingmonkeys).6Animals
areportrayedeitherinprofileortop‐downview.Thetop‐downviewislimitedtoCroco‐
dylia,lizards,turtles,andstingrays.Batsappeartobetheonlyanimalrepresentedinpor‐
trait(face‐on)view.Despitethefrequentoccurrenceofpenisesonhumanfigures—many
ofwhichareerect—genitaliaarealmostentirelyabsentfromthepaintedanimals(seebe‐
low).Depictionsoffeetaresometimes‘specific’(includingdistincttoes),‘non‐specific’
(lackingfootdefinition),andabstract(i.e.,containingnon‐realisticelements).Whende‐
picted,thenumberoftoesvariesconsiderably,evenonasingleanimal(seebelow).An
importantmotifthatwereturntolaterisaserpentwithlegs,andemanationsfromthe
head(Figure4n;seealsoFigure10below).
Figure 3. Photos of the rock art panels at Cerro Azul: (a) Currunchos, (b) Las Dantas, (c) Demoledores,
(d) El Más Largo, (e) Principal, (f) Reserva. All photos in this article are by the authors.
4. A Closer Look at the Rock Art of La Lindosa
A total of 3223 images were catalogued across the six panels. In this paper, we
concentrate on the Figurative images (Table 1), for the simple reason that the ethnographic
and ethnohistoric records contain more information about these motifs compared with non-
Figurative images (for more on the geometric and abstract motifs at La Lindosa, see below,
and Iriarte et al., forthcoming).
Table 1. Figurative representations in the rock art of Cerro Azul.
Panel
Curronchos
Demoledores
Dantas Más Largo Principal Reserva Total % of total
Total images 153 171 998 1031 626 244 3223 100
Non-figurative 112 115 344 356 242 175 1344 41.7
Figurative 41 56 654 675 384 69 1879 58.3
Animal 23 17 203 144 154 15 556 17.25
% of total panel images 15 9.9 20.3 14 24.6 6.1
% of total panel
figurative images 56.1 30.4 31 21.3 40.1 21.7
Arts 2024,13, 135 5 of 25
Table 1. Cont.
Panel
Human 3 12 209 203 83 21 531 16.48
% of total panel images 2 7 20.9 19.7 13.3 8.6
% of total panel
figurative images 7.3 21.4 32 30.1 21.6 30.4
Schematised 7 24 149 266 86 28 560 17.38
% of total panel images 4.6 14 14.9 25.8 13.7 11.5
% of total panel
figurative images 17.1 42.9 22.8 39.4 22.4 40.6
Handprint 0 0 88 50 51 0 189 5.86
% of total panel images 0 0 8.8 4.8 8.1 0
% of total panel
figurative images 0 0 13.5 7.4 13.3 0
Flora 1 3 4 6 10 5 29 0.9
% of total panel images 0.7 1.8 0.4 0.6 1.6 2
% of total panel
figurative images 2.4 5.4 0.6 0.9 2.6 7.2
Object 7 0 1 6 0 0 14 0.43
% of total panel images 4.6 0 0.1 0.6 0 0
% of total panel
figurative images 17.1 0 0.2 0.9 0 0
As we demonstrated in a previous paper (Robinson et al. 2024), animals at La Lindosa
are represented individually and in groups (Figures 4and 5). They are shown both ‘stati-
cally’ (i.e., standing) and ‘dynamically’ (e.g., running deer, leaping monkeys).
6
Animals are
portrayed either in profile or top-down view. The top-down view is limited to Crocodylia,
lizards, turtles, and stingrays. Bats appear to be the only animal represented in portrait
(face-on) view. Despite the frequent occurrence of penises on human figures—many of
which are erect—genitalia are almost entirely absent from the painted animals (see below).
Depictions of feet are sometimes ‘specific’ (including distinct toes), ‘non-specific’ (lack-
ing foot definition), and abstract (i.e., containing non-realistic elements). When depicted,
the number of toes varies considerably, even on a single animal (see below). An important
motif that we return to later is a serpent with legs, and emanations from the head (Figure 4n;
see also Figure 10 below).
As in other parts of the world, several rock art motifs at Cerro Azul—and indeed
across the wider region—incorporate both animal and human elements, suggesting the
depiction of therianthropes (Figures 6–8). The Tukano, Desana, Matapí, Jiw, and Nukak
speakers who accompanied us to the rock art sites highlighted these images, discussing the
fluid transformation between animal and human states in an animistic and perspectivistic
worldview (see below). Therianthropic figures are most often bipedal and in a ‘performative’
stance, in which motion is implied. Arms, for example, are often outstretched, and fore and
hind legs depicted as if on different planes. As noted above, penises, which are frequently
depicted on human figures, are all but absent from animal figures; tellingly, however, they
are present on three therianthropic figures. Many human figures at Cerro Azul have tapir-
or deer-like feet (see below).
Arts 2024,13, 135 6 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW6of26
Figure4.ExamplesofanimaltaxarepresentedatCerroAzul.(a)armadillo,(b)paca,(c)coati,(d)
amphibian,(e)tapir/danta,(f)stingray,(g)feline,(h)turtle,(i)deer,(j)crocodile,(k)monkey,(l)
porcupine,(m)possiblehorse,(n)serpentwithheadplumeandlegs,(o)lizard,(p)deer,bat,spider,
aquaticbirds,(q)possiblesloth,(r)canid.
Figure5.Imagesof(a)fishing(notetheconcentriccircle,andseebelow);(b,c,e)(possible)hunting;
(d)monkeyleaping/transformingsequence;(f)unknownanimalwithcircularfeetandcurvedhead
elements.
Asinotherpartsoftheworld,severalrockartmotifsatCerroAzul—andindeed
acrossthewiderregion—incorporatebothanimalandhumanelements,suggestingthe
Figure 4. Examples of animal taxa represented at Cerro Azul. (a) armadillo, (b) paca, (c) coati,
(d) amphibian, (e) tapir/danta, (f) stingray, (g) feline, (h) turtle, (i) deer, (j) crocodile, (k) monkey,
(l) porcupine, (m) possible horse, (n) serpent with head plume and legs, (o) lizard, (p) deer, bat,
spider, aquatic birds, (q) possible sloth, (r) canid.
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW6of26
Figure4.ExamplesofanimaltaxarepresentedatCerroAzul.(a)armadillo,(b)paca,(c)coati,(d)
amphibian,(e)tapir/danta,(f)stingray,(g)feline,(h)turtle,(i)deer,(j)crocodile,(k)monkey,(l)
porcupine,(m)possiblehorse,(n)serpentwithheadplumeandlegs,(o)lizard,(p)deer,bat,spider,
aquaticbirds,(q)possiblesloth,(r)canid.
Figure5.Imagesof(a)fishing(notetheconcentriccircle,andseebelow);(b,c,e)(possible)hunting;
(d)monkeyleaping/transformingsequence;(f)unknownanimalwithcircularfeetandcurvedhead
elements.
Asinotherpartsoftheworld,severalrockartmotifsatCerroAzul—andindeed
acrossthewiderregion—incorporatebothanimalandhumanelements,suggestingthe
Figure 5. Images of (a) fishing (note the concentric circle, and see below); (b,c,e) (possible) hunting;
(d) monkey leaping/transforming sequence; (f) unknown animal with circular feet and curved
head elements.
Arts 2024,13, 135 7 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW7of26
depictionoftherianthropes(Figures6–8).TheTukano,Desana,Matapí,Jiw,andNukak
speakerswhoaccompaniedustotherockartsiteshighlightedtheseimages,discussing
thefluidtransformationbetweenanimalandhumanstatesinananimisticandperspec‐
tivisticworldview(seebelow).Therianthropicfiguresaremostoftenbipedalandina
‘performative’stance,inwhichmotionisimplied.Arms,forexample,areoftenout‐
stretched,andforeandhindlegsdepictedasifondifferentplanes.Asnotedabove,pe‐
nises,whicharefrequentlydepictedonhumanfigures,areallbutabsentfromanimal
figures;tellingly,however,theyarepresentonthreetherianthropicfigures.Manyhuman
figuresatCerroAzulhavetapir‐ordeer‐likefeet(seebelow).
Figure6.Potentialtherianthropicimages,assuggestedbyIndigenousinformants:(a)avian/human;
(b)lizardwithround,human‐likehead;(c)possiblebird/human/plantwithpenis;(d)possible
sloth/human;(e)unknownhuman/quadrupedwithtailandpenis;(f)deer/human,lookingoverits
shoulder(notethetwo‐toedfeet;andseebelow).
Figure7.Snake‐bird‐humantherianthropeatNuevaTolima.Notetheexaggeratedknees,andshort
tail.Foradiscussionontransformationandcatchingfishinaritualisticframework,seebelow.
Figure 6. Therianthropic images, as suggested by Indigenous informants: (a) avian/human; (b) lizard
with round, human-like head; (c) possible bird/human/plant with penis; (d) possible sloth/human;
(e) unknown human/quadruped with tail and penis; (f) deer/human, looking over its shoulder
(note the two-toed feet; and see below).
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW7of26
depictionoftherianthropes(Figures6–8).TheTukano,Desana,Matapí,Jiw,andNukak
speakerswhoaccompaniedustotherockartsiteshighlightedtheseimages,discussing
thefluidtransformationbetweenanimalandhumanstatesinananimisticandperspec‐
tivisticworldview(seebelow).Therianthropicfiguresaremostoftenbipedalandina
‘performative’stance,inwhichmotionisimplied.Arms,forexample,areoftenout‐
stretched,andforeandhindlegsdepictedasifondifferentplanes.Asnotedabove,pe‐
nises,whicharefrequentlydepictedonhumanfigures,areallbutabsentfromanimal
figures;tellingly,however,theyarepresentonthreetherianthropicfigures.Manyhuman
figuresatCerroAzulhavetapir‐ordeer‐likefeet(seebelow).
Figure6.Potentialtherianthropicimages,assuggestedbyIndigenousinformants:(a)avian/human;
(b)lizardwithround,human‐likehead;(c)possiblebird/human/plantwithpenis;(d)possible
sloth/human;(e)unknownhuman/quadrupedwithtailandpenis;(f)deer/human,lookingoverits
shoulder(notethetwo‐toedfeet;andseebelow).
Figure7.Snake‐bird‐humantherianthropeatNuevaTolima.Notetheexaggeratedknees,andshort
tail.Foradiscussionontransformationandcatchingfishinaritualisticframework,seebelow.
Figure 7. Snake-bird-human therianthrope at Nueva Tolima. Note the exaggerated knees, and short
tail. For a discussion on transformation and catching fish in a ritualistic framework, see below.
Arts 2024,13, 135 8 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW8of26
Figure8.PartofLasDantaspanel.Notethedeer,standingontheirhindlegs,leftcentre.Wediscuss
geometricandplantmotifs,handprints,andotherspecificfiguresinforthcomingpapers.
5.RockArt,Shamanism,Ethnography,andEthnohistoryatLaLindosaandBeyond
RockartresearchintheAmazon,inSouthAmerica,andbeyondrepeatedlytellsus
thatartisbothareflectionandmanifestationofculturalandspiritualbeliefs,aswellasa
communicativetool(seeexamplesinHampsonetal.2022;Iriarteetal.2022b).Pigment
procurement,artistic‘style’,composition,andthechoiceofsubjectmatterareembedded
withinsocialnormsandontologies,andattemptsateticidentificationofrockartnotonly
highlightthecorefluidityinIndigenouscategorisationsbutalsoremindusthattheun‐
ambiguous‘specificity’ofanimage(fromaWesternpointofview)wasnotnecessarily
thegoaloftheoriginalartist(Hampson2015,2024;Robinsonetal.2024).Indeed,ethno‐
graphicevidencetellsusthat‘Tukanoandecorationisnotmimesis;theIndiansdonot
copylife‐formsfromnature’(Reichel‐Dolmatoff1987,p.17).Similarly,Tukanoan‘artistic
andtechnicalskillandperfectionarenotoftheessence.Anartifactmaybeillmade;a
dancemaybeclumsilyexecutedorapersonmayhaveapoorsingingvoice.Whatcounts
is…meaning.Artisticexcellenceshouldneverbecomeagoal.Infact,shamanswarnpeo‐
plenottobetooform‐perfect;nottobetooimpressedbyappearances’(Reichel‐Dolmatoff
1987,p.17).
TherockartmotifsatLaLindosaappeartomirrorandembodytheseconcepts,with
theactionofpainting—andtheresulting‘presence’ofamotif—ofgreaterconcernthan
conveyingtheanatomicalspecificsof,say,adeer,orahumanfigure(Robinsonetal.2024).
ItseemsthatmanyimagesatLaLindosa—andindeedrockartcorpuseselsewhere(see
examplesinHampsonetal.2022)—weredeliberatelypaintedwithoutdiagnosticfeatures.
Moreover,artistscouldanddidoftenchoosetoaccentuatecertainfeaturestoincreasethe
potencyofaparticularmotif(e.g.,KeyserandWhitley2006;Hampson2015,2016).
Equallyimportant,therearenumerousethnographictextsthroughouttheAmericas
whichmakeclearthatpaintedmotifswereandarepowerfulthingsinthemselves;indeed,
thewordforpigmentisoftensynonymouswiththewordfor‘potency’or‘supernatural
spirit’(e.g.,Laird1976,p.123;Hultkrantz1987,p.94;Whitley2009;Stoffleetal.2011,p.
14;Hampson2015,2024;Hugh‐Jones2016).Classificatoryambiguitiesintaxa(fromanon‐
Indigenousperspective)alsostemfromthefactthatanimisticontologieswereandare
Figure 8. Part of Las Dantas panel. Note the deer, standing on their hind legs, left centre. We discuss
geometric and plant motifs, handprints, and other specific figures in forthcoming papers.
5. Rock Art, Shamanism, Ethnography, and Ethnohistory at La Lindosa and Beyond
Rock art research in the Amazon, in South America, and beyond repeatedly tells us
that art is both a reflection and manifestation of cultural and spiritual beliefs, as well as a
communicative tool (see examples in Hampson et al. 2022;Iriarte et al. 2022b). Pigment
procurement, artistic ‘style’, composition, and the choice of subject matter are embedded
within social norms and ontologies, and attempts at etic identification of rock art not only
highlight the core fluidity in Indigenous categorisations but also remind us that the un-
ambiguous ‘specificity’ of an image (from a Western point of view) was not necessarily
the goal of the original artist (Hampson 2015,2024;Robinson et al. 2024). Indeed, ethno-
graphic evidence tells us that ‘Tukanoan decoration is not mimesis; the Indians do not
copy life-forms from nature’ (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987, p. 17). Similarly, Tukanoan ‘artistic
and technical skill and perfection are not of the essence. An artifact may be ill made; a
dance may be clumsily executed or a person may have a poor singing voice. What counts is
. . .
meaning. Artistic excellence should never become a goal. In fact, shamans warn people
not to be too form-perfect; not to be too impressed by appearances’ (Reichel-Dolmatoff
1987, p. 17).
The rock art motifs at La Lindosa appear to mirror and embody these concepts, with
the action of painting—and the resulting ‘presence’ of a motif—of greater concern than
conveying the anatomical specifics of, say, a deer, or a human figure (Robinson et al.
2024). It seems that many images at La Lindosa—and indeed rock art corpuses elsewhere
(see examples in Hampson et al. 2022)—were deliberately painted without diagnostic
features. Moreover, artists could and did often choose to accentuate certain features to
increase the potency of a particular motif (e.g., Keyser and Whitley 2006;Hampson 2015,
2016). Equally important, there are numerous ethnographic texts throughout the Americas
which make clear that painted motifs were and are powerful things in themselves; indeed,
the word for pigment is often synonymous with the word for ‘potency’ or ‘supernatural
spirit’ (e.g., Laird 1976, p. 123; Hultkrantz 1987, p. 94; Whitley 2009;Stoffle et al. 2011,
p. 14; Hampson 2015,2024;Hugh-Jones 2016). Classificatory ambiguities in taxa (from a
non-Indigenous perspective) also stem from the fact that animistic ontologies were and
Arts 2024,13, 135 9 of 25
are fluid and polysemous (see below); it is not surprising that there are human/animal
therianthropes and other motifs at La Lindosa depicting transformative states (Goldman
1940;Fulop 1954;Rivière 1994;Viveiros de Castro 1998;Alberti and Bray 2009;Wright
2013;Langdon 2017;Pilaar Birch 2018;Moro-Abadía and Porr 2021;Iriarte et al. 2022b;
Robinson et al. 2024).
7
In addition, we know that taxonomic specificity was not always the
goal of Indigenous artists partly because many entities, including rock art motifs, were
considered to be ‘emergent’, or in the ‘process of becoming’; to many Indigenous groups in
the Amazon and elsewhere, processes in an animistic framework were and are as important
as the final product, if not more so (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1978a,1978b,1987,1997;Rivière
1994;Alberti and Bray 2009;Wright 2013;Langdon 2017;Whitley 2021). Before we turn to
the detailed testimonies of Indigenous elders recorded in front of the painted sites at La
Lindosa in 2022 and 2023, we look more closely at Amazonian ethnography, and what it
might tell us about the significance of rock art panels and motifs.
Few Amazonian researchers now doubt the overarching paradigm of the so-called
New Animism, a relational practice in which humans cultivate relationships with other
persons, whether human or non-human (Hallowell 1960;Descola 1994,2012;Viveiros de
Castro 1998;Bird-David 1999;Harvey 2002,2014;Ingold 2006;Alberti and Bray 2009;Santos-
Granero 2008,2009;Abram 2010;Kohn 2013;Iriarte et al. 2022b).
8
In many Amazonian
perspectivist and animistic cosmologies, everything that grows, moves, or evolves is ‘equal
to’ a human, with a soul and a social life (e.g., Viveiros de Castro 1998;Kohn 2013). To this
end, each living being’s physical body can be imagined as an ‘outer cover’ (or ‘clothing’),
hiding its human form. Only other members of the same species, or special beings such as
shamans who cross species boundaries, can see through this external covering (Viveiros de
Castro 1998;Kohn 2013).
9
According to this Amazonian way of seeing and living, the world
is inhabited by various types of emergent beings, including humans and non-humans,
who perceive reality fluidly, and from different but complementary viewpoints. These
entities—including spirits, animals, plants, and even objects—are conscious, and, like
humans, have the ability to reflect and to influence events.10
A point we underscore here, and throughout this paper, is the key role of ritual
specialists in Amazonian groups. Indeed, there are numerous ethnographic references to
the crucial roles that payés[shamans] play (see below). Moreover, when Victor Caycedo,
a Desana elder, accompanied us to the sites in 2022 and 2023, he explained that ‘the payé
is the one who commands in the maloca [house],
11
he is the one who has the powers, he
is the one who has the yagé[hallucinogenic ayahuasca],
12
he makes the lightning fall, he
makes the winter fall.
. . .
Payéscan see inside and out; they can see a person’s bones. If
a man is sick, he can see a ‘stain’. He sees black marks in your knee, if that’s where you
are sick. The payésees things, diagnostically, both now and in the future. Payésopen up a
space: the spell is powerful.’
In his book (Sierra 2019, p. 31), Ismael Sierra—an elder from the Tukano Oriental
group—also refers to payésas ‘great sages
. . .
or ancient historians
. . .
They are capable of
transforming into a person, in order to reach this world. And that power, he has it more
than us. He knows more than we do.’
As Reichel-Dolmatoff (1967, pp. 110–11) also makes clear:
The hills in the forest are not only meeting places of one shaman and Waí-maxsè
[the Master of Animals—an important figure to whom we return below] but also
the locales where, in their hallucinations, various shamans of neighboring tribes
celebrate their reunions. Among them and the Master of Animals a true barter
unfolds during which each tries to gain advantages. It is imagined that within
the uterine hills, which are like great communal houses, the animals hang from
the rafters in a somnolent state, and the shaman chooses the animals which he
needs for the hunters of his group. Going from rafter to rafter he shakes them,
and with each shake, the animals awake and go forth into the forest. Waí-maxsè
“charges per shake” and at times when more animals have been awakened than
Arts 2024,13, 135 10 of 25
was intended and bargained for, negotiations are renewed with the Master of
Animals who asks for more and more souls.
On 16 September 2023, Victor elaborated on the concept of painted rockshelters as
spiritual malocas/houses for us:
Where are we? This [gesturing to the paintings at the Principal site] is the door,
this is the house and this is the wall of the tepui, one sees that it is made from stone,
but for those in ancient times it was not stone, it was the wall of a house
. . .
This
is a sanctuary, we are inside the tepui. The ancestors can hear us.
. . .
Each time
you come, you see different things; things show themselves to you. All these
rockshelters are houses.13
Also in September 2023, Ismael Sierra pointed to the paintings at the site known as La
Fuga and said:
So here are the animals that are there, they exist in that mountain range that was
formerly and still is, but it is in the spiritual world
. . .
These are men with two arms, they
are giants that exist in that spiritual maloca
. . .
there is an animal, a panther lion that has two
heads, one head here and the other here, instead of a tail it has a head, they are from the
spiritual world
. . .
they are monsters that are here [pointing to the panel], almost everyone
in this mountain range must have their maloca, this [pointing to the panel] for a wise man,
for a payé, it is a maloca
. . .
In this world there are different places, where there are some
malocas of this world. Where the white people call them sacred places. Or enchanted.
Complementing the point that, in many American regions, the word for pigment is
often synonymous with the word for ‘potency’ or ‘supernatural spirit’ (see above), several
of the Indigenous elders who accompanied us to the La Lindosa sites explained that the
paintings were created by spirits—an ontological equivalence between the actions of a ritual
specialist and their spirit helper (see e.g., Whitley 2009). At Principal in September 2023,
for instance, Victor pointed to motifs high up the rock face and asked rhetorically: ‘How
would you paint up there? How would you do it? They didn’t do it with a ladder
. . .
they
didn’t do it with some big devices that were put there
. . .
Why? Because the natives in the
old days lived spiritually
. . .
They were a spirit
. . .
’ On another occasion, also at the Principal
site, Ismael gestured to the paintings and said: ‘That is not done in this world
. . .
that is not
done by us
. . .
’ The Jiw
14
creation story (Iriarte et al. 2022b, p. 40) also offers an explanation
for the origin of the rock art at La Lindosa:
In the beginning, there was no sun, moon or stars. Everything was in darkness. Laman,
the world creator, made a big pot with a lid. Whenever he lifted the lid, light flooded out
and a new day dawned. Nothing lived on earth, so Laman created the first bird. The bird
brought seeds from the underworld, and from those seeds grew palms and fruits, and all
the plants on the planet. Next Laman prayed, and all kinds of animals appeared. Laman
wanted us to remember how life began, so he decided to throw a party. In between dancing
and singing, Laman made the paintings on the rocks to make sure that what he had done
would never be forgotten.
The relationships between Indigenous myths and specific rock art motifs are of course
far from straightforward; it should come as no surprise that myths and motifs are con-
textual, interdependent, and polysemous. As outlined above, Amazonian ethnographies
and present-day explanations demonstrate that artworks do not merely ‘reflect reality’ or
‘illustrate’ the narrative and metaphorical myths, as if they were pictures in books; rather,
the images reside within an animistic and agentive framework, and act as storehouses of
symbolic potency. The creation of motifs, and their context on the walls of what many
Indigenous groups refer to as the ‘Master’s House’ (i.e., painted rockshelters; see below),
emphasises one part of their semantic spectrum—animistic potency—while also illumi-
nating a range of other values, including those in social and economic realms. Numerous
Amazonian groups recognise the hills and tepuis—and other places with rock art, such
as river rapids—as sacred spaces corresponding to a mythical time within an animistic
worldview (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1971;Urbina 1994;Hugh-Jones 1996;Riris et al. 2024).
Arts 2024,13, 135 11 of 25
Ethnographic sources—and even present day narratives—must of course be used
with caution; clearly, testimonies cannot be taken at face value, or as a coherent series
of unambiguous facts (see e.g., Lewis-Williams 2024). Unsurprisingly, anthropological
texts and interviews are fragmentary and at least in part a product of recorders’ interests
and contextual knowledge (or lack thereof).
15
We also need to remember that Indigenous
informants often do not bother explaining the most fundamental concepts that make up
their worldviews simply because they regard them as self-evident e.g., the sacred and
mundane worlds constantly intertwine; rock art motifs are powerful things in themselves;
there is no sharp divide between nature and culture; etc. In the Upper Rio Negro region,
for instance, Hugh-Jones (2016, p. 165) explains that ‘Many of the petroglyphs would
appear to represent Yuruparí[ceremonial] instruments but in Indigenous eyes they are
not representations; they are the real thing. Petroglyphs are Yuruparíin another form
(see also Xavier 2012, p. 7). This is why one should avert one’s eyes and not look at
them. By the same token, for Tukanoans, their anaconda ancestors did not merely arrive
by river; the meandering rivers are those ancestors and were created as the anacondas
moved.’ (Our emphasis. We consider the significance of snake motifs below.) When we read
ethnographic texts, then, we must be careful not to overlook important ‘nuggets’—pieces of
information couched in Indigenous language and metaphors (Lewis-Williams 2024, p. 72).
Or, in David Whitley’s (2021, p. 69) words, ‘many ethnographically relevant statements
about rock art can only be recognized as such when the ontological differences between the
Western and the Indigenous worldviews are themselves understood’. 16
6. A Closer Look at Animal Motifs: Moving Beyond ‘Menus’
Animals feature prominently in rock art worldwide, including multiple regional
traditions and corpuses in South America (Beltrão and Locks 1993;Miotti and Carden
2007;Prous 2007;Baeta and Prous 2017;Carden 2009;Troncoso et al. 2017,2018;Motta
and Villanueva 2020;Troncoso and Armstrong 2022;Robinson et al. 2024). Studies from
across the globe demonstrate that it is extremely rare to find a direct relationship between
the ratio of painted animal images to the species identified in associated archaeofaunal
assemblages (Laming-Emperaire 1957;Leroi-Gourhan 1965;Vinnicombe 1972;Whitley
1994;Lewis-Williams 2002;Fiore and Zangrando 2006;Valenzuela et al. 2015;Russell 2017;
Valle et al. 2018), and La Lindosa is no exception (Robinson et al. 2024). This disconnect
alludes to the complex and many-layered social and ideological relationships between
humans and animals beyond utilitarian exploitation (Descola 1994,2012;Viveiros de Castro
1998;Fiore and Zangrando 2006;Valenzuela et al. 2015).
As we have recently shown (Robinson et al. 2024), scenes of food preparation and
consumption are not depicted in La Lindosa rock art. While the low frequency of rep-
resentations of larger mammals (e.g., tapirs, deer) in the zooarchaeological assemblage
at La Lindosa may be related to the lack of preservation of identifiable bone fragments
(Robinson et al. 2024), it is worth noting that hunting taboos for multiple Amazonian
groups generally avoid these larger mammals, in part due to the symbolic relationships
with these important animals; unsurprisingly, hunting and consumption are mediated by
the ideational domain (Ross et al. 1978;Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;Politis 2007;Yoamara et al.
2020;Robinson et al. 2024). Indeed, the larger animals are often perceived to be more sacred
and more potent because they embody spirit-ancestors (Politis 2007;Robinson et al. 2024).
The tapir, for example, in a complex and multi-stranded relationship, is incorporated into
Tukano ontology and genealogy as an ancestor (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1985,1997). A Tukanoan
hunter’s account notes that there are two types of tapir: the zoological animal, and one
that has been transformed from a human (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997); we should not be
surprised by the fact that human figures at Cerro Azul often have animal feet (Figure 9).
These kind of symbiotic and discursive relationships are also found within Amazonian
ontologies in Brazil and Venezuela, where the consumption of certain primates (as well as
tapir) is restricted because they are believed to be members of the family and/or ancestors
(Yoamara et al. 2020).17
Arts 2024,13, 135 12 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW12of26
astapir)isrestrictedbecausetheyarebelievedtobemembersofthefamilyand/orances‐
tors(Yoamaraetal.2020).17
Figure9.HumanfigurewithanimalfeetatPrincipal.
ThenaturalandsupernaturalworldsacrossAmazoniawereandarefluidlyinte‐
grated,andanimalsareendowedwithhuman‐likecharacteristicsandbehaviours(Århem
1996;Descola1994,2012;Reichel‐Dolmatoff1997;ViveirosdeCastro1998;Bird‐David
1999;Cabreraetal.1999;PolitisandSaunders2002;Iriarteetal.2022b;Robinsonetal.
2024).Animalsoftenembodyorcontainthespiritsofancestors,withthethreelargest
mammalsoftheforest—tapir,jaguar,anddeer—particularlyreveredasspirit‐animals;
theyare‘likepeople’.Conflationof,andtransformationbetween,animalandhuman
states(includingoneanimalspeciestoanotheranimalspecies)isacommoncomponent
ofAmazoniancosmologies,withnumerousmythsfeaturingtransformationwithinand
betweenawidearrayofanimalspecies(Descola1994;Reichel‐Dolmatoff1997;Viveiros
deCastro1998;Bird‐David1999).
AccordingtotheNukak(Iriarteetal.2022b,p.52),‘tapirsarejustlikeus.InBak,the
worldbelow,tapirskeepjaguarsastheirpets.InBak,tapirsremovetheirskinandshow
theirhumanform.Tapirsenterourworld,calledYee,throughsacrednaturalsaltlicks
(salados),theydressasanimalsandwetakecareofthem.’Hereweseetheshamanic
conceptofbeingsmovingfromonerealmtoanother—animportantconceptthatwere‐
turntobelow.
TheserpentmotifsatCerroAzulareanotherexampleofanimalsthatarenotpainted
simplybecausetheywere‘goodtoeat’.18SomeoftheserpentsatLaLindosahavelegs
andplumesontheirheads(Figure10).SerpentswereandareofgreatimportancetoIn‐
digenousgroups,partlybecausetheyareliminalcreatures,athomeinthewaterandon
land—likeAmazonianpayés,theycanmovefromonerealmtoanother(e.g.,Reichel‐Dol‐
matoff1987,1997).Serpentsarealsoimportantbecausetheyare‘re‐born’aftershedding
theirskin—asareritualspecialistsaftercertainrituals(e.g.,Reichel‐Dolmatoff1987,1997).
Therearenumerousethnographicaccounts(e.g.,Hugh‐Jones1979;Reichel‐Dolmatoff
1987,1997;BallestasRincón2007;Ririsetal.2024)fromAmazoniathatincludelarge
snakes—oftenanacondas—asancestraland/orcelestialcreatorbeings,oftenglossedas
‘snake‐canoes’.Thesepotentbeingsarefoundwithinanimisticandshamanisticframe‐
worksand,asinotherpartsoftheAmericas,areconnectedwithre‐birth,transformation,
waterways,theskyandtheMilkyWay,andtheunderworld(Castaño‐Uribeandvander
Hammen2005;Iriarteetal.2022b;Hampsonforthcoming).19AtthesiteofMásLargoin
September2022,Ismaelpointedtotheplumedserpentmotifwithlegsandsaid:‘Iam
goingtobeginwiththisbiganaconda,forusTukanostheanacondameansalot.Because
theTukanopeople,whoarecomposedoftwelvegroupsofpeople…wearrivedinaspir‐
itualworld….Wecamefromthatspiritualworldmany,manyyearsago….Thenwear‐
rivedandfromtherewemadeatransition…’AtthesiteofRaudal,too,Uldericoexplained
that‘thepowerofthefiguresofLaLindosaisorientedbythepoweroftheboa’.Clearly,
Figure 9. Human figure with animal feet at Principal.
The natural and supernatural worlds across Amazonia were and are fluidly integrated,
and animals are endowed with human-like characteristics and behaviours (Århem 1996;
Descola 1994,2012;Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;Viveiros de Castro 1998;Bird-David 1999;
Cabrera et al. 1999;Politis and Saunders 2002;Iriarte et al. 2022b;Robinson et al. 2024).
Animals often embody or contain the spirits of ancestors, with the three largest mammals
of the forest—tapir, jaguar, and deer—particularly revered as spirit-animals; they are ‘like
people’. Conflation of, and transformation between, animal and human states (including
one animal species to another animal species) is a common component of Amazonian
cosmologies, with numerous myths featuring transformation within and between a wide
array of animal species (Descola 1994;Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;Viveiros de Castro 1998;
Bird-David 1999).
According to the Nukak (Iriarte et al. 2022b, p. 52), ‘tapirs are just like us. In Bak,
the world below, tapirs keep jaguars as their pets. In Bak, tapirs remove their skin and
show their human form. Tapirs enter our world, called Yee, through sacred natural salt
licks (salados), they dress as animals and we take care of them.’ Here we see the shamanic
concept of beings moving from one realm to another—an important concept that we return
to below.
The serpent motifs at Cerro Azul are another example of animals that are not painted
simply because they were ‘good to eat’.
18
Some of the serpents at La Lindosa have legs and
plumes on their heads (Figure 10). Serpents were and are of great importance to Indigenous
groups, partly because they are liminal creatures, at home in the water and on land—like
Amazonian payés, they can move from one realm to another (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987,
1997). Serpents are also important because they are ‘re-born’ after shedding their skin—as
are ritual specialists after certain rituals (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987,1997). There are
numerous ethnographic accounts (e.g., Hugh-Jones 1979;Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987,1997;
Ballestas Rincón 2007;Riris et al. 2024) from Amazonia that include large snakes—often
anacondas—as ancestral and/or celestial creator beings, often glossed as ‘snake-canoes’.
These potent beings are found within animistic and shamanistic frameworks and, as in
other parts of the Americas, are connected with re-birth, transformation, waterways, the sky
and the Milky Way, and the underworld (Castaño-Uribe and van der Hammen 2005;Iriarte
et al. 2022b;Hampson, forthcoming).
19
At the site of Más Largo in September 2022, Ismael
pointed to the plumed serpent motif with legs and said: ‘I am going to begin with this big
anaconda, for us Tukanos the anaconda means a lot. Because the Tukano people, who are
composed of twelve groups of people
. . .
we arrived in a spiritual world
. . .
. We came from
that spiritual world many, many years ago
. . .
. Then we arrived and from there we made a
transition
. . .
’ At the site of Raudal, too, Ulderico explained that ‘the power of the figures of
La Lindosa is oriented by the power of the boa’. Clearly, rock artists in the Amazon did not
depict animals simply because they saw them in the ‘real’, everyday world.
Animal tracks are absent from the art at Cerro Azul, and, as mentioned above, foot
depiction often lacks definition or consistency in the number of digits; once again, this
strongly suggests a stylistic and cultural choice rather than the representation of key
Arts 2024,13, 135 13 of 25
anatomical information that could aid a hunter (cf. Robinson et al. 2024). Circular foot
and head elements are unlikely to represent the armour of European war dogs (pace
Urbina and Peña 2016) because the feature appears on a range of (non-canid) quadrupedal
animals (Figure 5f above). More importantly, two of the Indigenous informants who
accompanied us to the sites rejected this claim. All of the above strengthens the hypothesis
that the Cerro Azul artwork was not simply a means of depicting activities associated with
everyday animal hunting, processing, or eating. As attested by numerous ethnographies
and ethnohistories, hunter-prey relationships were and are embedded within complex
social institutions and an overarching animistic framework.
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW13of26
rockartistsintheAmazondidnotdepictanimalssimplybecausetheysawtheminthe
‘real’,everydayworld.
Figure10.SerpentwithlegsandheadplumesatCerroAzul(digitallyenhancedusingD‐Stretch
filterlwe).
AnimaltracksareabsentfromtheartatCerroAzul,and,asmentionedabove,foot
depictionoftenlacksdefinitionorconsistencyinthenumberofdigits;onceagain,this
stronglysuggestsastylisticandculturalchoiceratherthantherepresentationofkeyana‐
tomicalinformationthatcouldaidahunter(cf.Robinsonetal.2024).Circularfootand
headelementsareunlikelytorepresentthearmourofEuropeanwardogs(paceUrbina
andPeña2016)becausethefeatureappearsonarangeof(non‐canid)quadrupedalani‐
mals(Figure5fabove).Moreimportantly,twooftheIndigenousinformantswhoaccom‐
paniedustothesitesrejectedthisclaim.Alloftheabovestrengthensthehypothesisthat
theCerroAzulartworkwasnotsimplyameansofdepictingactivitiesassociatedwith
everydayanimalhunting,processing,oreating.Asattestedbynumerousethnographies
andethnohistories,hunter‐preyrelationshipswereandareembeddedwithincomplexso‐
cialinstitutionsandanoverarchinganimisticframework.
7.HuntingandFishinginanAnimisticWorld
AtLasDantas,amalehumanfigureappearstobehuntingaquadrupedwithalong
spear(Figure5cabove).Nearby(onthesamepanel),twoother‘scenes’showsimilarin‐
teractionswithacanid(Figure5b)andadeer.AfurtherimageatMásLargodepictstwo
humansconnectedtoadeer(Figure5e).AswithallthemotifsatCerroAzul,thesescenes
arenotnecessarilyliteral,andthelinesconnectinghumansandanimalsprobablyrepre‐
sentspiritualconnectionsandasymbolichunter‐preyrelationshipwithintheanimistic
frameworksdiscussedabove(Reichel‐Dolmatoff1967,1971,1976;Lewis‐Williamsetal.
2000;KeyserandWhitley2006;McGranaghanandChallis2016;StewartandChallis2023;
Robinsonetal.2024;Hampsonforthcoming).20
AtMásLargo,thereareinstancesofmalehumanfiguresusinglinestohookfish.
Nexttothehumanfiguresarelargeconcentriccircles,whichatfirstglanceseemtodepict
ripplesinthewater(Figure11;seealsoFigure5aabove).
Figure 10. Serpent with legs and head plumes at Cerro Azul (digitally enhanced using D-Stretch
filter lwe).
7. Hunting and Fishing in an Animistic World
At Las Dantas, a male human figure appears to be hunting a quadruped with a long
spear (Figure 5c above). Nearby (on the same panel), two other ‘scenes’ show similar
interactions with a canid (Figure 5b) and a deer. A further image at Más Largo depicts
two humans connected to a deer (Figure 5e). As with all the motifs at Cerro Azul, these
scenes are not necessarily literal, and the lines connecting humans and animals probably
represent spiritual connections and a symbolic hunter-prey relationship within the animistic
frameworks discussed above (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1967,1971,1976;Lewis-Williams et al.
2000;Keyser and Whitley 2006;McGranaghan and Challis 2016;Stewart and Challis 2023;
Robinson et al. 2024;Hampson, forthcoming).20
At Más Largo, there are instances of male human figures using lines to hook fish. Next
to the human figures are large concentric circles, which at first glance seem to depict ripples
in the water (Figure 11; see also Figure 5a above).
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW14of26
Figure11.Notethemalehumanfigureontheright,connectedtoafish(digitallyenhancedusing
D‐Stretchfilterlwe).
Themeaningbehind–andfullsignificanceof–theconcentriccircleandnestedU‐
shapeelementsisunknown,butthesegeometricmotifsarelikelyconnectedtoritualspe‐
cialistsandalteredstatesofconsciousness(seeFigure12;seealsoReichel‐Dolmatoff1978b,
1987;Lewis‐Williams2002;Déléage2007;Iriarteetal.2022b;Iriarteetal.forthcoming;
Hampsonforthcoming).
21
Figure12.AcomparisonofthephosphenemotifsdrawnbyTukanoshamansinalteredstatesof
consciousness(column1)withthegeometricmotifsatLaLindosa(fromIriarteetal.2022b).For
moreongeometricshapesatLaLindosa,see(Iriarteetal.forthcoming).
Evenifwedonotknowthefullsignificanceofthegeometrics,wedoknowfrom
ethnographyandfromthetestimonyoflocalinformantsthatfishandfishingplayanin‐
tegralroleinIndigenousanimisticontologiesthroughoutAmazonia(e.g.,Reichel‐Dol‐
matoff1971,1987,1997;Ballester2018).AYanomami(Venezuela)myth,forinstance,in‐
cludesThueyoma—afemalefish‐being—whoallowedherselftobecaptured(inhuman
Figure 11. Male human figure (right), connected to a fish (digitally enhanced using D-Stretch filter
lwe). Note also the unusual legs on the top left figure.
Arts 2024,13, 135 14 of 25
The meaning behind—and full significance of—the concentric circle and nested U-
shape elements is unknown, but these geometric motifs are likely connected to ritual
specialists and altered states of consciousness (see Figure 12; see also Reichel-Dolmatoff
1978b,1987;Lewis-Williams 2002;Déléage 2007;Iriarte et al. 2022b;Iriarte et al., forthcom-
ing;Hampson, forthcoming).21
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW14of26
Figure11.Notethemalehumanfigureontheright,connectedtoafish(digitallyenhancedusing
D‐Stretchfilterlwe).
Themeaningbehind–andfullsignificanceof–theconcentriccircleandnestedU‐
shapeelementsisunknown,butthesegeometricmotifsarelikelyconnectedtoritualspe‐
cialistsandalteredstatesofconsciousness(seeFigure12;seealsoReichel‐Dolmatoff1978b,
1987;Lewis‐Williams2002;Déléage2007;Iriarteetal.2022b;Iriarteetal.forthcoming;
Hampsonforthcoming).
21
Figure12.AcomparisonofthephosphenemotifsdrawnbyTukanoshamansinalteredstatesof
consciousness(column1)withthegeometricmotifsatLaLindosa(fromIriarteetal.2022b).For
moreongeometricshapesatLaLindosa,see(Iriarteetal.forthcoming).
Evenifwedonotknowthefullsignificanceofthegeometrics,wedoknowfrom
ethnographyandfromthetestimonyoflocalinformantsthatfishandfishingplayanin‐
tegralroleinIndigenousanimisticontologiesthroughoutAmazonia(e.g.,Reichel‐Dol‐
matoff1971,1987,1997;Ballester2018).AYanomami(Venezuela)myth,forinstance,in‐
cludesThueyoma—afemalefish‐being—whoallowedherselftobecaptured(inhuman
Figure 12. A comparison of the phosphene motifs drawn by Tukano shamans in altered states of
consciousness (column 1) with the geometric motifs at La Lindosa (from Iriarte et al. 2022b). For more
on geometric shapes at La Lindosa, (see Hampson, forthcoming and Iriarte et al., forthcoming).
Even if we do not know the full significance of the geometrics, we do know from
ethnography and from the testimony of local informants that fish and fishing play an inte-
gral role in Indigenous animistic ontologies throughout Amazonia (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff
1971,1987,1997;Ballester 2018). A Yanomami (Venezuela) myth, for instance, includes
Thueyoma—a female fish-being—who allowed herself to be captured (in human form) by
the Creator Omama (Chagnon 1997). There are also numerous ethnographic narratives
in which ritual specialists transform themselves in altered states of consciousness into
caiman-men in order to capture women in rivers (Figure 13; see e.g., Nimuendajú1939;
Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;Surallés 2005). One evening in September 2023, after returning
from the rock art sites, Ismael showed us images in his book (Sierra 2019) and told us that
‘another being that transforms is the tonina, or freshwater dolphin. There is also Wai majso
(fish woman)—or what white people would call mermaid.’ The very act of fishing, too,
involves interaction between the realms of land and water (Hampson, forthcoming).
Arts 2024,13, 135 15 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW15of26
form)bytheCreatorOmama(Chagnon1997).Therearealsonumerousethnographicnar‐
rativesinwhichritualspecialiststransformthemselvesinalteredstatesofconsciousness
intocaiman‐meninordertocapturewomeninrivers(Figure13;seee.g.,Nimuendajú
1939;Reichel‐Dolmatoff1997;Surallés2005).OneeveninginSeptember2023,afterreturn‐
ingfromtherockartsites,Ismaelshowedusimagesinhisbook(Sierra2019)andtoldus
that‘anotherbeingthattransformsisthetonina,orfreshwaterdolphin.ThereisalsoWai
majso(fishwoman)—orwhatwhitepeoplewouldcallmermaid.’Theveryactoffishing,
too,involvesinteractionbetweentherealmsoflandandwater(Hampsonforthcoming).
Figure13.Possiblecaimans(eight,arrangedsymmetrically)atacircularsaltlick,whichisseenasa
portaltotheworldbelow.Notehowsimilarthismotifistothesunburstphosphene(type6)in
Figure12.
8.Liminality,Portals,Transformation
Importantly,whenwecomparedepictionsoffishermenandtheaquatic(heron‐like)
birds(Figures5aand4pabove)—andindeedwiththesnake‐bird‐humanmotifatNueva
Tolima(Figure7)—weseethatthemotifshaveexaggeratedknees;thisisacrucialicono‐
graphicandconceptuallinkthatshouldnotbeoverlooked.
22
Heronsandotheraquatic
birdsareofcourseliminal,cross‐realmcreaturesthatfeatureheavilyintheanimisticeth‐
nography(e.g.,Reichel‐Dolmatoff1997,p.130;seealsoAppendixA)andindeedthetes‐
timoniesoflocalinformants.Victor,forinstance,explainedatthesiteofPrincipalthat:
The[ritualspecialist]whowantedtobetransformed…theonewhowantedtobea
heron,thatonedressedinhisclothesandtransformedhimselfandflewaway…Spiritu‐
allythey[theritualspecialists]ateandthat’swhytheytransformedintoanimalsandwent
tolookforfood….Andjustlike…thetapir,thedeer,theheron,inthatwaytheywere
converted,andtheywentoutinsearchoffood,andontheirreturn…thisisthedoor
[pointingtothedeerandU‐shapedmotif;seeFigure14below]
23
,thatisthedoor,thatisthedoor
thatthedeerisentering,thatisthemaindoor,thisisthebigmaloca,thatiswhywecallit
thetepui,atthattimeitwasmaloca,verybig,thisiswherethesetribeslive.Thisisasecret
thattheyhaveforalltheSouthAmericanswhoarehereintheOrinoco…Payésflyand
lookforanimals.Aspiritcangobelowbecauseheholdstheworldinonehand.Water
birdscangointotheworldaboveandtheworldbelow.
Figure 13. Possible caimans (eight, arranged symmetrically) at a circular salt lick, which is seen as
a portal to the world below. Note how similar this motif is to the sunburst phosphene (type 6) in
Figure 12.
8. Liminality, Portals, Transformation
Importantly, when we compare depictions of fishermen and the aquatic (heron-like)
birds (Figures 5a and 4p above)—and indeed with the snake-bird-human motif at Nueva
Tolima (Figure 7)—we see that the motifs have exaggerated knees; this is a crucial icono-
graphic and conceptual link that should not be overlooked.
22
Herons and other aquatic
birds are of course liminal, cross-realm creatures that feature heavily in the animistic
ethnography (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997, p. 130; see also Appendix A) and indeed the
testimonies of local informants. Victor, for instance, explained at the site of Principal that:
The [ritual specialist] who wanted to be transformed
. . .
the one who wanted to be a
heron, that one dressed in his clothes and transformed himself and flew away
. . .
Spiritually
they [the ritual specialists] ate and that’s why they transformed into animals and went
to look for food
. . .
. And just like
. . .
the tapir, the deer, the heron, in that way they were
converted, and they went out in search of food, and on their return
. . .
this is the door
[pointing to the deer and U-shaped motif; see Figure 14 below]
23
, that is the door, that is the door
that the deer is entering, that is the main door, this is the big maloca, that is why we call it
the tepui, at that time it was maloca, very big, this is where these tribes live. This is a secret
that they have for all the South Americans who are here in the Orinoco
. . .
Payésfly and
look for animals. A spirit can go below because he holds the world in one hand. Water
birds can go into the world above and the world below.
In addition to the U-shaped portal and shamanic deer, another important section
of the panel at Principal includes aquatic heron-like birds and bipedal human-like deer
with their heads turned around as if to look at the birds (see top left of Figure 14; see also
Figure 8above; and right of Figure 15 below); again, and as attested by Victor and Ismael,
this alludes to transformation and cross-realm liminality within an animistic framework
(see Hampson, forthcoming).
Arts 2024,13, 135 16 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW16of26
Figure14.U‐shapedmotifanddeeratPrincipal.InSeptember2023,Victor,aDesanaelder,ex‐
plainedthattheU‐shapedmotifisaportaltothe‘bigmaloca’behindtherockfaceandthatthedeer
isatransformedritualspecialist.Notealsothefront‐onbatmotifs(topleft)andthenumerousgeo‐
metricmotifs—someofwhicharemanifestationsoftheancestralanaconda.
InadditiontotheU‐shapedportalandshamanicdeer,anotherimportantsectionof
thepanelatPrincipalincludesaquaticheron‐likebirdsandbipedalhuman‐likedeerwith
theirheadsturnedaroundasiftolookatthebirds(seetopleftofFigure14;seealsoFigure
8above;andrightofFigure15below);again,andasattestedbyVictorandIsmael,this
alludestotransformationandcross‐realmliminalitywithinananimisticframework(see
Hampsonforthcoming).
Figure15.HumanfigurewithelongatedarmsandunusuallegsatRaudal.Notealsothedeer‐like
humanfigureslookingbackovertheirshoulders(digitallyenhancedusingD‐Stretchfilterlwe.).
9.ShamanismandtheMasterofAnimalsWithinaTieredCosmos
WithinmanyAmazoniangroups,human‐animalrelationshipsaremediatedbyWaí‐
maxse,theMasterofAnimalsandforestspiritwhoprotectsandcontrolsanimals(e.g.,
Reichel‐Dolmatoff1967,1971,1978a,1987,1997;Fausto2008;Fernández‐Llamazaresand
Virtanen2020).Thereleaseofgameandasuccessfulhuntrequirenegotiationwiththese
spirits.Indeed,huntswereandareregulatedbyrules,restrictions,andrituals(Fernández‐
LlamazaresandVirtanen2020),manyofwhicharerelatedtofertilitywithinananimistic
ontology(seee.g.,Descola1994;ViveirosdeCastro1998;Bird‐David1999;Harvey2002;
2014).Thereareseveralethnographicandethnohistoricexamplesofritualspecialistsne‐
gotiatingwiththeMasterofAnimalstoreleasegame;theshamansperformritualised
trancesandvisitrockshelterstopaintanimalsbeforehunts:
Figure 14. U-shaped motif and deer at Principal. In September 2023, Victor, a Desana elder, explained
that the U-shaped motif is a portal to the ‘big maloca’ behind the rock face and that the deer is a
transformed ritual specialist. Note also the front-on bat motifs (top left) and the numerous geometric
motifs—some of which are manifestations of the ancestral anaconda.
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW16of26
Figure14.U‐shapedmotifanddeeratPrincipal.InSeptember2023,Victor,aDesanaelder,ex‐
plainedthattheU‐shapedmotifisaportaltothe‘bigmaloca’behindtherockfaceandthatthedeer
isatransformedritualspecialist.Notealsothefront‐onbatmotifs(topleft)andthenumerousgeo‐
metricmotifs—someofwhicharemanifestationsoftheancestralanaconda.
InadditiontotheU‐shapedportalandshamanicdeer,anotherimportantsectionof
thepanelatPrincipalincludesaquaticheron‐likebirdsandbipedalhuman‐likedeerwith
theirheadsturnedaroundasiftolookatthebirds(seetopleftofFigure14;seealsoFigure
8above;andrightofFigure15below);again,andasattestedbyVictorandIsmael,this
alludestotransformationandcross‐realmliminalitywithinananimisticframework(see
Hampsonforthcoming).
Figure15.HumanfigurewithelongatedarmsandunusuallegsatRaudal.Notealsothedeer‐like
humanfigureslookingbackovertheirshoulders(digitallyenhancedusingD‐Stretchfilterlwe.).
9.ShamanismandtheMasterofAnimalsWithinaTieredCosmos
WithinmanyAmazoniangroups,human‐animalrelationshipsaremediatedbyWaí‐
maxse,theMasterofAnimalsandforestspiritwhoprotectsandcontrolsanimals(e.g.,
Reichel‐Dolmatoff1967,1971,1978a,1987,1997;Fausto2008;Fernández‐Llamazaresand
Virtanen2020).Thereleaseofgameandasuccessfulhuntrequirenegotiationwiththese
spirits.Indeed,huntswereandareregulatedbyrules,restrictions,andrituals(Fernández‐
LlamazaresandVirtanen2020),manyofwhicharerelatedtofertilitywithinananimistic
ontology(seee.g.,Descola1994;ViveirosdeCastro1998;Bird‐David1999;Harvey2002;
2014).Thereareseveralethnographicandethnohistoricexamplesofritualspecialistsne‐
gotiatingwiththeMasterofAnimalstoreleasegame;theshamansperformritualised
trancesandvisitrockshelterstopaintanimalsbeforehunts:
Figure 15. Human figure with elongated arms and unusual legs at Raudal. Note also the deer-like
human figures looking back over their shoulders (digitally enhanced using D-Stretch filter lwe).
9. Shamanism and the Master of Animals Within a Tiered Cosmos
Within many Amazonian groups, human-animal relationships are mediated by Waí-
maxsè, the Master of Animals and forest spirit who protects and controls animals
(e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1967,1971,1978a,1987,1997;Fausto 2008;Fernández-Llamazares
and Virtanen 2020). The release of game and a successful hunt require negotiation with
these spirits. Indeed, hunts were and are regulated by rules, restrictions, and rituals
(Fernández-Llamazares and Virtanen 2020), many of which are related to fertility within
an animistic ontology (see e.g., Descola 1994;Viveiros de Castro 1998;Bird-David 1999;
Harvey 2002;2014). There are several ethnographic and ethnohistoric examples of ritual
specialists negotiating with the Master of Animals to release game; the shamans perform
ritualised trances and visit rockshelters to paint animals before hunts:
With a red pigment they paint on rocky walls the animals which the hunters need,
thus reaffirming their request to Waí-maxsè. Next to the figures, or within their bodies, they
paint the signs which, according to the Tucano, symbolize fertility: rows of dots that signify
Arts 2024,13, 135 17 of 25
drops of semen, lines in zigzag which signify the succession of generations, or lines which
fill up the body of the animal and signify its fecundity. (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1967, p. 111.)
As in many animistic traditions worldwide (e.g., Keyser and Whitley 2006;Mc-
Granaghan and Challis 2016;Challis 2019), there are special relationships in the Amazon
between ritual specialists, rock art, hunters, and prey.
24
The Desana word yee, for instance,
means both jaguar and shaman—and there are numerous ethnographic examples in the
Amazon of ritual specialists transforming into jaguars (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997, p. 140).
Victor, at the site of Principal, told us that a ritual specialist ‘takes yagésnuff and turns
into a jaguar. He can walk all over the world, all four parts of the world. If he is a good
person, he can turn into a payé. You need to smell the yagéand then you transform and you
get to know the people. When pointing to a jaguar painting in a book on the rock art of
Chiribiquete, Ulderico explained that ‘it is not the jaguar of the forest we are talking about,
it is the image of shamanic knowledge’.
A well-known Barasana myth also makes clear that jaguars are shamanic avatars
as well as ‘mediators between the three cosmic divisions of the world, between life and
death, between the human world and the spirit world of the ancestors, and between
nature and culture’ (Hugh-Jones 1979, p. 125; see also Lewis-Williams 2002). Barasana
shamans are believed to keep jaguars as other people keep dogs—and they become jaguars
at death. Moreover, Barasana groups consider jaguars to be the ‘predators of the earth’;
it is no coincidence that jaguars can swim and climb trees—like ritual specialists, they
metaphorically transcend tiered cosmological realms (Hugh-Jones 1979, p. 125; see also
McEwan 2001). In a similar manner, eagles and anacondas are associated with shamanic
travel: eagles (the predators of the sky) swoop down to the earth and catch fish in rivers,
and anacondas (the predators of the water and the underworld) often leave rivers and
travel on dry land (Hugh-Jones 1979, pp. 124–25).
Bats (see Figures 4p and 14 above) are also important to many Amazonian groups
not only because they are (unusual) flying mammals, but also because they, like jaguars
and tapirs, are nocturnal. For many groups, night is associated with the underground
realm of spirits—and also with ritualistic performance, altered states of consciousness,
dreaming, and the dead (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997). Bats of course hang upside down
(towards the underworld) and congregate in caves, tree roots, and streams—liminal spaces
which Indigenous groups believe are portals to other worlds (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;
see also Iriarte et al. 2022b, p. 54). Moreover, pointing to the paintings of bats at the site
of Principal, Victor told us: ‘So much has been said that those are the bats, but it happens
that that
. . .
is a dress [a costume of the spirits; see below], and he [the payé] dresses up and
transforms into a bat.’
Another example of embodied transformation is the human figure with elongated
arms and unusual legs at Raudal (see Figure 15 above). Again, we know from Indigenous
informants and ethnography that shamans in altered states of consciousness often describe
themselves as having elongated limbs and other somatic distortions (see e.g., Hampson
2016;Hampson, forthcoming).
10. Shamans and Plants
It is not just animals that are important to Amazonian ritual specialists; as is well
known, plants play a key role in animistic worldviews, too. Indeed, ritual specialists are
sometimes known as vegetalistas (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;Langdon 2017). In Chiribi-
quete, there are painted depictions of yagé, yopo, virola, and tobacco plants (Castaño-Uribe
2019, pp. 209, 217, 219). Seeds of the hallucinogenic yopo (Anadenanthera peregrina) and
copal (Protium sp.) resin—which is used as ceremonial incense by many Amazonian groups
today—were found in excavations at La Lindosa (Iriarte et al. 2022b, p. 38; see also Rodd
2002;Daly 2024). At Cerro Azul, there are several examples of plant-like motifs with
human-esque legs (Figure 16; see also Iriarte et al. 2022b, p. 72)—motifs we discuss in
forthcoming papers.
Arts 2024,13, 135 18 of 25
Arts2024,13,xFORPEERREVIEW18of26
Rodd2002;Daly2024).AtCerroAzul,thereareseveralexamplesofplant‐likemotifswith
human‐esquelegs(Figure16;seealsoIriarteetal.2022b,p.72)—motifswediscussin
forthcomingpapers.
.
Figure16.Possibleplantmotifwithhuman‐esquelegsatDemoledoresShelter.
11.MovingForward,CaringforthePaintings,andWhyThisResearchMatters
Furtherworkisneededtoascertainexactlyhowstronganimisticandshamanistic
relationshipsmighthavebeenatLaLindosa—butlocalIndigenoustestimoniesmakeit
clearthatatleastsomeoftherockarthereisconnectedtoritualspecialistsnegotiating
spiritualrealmsandtheinterdigitationofhumanandother‐than‐humanworlds(Hamp‐
sonforthcoming).Theintertwiningofthisknowledgewithotherstrandsofevidence—
includingdozensofindependentlycollectedAmazonianethnographies—underscoresthe
ritualisticelementsoftheartandhowthoseelementsfitwithinwholisticontological
frameworks.
ThepreservationofthepaintingsofLaLindosaisofparamountimportancetothe
Indigenousgroupsintheregion.InSeptember2023,Ismaelpointedoutthatthespirits
haveleft:‘Whoisgoingtomaintain[thepaintings]?It’slikehavingyourownhousewhen
youliveinahouse….Whenyouseethatpeopleareverytiresome,veryannoying,they
aremakingwarallovertheplace,youhavetoleave—andthat’swhatishappening
here….Thosewhotakecareofyouarespirits….Noonebelievesit,butherearethespir‐
its….Webelievebecausemyfatherwasoneofthose[ritualspecialists]whointeracted
withthesecharacters[motifs]here….’Thesekindsofconnectionsarepersonal,andreal.
DavidWhitley(2021,p.74)remindsuswhyanthropologicalapproachestorockart
researcharekey:
[T]heexplicitadoptionofanontologicalperspectivewasthefoundationofethno‐
graphicallybasedshamanisticrockartinterpretations.Absentthischange,theethno‐
graphicdatawouldhaveremainedunrecognized.Theputativelackofsuchevidence
wouldthencontinuetoserveasjustificationforthecolonialistclaimthatrockarthasno
connectiontocontemporaryindigenouspeople,aswasargued[intheCaliforniancontext]
byHeizerandBaumhoff(1962)andhasbeenparrotedbymanyothers,therebycontinuing
tostripindigenouspeoplesoftheirrightfulheritage.
Clearly,itisonlybylisteningtoIndigenouseldersandfullyengagingwithanthro‐
pologicaltextsthatwewillbeabletocontinuemeaningfulrockartresearchatLaLindosa.
AuthorContributions:J.H.:conceptualisation,writing(originaldraftpreparation,reviewanded‐
iting),methodology,fieldwork.J.I.:conceptualisation,writing,methodology,fieldwork,investiga‐
tion,fundingacquisition.F.J.A.:conceptualisation,writing,methodology,fieldwork,investigation,
fundingacquisition.Allauthorshavereadandagreedtothepublishedversionofthemanuscript.
Funding:ThisworkwasfundedbytheERCprojectLASTJOURNEY(ERC_Adv_834514).Fieldwork
in2023waspartlyfundedbyaUKRI/AHRCImpactAcceleratorAccount,foraculturalheritage
managementdiplomadegreeforlocalcommunityarchaeologytouristguides(J.IriartePI,withUni‐
versityofAntioquia(Medellín,Colombia)andtheSecretariatofCultureandTourism,Guaviare
Department(Colombia)).
Figure 16. Possible plant motif with human-esque legs at Demoledores Shelter.
11. Moving Forward, Caring for the Paintings, and Why This Research Matters
Further work is needed to ascertain exactly how strong animistic and shamanistic rela-
tionships might have been at La Lindosa—but local Indigenous testimonies make it clear
that at least some of the rock art here is connected to ritual specialists negotiating spiritual
realms and the interdigitation of human and other-than-human worlds (Hampson, forth-
coming). The intertwining of this knowledge with other strands of evidence—including
dozens of independently collected Amazonian ethnographies—underscores the ritualistic
elements of the art and how those elements fit within wholistic ontological frameworks.
The preservation of the paintings of La Lindosa is of paramount importance to the
Indigenous groups in the region. In September 2023, Ismael pointed out that the spirits
have left: ‘Who is going to maintain [the paintings]? It’s like having your own house
when you live in a house
. . .
. When you see that people are very tiresome, very annoying,
they are making war all over the place, you have to leave—and that’s what is happening
here
. . .
. Those who take care of you are spirits
. . .
. No one believes it, but here are the
spirits
. . .
. We believe because my father was one of those [ritual specialists] who interacted
with these characters [motifs] here. ...’ These kinds of connections are personal, and real.
David Whitley (2021, p. 74) reminds us why anthropological approaches to rock art
research are key:
[T]he explicit adoption of an ontological perspective was the foundation of ethnograph-
ically based shamanistic rock art interpretations. Absent this change, the ethnographic
data would have remained unrecognized. The putative lack of such evidence would then
continue to serve as justification for the colonialist claim that rock art has no connection
to contemporary indigenous people, as was argued [in the Californian context] by Heizer
and Baumhoff (1962) and has been parroted by many others, thereby continuing to strip
indigenous peoples of their rightful heritage.
Clearly, it is only by listening to Indigenous elders and fully engaging with anthropo-
logical texts that we will be able to continue meaningful rock art research at La Lindosa.
Author Contributions: J.H.: conceptualisation, writing (original draft preparation, review and
editing), methodology, fieldwork. J.I.: conceptualisation, writing, methodology, fieldwork, investiga-
tion, funding acquisition. F.J.A.: conceptualisation, writing, methodology, fieldwork, investigation,
funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was funded by the ERC project LASTJOURNEY (ERC_Adv_834514). Fieldwork
in 2023 was partly funded by a UKRI/AHRC Impact Accelerator Account, for a cultural heritage
management diploma degree for local community archaeology tourist guides (J. Iriarte PI, with
University of Antioquia (Medellín, Colombia) and the Secretariat of Culture and Tourism, Guaviare
Department (Colombia)).
Data Availability Statement: The original contributions presented in the study are included in the
article; further enquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Acknowledgments: Without the teachings of Victor, Ismael, Ulderico, and other elders in and around
La Lindosa, this work would not have been possible; we thank them wholeheartedly. We are also
extremely grateful for the assistance and friendship of the local communities, especially the families
Arts 2024,13, 135 19 of 25
of JoséNoéRojas and Nelson Castro, our field guide Barbas, and the Junta de Acción Comunal
El Raudal. This research was authorised by the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History
(ICANH) (permit number 7593). Ethics clearances were awarded by the ERC, UKRI, and ICANH.
Two anonymous reviewers provided useful comments and suggestions.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Appendix A 25
Ulderico’s telling of the Matapícreation story, and how he became a shaman, sheds
further light on the art of La Lindosa:
‘When they [our ancestors] came down to Earth and arrived here
. . .
They came
down from the world of the spiritual beings
. . .
they pulled half of the spiritual
beings with them
. . .
And then the spirits that came down that had been torn
apart
. . .
roamed the Earth like crazy, and then when they woke up they started
to see a world of images, and then the whole world of images—as we see it
here—was going to be the transformation of the living beings in the future
world
. . .
. And then they began to concentrate,
26
they sat down, and then they
began to organise it. ..
Their consciousness was born, the knowledge is all these images, and they accu-
mulate it inside the ‘knowing bench’
. . .
and in shamanic thought one has his enemies
and that’s why he has to see ‘the way’, how to hide the knowledge in the ‘thinking bench’
so they don’t pester him. And then when they began to organize that, and those figures
appeared, and that was where they sat down and began to capture—and how can I simply
say—that they threw it away and remained in that figure, and thus they rethought each
one of those figures, the figure how it is, and then this figure that we see manifests itself as
the life of each species.
We have to read a figure, we have to read it from inside out
. . .
If we begin to look
at the figure of each image it will give us many stories, and then what appears
in each image is the knowledge of each species, and that is what is handled at
the shamanic level
. . .
.
. . .
. If I did not know any of these components of the
figure I would not have the capacity to manage this world that is here
. . .
And
after they organized it, the beginning of the second era arrives and that is where
they begin to take
. . .
that is how they materialize it, that is where they give it
the name, its habitat and all the shamanic knowledge that it has to manage it
. . .
And that is how we begin to know the pictographs
. . .
. Because this is a world
of knowledge
. . .
. I tell you each one of these figures contributed the shamanic
knowledge for our own management of the territory where we are
. . .
When this
knowledge comes out it appears as a wardrobe, as a shamanic wardrobe, as a
guide to be able to practice shamanism. ..’
Ulderico also told us about his initiation, and what he had to endure to become a
ritual specialist:
‘After the fifteen days that you fast, your vision goes
. . .
You suddenly go out into
the bush and all the noises prepare you as you begin to hear how the animals
talk, and you no longer consider them as animals, and then when you see how
everything is—let’s say the spiritual representation of each tree, of each place, of
each place of respect—then you begin to be able to relate to that, and if you do
not get into the vision of a shaman from beyond then you cannot interpret this,
and then you cannot manage your own territory—that is what happened to my
two brothers.’
Ulderico also explained that after his initiation, he used to ‘concentrate’ once a month
in order to be in ‘continuous contact with the spirituality of these figures’.
Arts 2024,13, 135 20 of 25
Notes
1On the use of ethnographic analogy, (see Wylie 1985;Lewis-Williams 1991;Currie 2016;Whitley 2021; also, see below).
2
Unsurprisingly, each group in the Amazon has their own particular term for shaman. In this paper, we use the words payé,
shaman, rezadore (‘one who prays’), and ‘ritual specialist’ interchangeably. (See also Castaño-Uribe and van der Hammen 2005).
Below, we discuss the role of shamans within animistic and perspectivist frameworks.
3
Rock art sites in the nearby Inírida River and Chiribiquete regions contain similar motifs (Urbina 1994;Castaño-Uribe and van
der Hammen 2005;van der Hammen 2006;Argüello and Martínez 2016;Castaño-Uribe 2019), suggesting a shared animistic
ontology and artistic practice, albeit with distinct regional variations (see below).
4
As outlined below, although we start with etic categories here, we recognise the inherent issues of subjectivity and ambiguity
within any form of categorisation and art interpretation. Classifications are of course subject to change as understanding of the
artistic tradition increases, and in this article we adapt emic concepts and categories wherever possible. We also acknowledge
here that, by themselves, numbers—and indeed the empiricist paradigm as a whole—do not help us establish the meanings of
rock art motifs (see, e.g., Lewis-Williams 2006).
5
Schematised images are primarily abstractions from a human or animal form that incorporate distinctly ‘non-realistic’ (from
a Western perspective) elements. (This does not include the therianthropic merging of animal and human features, which is
included under Animals—see below.) A common schematised motif, for example, is a series of vertical lines that lack defined
human features, but suggest a human figure because of the addition of limb-like appendages (see Robinson et al. 2024). Geometric
motifs, incorporating repeated basic shapes, are common in the region. Importantly, we know that for many Indigenous groups
in the Amazon, animals are often manifested in artwork as geometric designs; zig-zags and undulating lines, for instance, often
represent snakes, while a scroll design sometimes invokes a jaguar’s spots (see below; see also Iriarte et al. 2022b;Hampson,
forthcoming). Importantly, we also know that geometric designs are often considered to be ‘gifts’ from animal and plant
‘donors’ (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997). The Abstract category includes irregular non-figurative or geometric images, whereas the
Unknown category encompasses images that—usually due to poor preservation—cannot be clearly identified. Future papers
(e.g., Oosterwijk et al., forthcoming on handprints, and Iriarte et al., forthcoming on the relationship between dancing figures and
geometrics) consider specific motifs, category by category. For a discussion of the importance of animal figures at La Lindosa,
(see Robinson et al. 2024).
6
As in many parts of the world, more work needs to be done on how scenes are identified and categorised. One of us (Hampson
2019,2024) has previously shown that what we as Western researchers identify as a ‘scene’ does not always tally with Indigenous
concepts and beliefs. Similarly, researchers have usually found it extremely challenging to establish consistent definitions for
‘static’ and ‘dynamic’ motifs.
7
Reichel-Dolmatoff (1997, p. 33–34) points out that the ‘true specialists
. . .
in classificatory systems are the shamans who, because
of their practical and esoteric activities, must handle enormous masses of data. To bring order into the visible and invisible
universe, as conceived by the Desana, and to make all tangible and unseen phenomena amenable to manipulation and control
are tasks all shamans must cope with, and the methods and aims of classificatory systems are often a matter of discussion by
shamans and elders.’
8
As Furst and Furst (1981, p. 26) made clear more than 40 years ago, for instance, Reichel-Dolmatoff ‘is one of the lamentably
small handful of ethnographers who insist that the ideology and intellectual life of native peoples deserve to be taken seriously
. . .
and who recognize not just the decisive role of ideology in the regulation and organization of daily life but the functional
interrelationship of mental life with the environment, whether sociocultural or natural.’ Similarly, Alberti and Bray (2009, p. 337)
point out that in re-visiting the ethnographic and ethnohistorical texts of animistic groups, ‘we find indigenous accounts serving
as both models for the exploration of past peoples through the archaeological record and as an intellectual resource for modelling
theories about the archaeological record.’ Several anthropological rock art researchers (e.g., Lewis-Williams 2002;Whitley 2009)
have been employing similar methodologies since the 1970s and 80s. For more on animism, perspectivism, and multinaturalist
conceptions of the world, (see e.g., Descola 1994;Århem 1996;Viveiros de Castro 1998).
9
As we shall see below, Indigenous elders repeatedly refer to the paintings as animistic and shamanistic ‘knowledge’, in order to
help manage their territory.
10
When Indigenous peoples tell us that there are such things as ‘other-than-human-persons’ (Hallowell 1960, p. 36), then ‘the
anthropological exercise is not about translating the idea of nonhuman persons into concepts we already know, but rather about
challenging our own assumptions about personhood so as to make it possible for us to imagine how persons in this world actually
include humans and nonhumans alike.’ (Willerslev 2013, p. 42).
11
Amaloca is a house modelled on the cosmological beliefs of many Indigenous groups in the Amazon (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff
1997); malocas are often painted with shamanistic motifs.
12
Yagé, also known as ayahuasca, is made from the hallucinogenic Banisteriopsis caapi vine. As we shall see below, entering shamanic
altered states of consciousness was and is widespread in Amazonia (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997;Langdon 2017).
13 Victor also mentioned that the Nueva Tolima rock art site was ‘another maloca’.
14 The Jiw group’s traditional lands straddle the Guaviare and Meta border.
Arts 2024,13, 135 21 of 25
15
As Loubser and Lewis-Williams (2014, p. 4) point out, however, ‘The current trend to deny the usefulness of ethnographies in
archaeological research, whilst laudable in its critical endeavour, is often too dismissive. Valuable records of Indigenous peoples’
beliefs are today sometimes jettisoned along with what are clearly spurious or superficial accounts.’
16
According to Whitley (2021, p. 69): ‘Earlier researchers [working with Indigenous groups in western North America] did not
apprehend the ontological distinctions that made the ethnographic statements logical, consistent and informed, instead inferring
that the commentary was incoherent gibberish signaling a lack of any knowledge about the art.’
17
Tapirs ‘in real life’ have three toes on the front foot, and four on the back. Tapir paintings (e.g., Figure 4e above), on the other
hand, always have two toes (on both front and back feet). Unsurprisingly, symbolic relationships between Amazonian groups
and tapirs ‘develop on several different levels and use many different images’ (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997, p. 81; see also Cabrera
et al. 1999). Tapir is sometimes equated with Thunder, a powerful being who lives in the sky; in several myths, the first Desana take
narcotic snuff and visit Thunder ‘by climbing up to the sky on a column of tobacco smoke’ (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987, p. 81). Tapirs
also feature in the myth concerning the origin of the hallucinogenic coca plant (e.g., Reichel-Dolmatoff 1997). For the Nukak, a person
has three spirits which take different paths upon death; one of the spirits journeys to the ‘tapir’s home’ and emerges at night (Cabrera
et al. 1999). Large trees also have spirits which make their way to the ‘house of the tapir’ (Cabrera et al. 1999).
18 As Lévi-Strauss (1963) famously said, ‘Les animaux sont bons àpenser.’
19
For the Barasana, if an anaconda wishes to eat birds, it simply sheds its skin and becomes an eagle—another important shamanic
avatar (see below, and Hugh-Jones 1979, p. 125).
20
Moreover, as Furst and Furst (1981, p. 262) point out, the Desana ‘seek to assure continued balance between their needs and the
environmental possibilities by supernatural means. Hunting is thus as much a matter of ideological determinants as of economic ones.’
21
Lewis-Williams and Dowson (1988) famously drew much of their research on phosphenes, entoptics, and neurologically induced
geometric imagery from the work of Reichel-Dolmatoff in the Amazon.
22
Several ‘dancing figures’ also have exaggerated knees, or what might possibly be dancing rattles (see Iriarte et al., forthcoming
for the possible connections between dancing, geometrics, and fishing; see also Hampson, forthcoming).
23
Victor, pointing to another U-shaped geometric motif at the same panel, said: ‘This could be a shortcut, to use if your enemies are
chasing you, a portal. It could also be a metaphor: if you get sick, you can use the shortcut to get healed.’ Ismael, on another visit
to Principal, made it clear that ‘That’s why there has to be a main promenade that says ‘here is the door to leave the offerings’
. . .
’
24
As Whitley (2021, p. 73) states, ritual specialists ‘were the necessary bridge upon which these relationships were established. That
is, these relationships required the active participation of [ritual specialists] with the production of rock art a key performative
element in their practices.’
25 Interview recorded and transcribed on 1 September 2022.
26 Ulderico explained later that ‘to concentrate’ was akin to going into an altered state of consciousness.
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