Posted on 11/11/2010 4:47:55 PM PST by SunkenCiv
A series of ancient underwater etchings has been uncovered near the jungle city of Manaus, following a drought in the Brazilian Amazon.
The previously submerged images -- engraved on rocks and possibly up to 7,000 years old -- were reportedly discovered by a fisherman after the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon river, fell to its lowest level in more than 100 years last month...
Though water levels are now rising again, partly covering the apparently stone age etchings, local researchers photographed them before they began to disappear under the river's dark waters.
Archaeologists who have studied the photographs believe the art -- which features images of faces and snakes -- is another indication that thousands of years ago the Amazon was already home to large civilisations.
Eduardo Neves, president of the Brazilian Society of Archaeology and a leading Amazon scholar, said the etchings appeared to have been made between 3,000 and 7,000 years ago when water levels in the region were lower...
Recent years have seen a growing number of archaeologists studying the Amazon, revising previous theories that the rainforest was too inhospitable to host a major civilisation...
Archaeologists are particularly concerned about the imminent inauguration of a 2.2-mile bridge across the Rio Negro connecting Manaus with Iranduba. The area is home to numerous archaeological sites, where ancient ceramics and burial urns have been found. "The bridge ... will probably alter quite dramatically life on the other side of the Rio Negro ... because [it] will put pressure on the land with urbanisation, and river fronts tend to be loaded with archaeological remains," Arroyo-Kalin said. "By changing the dynamic of how the region is being used ... you will certainly start damaging archaeology."
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
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Stone age etchings, found in Amazon basin as river levels fall, translated by archeologist as:
“Carnival Cruises Past This Point at Your Own Risk.”
A strong belief of mine.
I think there are many suprises in South America
Were they used as a ruse to lure Amazonian women to men’s huts ?
“Beware of ‘bonk’.”
From the link. Look at the eyes.
They look like Obama voters...
The Happy faces, pictures of snakes, some partial..... IT’S A RESTAURANT.
Rubbish lies exposed on the dried bed of the Rio Negro
Looter Guy! LOL
Is that Michelle Obama there? Looking for dessert, um I mean a food desert.
Ahem, that's Rio African-American.
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