The Jungle Life
A recently discovered piece of ancient rock art is offering a good glimpse at how prehistoric humans and extinct animals co-existed more than 10,000 years ago in the Amazon region, New Scientists reported.
Archeologists came across the large piece in southern Colombia, the earliest evidence found to date of people living in the Colombian Amazon, the study said.
The art showed various images including geometric patterns, handprints, as well as evidence of multiple megafauna that once roamed the region. Among these depictions were the palaeolama, an extinct stumpy-legged, long-necked camelid, and mastodons – the precursors of modern elephants.
Researchers explained that the presence of these animals proves that humans lived around the area some 12,500 years ago but need to conduct further studies to confirm their findings.
“The most important thing has been to obtain good radiocarbon dates to specify the early peopling of the area,” said co-author Francisco Javier Aceituno.
However, the team didn’t find remains of megafauna, which could mean that the ancient people didn’t hunt them.
The team instead found remains of iguanas, fish – piranhas included – and fruit, suggesting that the previous inhabitants had a broad diet and quickly adapted to the Amazon.
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