Archaeologists used cameras and drones to fully map 14 massive rock art sites scattered across Venezuela and Colombia.
Archaeologists have fully mapped a series of ancient rock art in Venezuela and Colombia, including the world’s largest monumental engraving, using photography and drone footage.
The masterpieces, which feature both human and animal motifs, are prominently located along the Upper and Middle Orinoco River, which snakes through this region of South America. Researchers think the placement was intentional and was meant to be seen from a distance, since it was along the path of an important trade and travel route known as Atures Rapids, according to a study published Tuesday (June 4) in the journal Antiquity.
« One interpretation is that there was some aspect of territoriality at play, » lead author Philip Riris, a senior lecturer in archaeological and paleoenvironmental modeling at Bournemouth University in England, told Live Science. « It was a way of marking their territory and saying that this is our domain. »
Researchers are unsure of who created the massive engravings, the largest of which stretches 138 feet (42 meters) long.
