A drought in Brazil revealed a rare set of ancient petroglyphs for just the second time ever, Ancient Origins reported Monday.
Ongoing droughts over the Amazon rainforest have dropped water levels low enough to reveal the petroglyphs, which are thought to be between 1,000 and 2,000 years old, according to Ancient Origins. The petroglyphs are located where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon, just outside of Manus, Brazil, and this is only the second time in known history that they’ve been revealed to the world, per the outlet.
The markings depict animals, humans and water, but we’re still not quite sure who carved them. Or why. When they were first discovered in 2010, researchers suggested the carvings may indicate the region has experienced high levels of drought before, the Guardian reported.
These droughts may have been “more severe than what we are experiencing now,” Brazilian Institute of Historical Heritage member Jaime Oliveira noted. (RELATED: Mayan ‘Superhighways’ Suggest We Need To Rethink How Advanced Our Ancestors Really Were)
My theory here is that we’re overcomplicating it. As a child, I’m sure you doodled and drew images of animals, people, water, things like that, whether in ink or in the sand. Could these petroglyphs just be markings made by children during a particularly hot summer?
No matter who made them, they clearly contribute to the growing body of evidence suggesting the Amazon and much of Latin America has been home to ancient civilizations for millennia. And that is super cool.