Picure Island Upper Petroglyph Panel West

3D Model

Scaled and rectified reconstruction of a panel of well-preserved petroglyphs on Isla Picure in the Middle Orinoco (AM-2, Amazonas state, Venezuela), recorded in February 2016.

Their exposure and subsequent recording was possible due to historically low water levels in the river, a likely consequence of a strong El Niño phenomenon in N South America this year.

Their low-lying location is hypothesized to have contributed to their superior preservation despite the riverine setting, as they are more likely to remain submerged in a given year and protected from the usual strong, rushing water than other known petroglyph sites.

Depicted are several human and geometric shapes (double spirals are common in the Orinoco and surrounding regions), as well as animals. This panel is one of three on the north side of Isla Picure.

A full contextualisation of this data and accompanying discussion is published in Antiquity: