Travel Guide Parque Nacional Da Serra Da Capivara

Located in the very south of Piauí, this park preserves one of the largest concentrations of archaeological sites in the Americas, where the remains and artifacts discovered have provoked a profound re-evaluation of what was previously thought to be known about the origins of human settlement on the continent. As such, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. In the heart of the park, there are more than 8,000 rock paintings and engravings: scenes of hunting, dancing, or religious rituals, spread across 300 sites. The exact age of these remains was until recently the subject of heated debate, ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 years, thus challenging the current theories that the first traces of human occupation of the Americas are "only" 20,000 years old. Indeed, two recent excavation campaigns have led to dates that revolutionize scientific hypotheses concerning the arrival routes of the first humans on the American continent, who arrived via the Bering Strait: discoveries made at the Boqueirão da Pedra Furada site suggest that groups of hunter-gatherers, then sedentary communities practising agriculture, occupied the area at least 50,000 years ago. Ongoing research may yet reveal some surprises. About 30 of these sites can be visited, indicated by signposted paths.