“The ancient art and tools here have been dated so early that they challenge the accepted story of when humans first reached the Americas.”
About Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara
Serra da Capivara was protected as a national park and inscribed by UNESCO for its exceptional rock art and archaeology, much of it studied by the archaeologist Niede Guidon, whose work pushed back the proposed dates of human presence in the region and sparked international debate. The arid, eroded landscape preserved the paintings and shelters, making it one of the richest prehistoric sites in South America.
The Serra da Capivara National Park, in the dry interior of northeastern Brazil, holds one of the largest and most important concentrations of prehistoric rock art in the Americas. Thousands of ancient paintings of people, animals and rituals adorn the sandstone cliffs and shelters of this rugged, UNESCO-listed landscape, recording human life from deep antiquity.
The Serra da Capivara National Park, in the dry interior of northeastern Brazil, holds one of the largest and most important concentrations of prehistoric rock art in the Americas.
Art That Challenges Human History
The park preserves tens of thousands of rock paintings in hundreds of sites, depicting hunts, dances, ceremonies and animals in red and ochre pigments. Some of the associated archaeological evidence has been controversially dated to many thousands of years ago, with claims that humans were present here far earlier than the traditional models of the peopling of the Americas allow, fuelling scientific debate about when people first reached the continent. Whatever the dates, the art is extraordinary in scale and vividness.
The Experience
You explore trails through dramatic sandstone canyons and cliffs to reach shelters covered in vivid prehistoric paintings of figures, animals and scenes of daily and ritual life, accompanied by guides who explain their meaning and the debates around their age. The combination of striking desert scenery, abundant ancient art and the sense of standing at the frontier of human prehistory makes the park a remarkable destination.
Why It Matters
Serra da Capivara is one of the most important prehistoric and rock-art sites in the Americas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site central to the scientific debate over when humans first arrived on the continent. It is a treasure of both natural beauty and the deep human past in Brazil.
It is a treasure of both natural beauty and the deep human past in Brazil.
Why Visit
One of the Americas' greatest concentrations of prehistoric rock art, in a dramatic UNESCO-listed canyon landscape at the centre of debate over early humans.
✦ Insider Tips
- 1
Take a guided tour to reach the painted rock shelters.
- 2
The art's dating challenges theories of early Americans.
- 3
It is remote; plan logistics in the gateway town of Sao Raimundo Nonato.
- 4
Visit in the dry season and cooler hours, as it is hot.
