Animals of the Serranía de la Lindosa

Exploring representation and categorisation in the rock art and zooarchaeological remains of the Colombian Amazon

Bibliographic Data

ID2082529
AuthorsMark Robinson (0000-0003-4911-7106, University of Exeter, corresponding author), Jamie Hampson (0000-0001-5914-9422, University of Exeter), Jo Osborn (0000-0001-9929-6144, University of Exeter), F J Aceituno (0000-0002-5727-8826, Universidad de Antioquia), Gaspar Morcote-Ríos (0000-0002-1031-0753, Universidad Nacional de Colombia), Michael Ziegler (0000-0002-9936-0895, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History), Michael J Ziegler, J Iriarte (0000-0002-8155-5360, University of Exeter)
Year2024
Volume75
Pages101613
Publication date2024-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0278-4165 • E-ISSN: 1090-2686
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101613
OpenAlexW4400806444
LanguageES
Citations received5
References cited52

The Serranía de la Lindosa in the Colombian Amazon hosts one of the most spectacular global rock art traditions. Painted in vibrant ochre pigments, the artwork depicts abstract and figurative designs – including a high diversity of animal motifs – and holds key information for understanding how Amazonians made sense of their world. We compare a zooarchaeological assemblage with painted depictions of animals at the Cerro Azul site, and utilise relevant ethnographies and ethnohistories. A lack of direct proportional relationships between the animal representation in the art and zooarchaeological remains alludes to the complex socio-cultural interconnection between Amazonian communities and their ritualised environments. We discuss the benefits and limitations of quantitative categorisation and explore Indigenous ontologies, highlighting Amazonian perspectives on human-animal relationships

Amazon rainforest · Amazonian · Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology · Biology · Ethnography · Ethnology · Geography · Iconography · Indigenous · Politics · Representation (politics · Rock art · Sociology · Zooarchaeology · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Anthropology · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology