The Engraved Rock Art of the Atures Rapids

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antiquity 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © hsatcepeet e nig fegae okati h trsRpd fAmazonas of Rapids Atures the in art rock ( engraved Venezuela of in findings state new presents article This Introduction Rapids Atures Riris Philip the of art rock engraved the sphere: interaction the Orinoco in contestation and confluence On ∗ (von century a half over has for and region Orinoco, the the in travelling scientists research and archaeological naturalists art of Humboldt by Pre-Columbian subject study context. the of ethnographic been history and long archaeological a their has into insights new for 1953 Keywords: Goberna eotda h oeo h native the of home the as reported 0 N [email protected] Archaeology of Institute , 1955 tal et m1000 km 130(07:10–69doi: 1603–1619 (2017): 360 91 eeul,Oioo uuaícmlx ergyh,ara photogrammetry aerial petroglyphs, complex, Yuruparí Orinoco, Venezuela, 1810 Tavera-Acosta ; . ∗ 1996 ). Chaffanjon ; adlsd Atures de Raudales Caracas abed crmli&Scaramelli & Scaramelli de Tarble ; Rapids Atures , nvriyCleeLno,3–4Gro qae odnW1 P,U (Email: UK 0PY, WC1H London Square, Gordon 31–34 London, College University 1956 1889 uoVolsky Sujo ; Adoles Koch-Grünberg ; ecfrhteRpd) n festeopportunity the offers and Rapids), the henceforth , dlRyFajardo Rey (del 1603 1975 o h trsRpd tutrdpre- America. South between lowland structured in contact groups diverse Rapids Colonial and Atures Columbian the emphasises how Guianas the and Amazonia evidence relation from ethnographic and in and archaeological chronology corpus to the of context Placing the models authorship. in established examined The also of investigated. was were art af- rock corpus factors the taphonomic fecting spatial and the organisation and photographically River. photogrammetrically, recorded Orinoco and Rapids the were the of panels margins within The the islands on rock on and discovered panels has newly art by This underlined Middle Venezuela. the been in landscape, confluence of Orinoco point major considered a been long have Rapids Atures The Scaramelli ; 1921 2010 1966 , .TeRpd r historically are Rapids The ). 2010 , 1974 1992 10] Cruxent [1907]; ,fo hc h later the which from ), Greer ; 10.15184/aqy.2017.152 1995 ;Costas 1950 ,

Research Philip Riris toponym of ‘Atures’ derives. Early missionary sources state that the Adoles were speakers of a Sáliban language, and had sizeable settlements on the islands within the Rapids (Gumilla 1945[1745]; Gilij 1965[1782]). The Rapids are especially notable for being the last point at which the Orinoco is easily navigable by boat. The physical barrier they form, as well as their intense history of contact through the Colonial period, has led to the suggestion that they are a natural fulcrum of interaction between the prehistoric upper Negro/Amazonia, the Guianas, and the Llanos to the west (Ojer 1960; Gassón 2002). Petroglyphs (rock engravings) of the Middle Orinoco River have featured in regional reviews for several decades (Tavera-Acosta 1956; Sujo Volsky 1975;Dubelaar1986). Yet systematic survey of engravings on a scale comparable to neighbouring regions remains unrealised here (see Reichel-Dolmatoff 1978, 1987; Pereira 2001; Koch-Grünberg 2010[1907]; Valle 2012). Conversely, more comprehensive studies of pre-Columbian pictographs (rock paintings) hint that the practice of rock art creation has considerable time-depth (see Scaramelli 1992; Greer 1995; Tarble & Scaramelli 1999). Supported by the long history of exploration along the river, the information presented here substantially broadens the focus of study beyond well-known terra ﬁrme sites, such as Cerro Pintado (see Tavera-Acosta 1956). This represents a major step towards an enhanced understanding of the role of the Orinoco River in mediating the formation of pre-Conquest social networks throughout northern South America (Lathrap 1970; Boomert 2000; Gassón 2002; Zucchi 2002, 2010). Systematic surveys undertaken along the Rapids allow us to propose that the style and content of the engraved rock art corpus implicate it in wider webs of shared indigenous conceptions of cosmology and ritual throughout the pre-Columbian and Colonial periods (Boglar 1976; Reichel-Dolmatoff 1978; Williams 1985; Overing 1996). Through examination of a large corpus of riverine engravings, this study introduces signiﬁcant new information to improve our understanding of the connectivity evident in pre-Columbian iconography across northern South America.

Context: the Atures Rapids within the Middle Orinoco The Rapids are an ethnic, linguistic and cultural convergence zone. This is demonstrated by the presence of several distinct linguistic stocks that originate from elsewhere. These include several groups of Arawakan- (Curripaco, Piapoco, Baré) and Carib- (Mapoyo, Ye’kuana) speakers (Gassón 2002; Zucchi 2010). Some of these, such as the Hiwi (Guahibo), are probably historic migrants to the study area (Zent 1992;TarbledeScaramelli2012). The presence of Sáliba-speaking groups, such as the Piaroa (Wothuha) and the historic Adoles, may, by contrast, be of a much deeper antiquity (Zent 1992). By the mid eighteenth century, these groups had retreated inland and the missions remained largely populated by Arawak speakers (see Gumilla 1945[1745]; Gilij 1965[1782]). Each indigenous group will have, at different times, contributed to the overall cultural mosaic of the Middle Orinoco (Gassón 2002). Authors as early as Koch-Grünberg (writing in 1907) posited that the pre- Columbian artistic corpuses could indicate where interactions between diverse groups of people had taken place along the course of the river, suggesting that exchange occurred via major waterways in this vast region. Rock engravings may be included in this concept of embeddedness in broader-scale patterns, as many motifs are similar or identical to others © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

1604 ruuni eois(oaaMendieta (Lozada deposits stratified Arauquinoid deeply cap These scatters. surface ( multi-period large, within boulders earthbound (Cruxent Cotúa on ( engravings other oae ntenrhr i fPcr sad n opie 6govdaepolishers axe grooved 56 comprises and Island, Picure of cupules. tip 40 to northern adjacent the on located art, rock engraved and painted the to addition with In photographed scale. were ( outcrops 80mm themselves flat and panels several camera the and DSLR recorded, a were panels encountered comm h ags fwihi nanrhfcn uco nPcr sad(304m Island Picure on outcrop north-facing a on is which of largest the es 3idvda ois.Hr,tecnpcossz fsm nmlmtf ( motifs animal some of size conspicuous the Here, motifs). individual 93 least February during Orinoco the in levels water ( low historically 2015 by possible themselves. made Rapids was the latter within The Zamuro) and Yavarivén Wayuco, (Raudales outcrops bedrock okatwsrcre nfieilns( islands five on recorded was art Rock techniques photographic computational with Recording (Williams areas neighbouring into and Orinoco the along Pereira eegnrtdfo o-liueara htgah ae ihaPatm2Vision 2 Phantom a with taken resolution photographs prohibitively orthomosaics aerial sketching two ( render Hence, low-altitude drone errors. would from recording itself gross generated panel from were the suffer to and liable case) and one time-consuming in engraving, single a a xli h pedadedrneo eai rdtosadehoigitcgroups ethnolinguistic and traditions ceramic of endurance contact and this which (Boomert spread to the extent the explain and may Orinoco the via region Guyana-Amazonia-Caribbean bnatatrteAuecnune hl nrvnsaesasl eotdupstream reported sparsely are Volsky engravings (Sujo distributary while Orinoco-Amazon Casiquiare confluence, the the Apure within until It the area” Orinoco. art “special after rock the a of abundant with formed diversity confluence region (Dubelaar and Meta this zone abundance interaction the that high and proposed a upstream been with has Rapids hotspot Maipures a the as between recognised are Mendieta Rapids successfully (Lozada the example, millennia occupation insinuating for possibly continuous have, traditions, ceramic of Rapids major several the of in presence the islands documented the on investigations Archaeological gis hscmlxbcdo,i siprtv oudrtn tntol salnsaeof landscape Orinoco. a the as only of not course contestation. it of middle understand one the to also imperative outside but is confluence, islands it large backdrop, complex of this scarcity Against the with contrast also > ih rnia ruso nrvdrc r nteRpd a o edfie ( defined be now can Rapids the in art rock engraved of groups principal Eight rhelgsscniu odbt h cl n niut fcnatbtenteLlanos- the between contact of antiquity and scale the debate to continue Archaeologists m n otnosacaooia aesta pnfo al oqiodt late to Ronquinoid early from span that layers archaeological continuous and 2m) ) n eesbeunl uvydsseaial.Tegorpi oriae fall of coordinates geographic The systematically. surveyed subsequently were and .), iue2 Figure iue 4–5 Figures 2001 nsitu in 2000 aie Strecker & Haviser ; .Teeaeswr agtdbsdo ro nweg F Scaramelli (F. knowledge prior on based targeted were areas These ). Gassón ; ncnuneadcnetto nteOiooitrcinsphere interaction Orinoco the in contestation and confluence On eodo hsgopo aes he oisfo iueadacomposite a and Picure from motifs Three panels. of group this of record iue3 Figure ,sae ogon-ee ecmr htgah.Ti rvddahigh- a provided This photographs. benchmark ground-level to scaled ), lajas 1950 oenmru uue n x oihr ergtdfo the from segregated polishers axe and cupules numerous bore ) ,teeyadn otesalqatt rvosydocumented previously quantity small the to adding thereby ), 2002 .Cplswr loecutrdaogieptolpson petroglyphs alongside encountered also were Cupules ). 1986 Zucchi ; 2) sdwsra ergyhstsol eoemore become only sites petroglyph downstream as 126), : 2006 Valle ; iue1 Figure 2002 tal et 1605 2012 tal et . , 1975 2016 2010 n hi nios nldn exposed including environs, their and ) ). . Dubelaar ; 2016 .Telretcutro uue is cupules of cluster largest The ). Hornborg ; .Wti hsbodrcontext, broader this Within ). niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © 1985 1986 7;Dubelaar 378; : 2005 .TercyRapids rocky The ). Rostain ; ² otiigat containing , > al 1 Table 5m 2014 1986 2 pers. for + ), ). ;

Research Philip Riris

Figure 1. The ﬁve main areas surveyed: 1) Cotúa and Raudal Wayuco; 2) Picure; 3) Zamuro; 4) Viboral and Raudal Zamuro; 5) Raudal Yavarivén; 6) Sardina. Points with black outlines usually inundate, while white outlined points very rarely inundate.

1606 scmoe nieyo adPeabingaietpclo h etr uaashield Guiana western the of islands the typical of granite bedrock The Precambrian in whole. hard a engravings of as (Gaudette of it entirely placement understanding composed the to central hence is are and river, the corpus, to the relation affecting processes formation The organisation spatial and Taphonomy polynomial Duffy with (see interest capture particular of (excision, data techniques motifs production for to of pecking) record subjected additional incision, an also provide to were (PTM) mapping Yavarivén texture Raudal from Picure Yavarivén from engraving Raudal view b) d) Oliver); south; José facing by (background), (photograph Venezuela Picure mainland and from Wayuco Rapids Cotúa. Raudal Atures towards the north of looking of View overview a) c) Rapids. west, looking Atures The 2. Figure h xoe elg ssbett ylclsrs hog obnto finsolation, of combination patina black a a rocks through many lends stress latter The Zent cyclical algae. & epilithic (Huber to of cycles subject life coarse-grained, the and is and hard precipitation Although geology interiors. island exposed the in the sand silty of deposits Quaternary tal. et 2015 nulyb pt eea ersdrn h xrmso ohsaos osqety in Consequently, seasons. both of extremes Orinoco. the the during in metres varies levels several also and river water to inundated the falling up of are height and by relative Rapids annually the rising the precipitation, seasonally upstream in ﬂuctuating by found on degrees Depending engravings varying the to of exposed all almost factors, weathering .Tedt icse nti ril saalbea upeetr nomto nRiris in information supplementary as available is article this in discussed data The ). ( 2017 tal et ). . 1978 1995 ncnuneadcnetto nteOiooitrcinsphere interaction Orinoco the in contestation and conﬂuence On ,friglretblrotrp htaecpe ihrltvl thin relatively with capped are that outcrops tabular large forming ), rsi Gaylarde & Crispim ; 1607 2005 .I diint hs itcadabiotic and biotic these to addition In ). tal et niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © . 2013 ii Corteletti & Riris ;

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Table 1. Motif counts for the eight principal groups of engravings in the Atures Rapids. Animal

Site Human Proﬁle Plan Scroll Modern Dots Geometric Other Total

Wayuco 3 0 0 0 1 0 8 2 14 Cotúa 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 Picure East 5266821 261892 West 830110015643 Lower 1053002 112 Yavarivén 5 1 0 3 1 2 12 6 30 Zamuro 0 3 0 2 1 1 2 1 10 Roca Sagrada 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 5 Total 22 35 11 27 5 4 70 35 209

Figure 3. Axe polishers (left) and cupules (right) recorded on Picure (80mm photographic scale on the left). any given year, certain panels may never be inundated, while others may never be exposed. The duration and intensity of contact that engravings have with ﬂowing water also varies. Their orientation and local topography, therefore, strongly affect the relative degree of preservation (as observed by Williams (1985: 339)). Differences were observable between engraved motifs located at comparable heights above the water (<0.5m) in the fast-ﬂowing main channel of the Orinoco and the more meandering side channels of the Rapids. Figure 6 illustrates the low-lying panel © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

1608 iue ihitrrttv vra fmi engravings. image. on main the of panel bottom of the at east overlay is North of interpretative perspective with aerial Picure, Top-down 4. Figure fnrhr ot mrc;saoa xouemyb niaeylne oteusage the to linked intimately whole be the may across typical exposure high-water two is Orinoco seasonal that flooded the America; also seasonally above are South noting well that corpus, northern areas located the of in are of engravings pictographs extent Making recorded original mark. of the be are panels of can Picure, proportion isolated differences Comparable small of rockshelters. a ( north-west in represent cluster immediate sequestered this and the within open observed to the Wayuco, in both Raudal placed in engravings Similarly, ncnuneadcnetto nteOiooitrcinsphere interaction Orinoco the in contestation and confluence On iue7 Figure .Teegaig eoddi h aisprobably Rapids the in recorded engravings The ). 1609 odpeevto fee hlo motifs. shallow even of preservation good the to explaining subject thereby flows, are slow they relatively itself; the island in the located of are draft however, Picure, of this north side the in on Engravings Rapids. engravings the of with part areas most also cover would flows these years, high- wetter it. During of portions has through running flows Yavarivén speed Raudal drought extreme conditions under tur- even to water: the bulent exposure of differential condition is the engravings in variability served for exposed been timescales. the have comparable and of times, roughly at similar some produced probably were that motifs suggesting animal profiles), and figures share circles, human scrolls, concentric zones opposed (dots, fluvial content two stylistic local These the of geology. typical partially fractures laminar of small formed has evidence rock the where no motifs preserved is on there laja Despite the Picure, of identical. in appearance is pockmarked rock the The locations Picure defined. two of well these and sides sharp the are around pecked) and incised (excised, engravings the of are edges Conversely, the some destroyed. and completely time, almost over relatively eroded probably are were severely motifs pecking, these is Thus, and shallow. Yavarivén produced incision engravings, in by the and bedrock drier-than-average smoothed a The of season. peak the exposed were Raudal during which in of all motifs (b–c), alongside Yavarivén (a) Picure on asmnosepaainfrob- for explanation parsimonious A niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity ©

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Figure 5. Oblique aerial view of western panel on Picure, with interpretative overlay of main engravings. North is at the bottom of the image. or symbolism of engravings (see Im Thurn 1883; Koch-Grünberg 1921; Cruxent 1955; Williams 1985; Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987; Valle 2012). Detailed archaeological studies of riverine geomorphology are necessary to understand further the relationship between topography and surviving rock art.

Chronology and authorship The broad timespan of putative human occupation of the Orinoco complicates the dating of this corpus. Cotúa, Zamuro and Picure Islands have extensive scatters of surface archaeology that include Barrancoid, Arauquinoid and Valloid ceramics. These represent extremities of the ceramic traditions deﬁned in the Orinoco (Lozada Mendieta et al. 2016). The nearby site of Pozo Azul, on the right bank of the Orinoco, also has a pre-ceramic component associated with a radiometric date on charcoal of 8532–7836 cal BP at 95.4% probability (date modelled in OxCal v.4.3, using IntCal13 calibration curve, Beta-22638; Barse 1989; Bronk Ramsey 2009;Reimeret al. 2013). Superimposed motifs are rare in the Rapids, making relative dating challenging. Through close reading of the pictographic © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

1610 okhleswt anig scmtre,adatiue h raino h anig to paintings the of creation the attributed and used cemeteries, historically groups as several paintings region, the with in rockshelters petroglyphs or Greer pictographs (see produce corpus longer no artistic pre-Columbian Rapids. its of the discussions (see in motifs present human are and animal which sunken-relief of Scaramelli between all similarities 4–5 500–1500), some Figures (AD note also Arauquinoid They the Scaramelli and and left) Scaramelli de Tarble verification. association. radiometric stylistic or by chemical petroglyphs lacks ( date work Orinoco. it this Middle the merit, can in own Nor traditions its major to on on valuable them Although maps and periods, Colonial to Archaic ( c) Yavarivén; Greer Raudal record, in motif lines broken Pink traced. b) and preservation; mapping good texture polynomial with with Picure captured on Yavarivén, Raudal panel blue. in overlay lower motif of geometric view eroded Oblique extremely a) 6. Figure eis(5070B/0 CA 0,rsetvl) n etlna ois(see motifs rectilinear and respectively), 400, BC–AD BC/700 (2500–700 series 2010 h tngahcrcr fteMdl rnc a grdpoietyi prior in prominently figured has Orinoco Middle the of record ethnographic The aetnaieycreae uvlna oisadteSldi/arnodceramic Saladoid/Barrancoid the and motifs curvilinear correlated tentatively have ) 2012 n re’ eid3(aaod itgah Trl eSaael & Scaramelli de (Tarble pictographs (Saladoid) 3 Period Greer’s and ) 1995 ). ncnuneadcnetto nteOiooitrcinsphere interaction Orinoco the in contestation and confluence On ugsssvnscesv hssfrpitdrc r pnigthe spanning art rock painted for phases successive seven suggests ) 1611 1995 niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © .Atog aiegroups native Although ). iue7 Figure ,

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Figure 7. Severely eroded concentric lozenge motifs (left) and relatively well-preserved human figures in sunken relief (right) in Raudal Wayuco. Note modern vandalism (fine incisions, possibly made with metal tools) covering the former (80mm photographic scale on the right). their ancestors (Marcano 1889; Scaramelli 1992). First-hand accounts of natives making engravings were documented in the Vaupés, north-west Amazonia, by Koch-Grünberg (1921: 144). Von Humboldt (1810) relates that engravings in Caicara were, according to native tradition, the work of ancestors drawing on young, soft rock. To interpret three extremely large horned snake motifs found in the Atures region (the Cerro Pintado example is >30m long: Figure 8), Tavera-Acosta (1956) cites a Sáliba myth describing the slaying of a monstrous serpent by the son of the creator deity and culture hero Wahari (Gumilla 1945[1745]: 111–12). The Piaroa worldview strongly distinguishes between benign and dangerous phenomena, and stresses the importance of ritual knowledge for safely mediating relations with the latter (Boglar 1976: 353, 1978; Overing 1996). Disease and death are caused by acting against prescribed conventions towards non-Piaroa agencies, which includes rock art (Marcano 1889: 393; del Rey Fajardo 1974: 174; Boglar 1978: 84; cf. Viveiros de Castro 1998). Historic attitudes towards petroglyphs in the region thus range from indifference to fear and reverence (Dubelaar 1986: 57–58). While some posited links are compelling, independent verification for the association of mythological accounts with specific panels and motifs remains elusive. Aspects of certain indigenous practices documented in the Middle Orinoco can nonetheless usefully inform us about the role of engravings in these societies, even if authorship cannot be ascertained.

Indigenous myth and sacred topography In Piaroa cosmology, the Rapids are identified as both the birthplace of the sun and the residence of Wahari (Boglar 1978: 34). The cultural importance of the islands in this regard is reflected in the presence of specific motifs. Pre-Columbian engravings depicting flute © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

1612 e fpatcsadmtra utr hticue eea ye fwn ntuet (Valle instruments (Koch-Grünberg wind Amazonia of western types in several includes complex, that ritual culture Yuruparí material 2012 the and to practices linked of been set have a basins Negro-Vaupés Upper the in players overlay. image enhanced with petroglyphs Pintado Cerro monumental of photograph Aerial 8. Figure ardaiasjiigterts sopsdt eeyrpeetn ak o niiul to individuals of for presence masks actual representing the merely to are opposed (Boglar participants understood as wear is by rites, flute worn the of masks joining types animals Ceremonial several Wahari. sacred of of one voice by the made as sound the Specifically, manner. literal extended a order the cosmological Warime protect the the to re-establish Rodríguez and aim as (Mansutti production and Piaroa agricultural male-gendered, prolific Orinoco strongly ensure unit, and Middle familial seasonal the are among rites The found ritual. is expression northernmost Its sterefcsfrtepriiat r nhrdi pcfi rilso aeilculture material de of (Viveiros identities articles and specific agencies in own anchored their possess are Castro which participants elements, the iconographic for and effects their as nrvnsfo h ie utbfr h ne ftewtsao,we h sad r more are islands the when season, wet the of onset the before just river the from engravings grsfo h anpnlo iuepoal eit ato Yuruparí/Warime-linked a of part depicts probably Picure ( on rite panel main the from figures yh n hi iulepeso r iwda oeta efraiei hscontext, this in performative than more as viewed are expression ritual their and Myths .TeYrpr iei otfmul ouetdaogTkn n rwkgroups Arawak and Tukano among documented famously most is rite Yuruparí The ). iue9 Figure 1998 Hugh-Jones ; 1976 .Promne ocial onie ihtesaoa mrec fthe of emergence seasonal the with coincided conceivably Performances ). ncnuneadcnetto nteOiooitrcinsphere interaction Orinoco the in contestation and confluence On 348, : 2012 1978 2016 .Cnrlcmoet fteepromne r nepee in interpreted are performances these of components Central ). 2 astiRodríguez Mansutti 42; : 6) h oi fafluitsrone yohrhuman other by surrounded flautist a of motif The 163). : 1921 1613 Reichel-Dolmatoff ; 2012 niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © ). 1978 Hugh-Jones ; 2016 ).

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Figure 9. Six human figures on the western panel of Picure (see Figure 5), including a Yuruparí flautist. Note that in the Vaupés region, opposed scrolls denote masculine energy (Reichel-Dolmatoff 1978). Inset: polynomial texture mapping detail of flautist. accessible and the manioc harvest takes place (Zent 1992; Huber & Zent 1995; Mansutti Rodríguez 2012: 64; Valle 2012). Although the majority of the Atures rock art corpus is cyclically submerged and exposed by the waters of the Orinoco (see Figure 1), the flautist panel is unique in that it can be linked to elements of recorded, extant indigenous practice. In light of the multi-period settlement site adjacent to the engravings, experiencing the rock art may be inextricably linked to the rhythm of their spatial context in the Rapids (Lefebvre 2004). While stylistic similarity between the rock art of the Orinoco and Amazonia is well attested (Williams 1985; Dubelaar 1986; Pereira 2001), this is the first instance where relationships can be established in terms of indigenous beliefs and local variations on shared practices (see Valle 2012). The archaeological and iconographic records together suggest that the Rapids were, and remain, a markedly significant topographic feature (Santos- Granero 1998), connected to symbolic patterning far beyond their immediate setting. Rock art was produced by both indigenous people and people of European descent throughout the Orinoco and northern South America (see Im Thurn 1883; Chaffanjon 1889; Koch-Grünberg 2010[1907]; Scaramelli 1992; Tarble de Scaramelli 2012). Close to the right riverbank, Raudal Zamuro hosts a large cross motif engraved in the centre of a cluster of seven pre-Columbian petroglyphs (Figure 10a). This is one of several non-indigenous © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

1614 oal”i h trsrgo,wihto h omo mgslctdhg nahillside: a Sáliba on high a located visited images missionaries of form 1691, the in took art, which region, rock Atures to the directly in “oracle” pertaining example another In h eaadteRpd,besnswr adt eamnsee ytepis oprotect to priest the Fajardo Rey by (del administered group between the be of mission member to Tabaje deceased said recently the a were from of blessings spectre perceived account the Rapids, against under notable the particular one and in Meta In possible, the supernatural. whenever the populations from mission the threat demonstrated to the Orinoco attributed Middle to were the abilities power in powerful fathers their art, Jesuit rock Historically, with natives. As the season. by missionaries dry the during foot on ble iue1.a ooilcosmtfisre mn ru fidgnu oisi adlZmr;b biu iwof view ( oblique Rapids the b) in Zamuro; recorded Raudal motifs in motifs indigenous of (see group Picure a on profile among in inserted animal an motif on cross ‘M’ graffiti Colonial a) 10. Figure tti ie h edt ots hs ennsmtral a rca uigthe during crucial was materially meanings art these rock contest surrounded to that testament need is memories the motifs The native as native of time. such among endurance cross this features, the and at landscape of acknowledgement individuals insertion significant the Christian The from to to of Pintado. Orinoco attached Cerro engagement the and meanings in the Rapids colonialism reveals indigenous of and the trajectory onwards, with historical century the seventeenth within the fits motif cross The hnormsinre aet hspaeStnwsslne toc,adthe and once, the with at henceforth silenced ceasing was pagans responses the Satan diabolical of place admiration the and this there, astonishment to from disappeared came Devil missionaries our When eo oesl.Wt hsteifieske h oe fGd n h oc n efficacy and force Hell the of and powers God, the of against power the ministries knew the infidels of the this With easily. so demon ncnuneadcnetto nteOiooitrcinsphere interaction Orinoco the in contestation and confluence On iue10 Figure iue4 Figure –) h rawt h rs oi sesl accessi- easily is motif cross the with area The b–c). 1615 ;c al oenisrpini adlWayuco. Raudal in inscription modern early c) ); (Rivero […] hmbfr a rae ihthe with treated had before whom 1883 8,tasainb P.R.). by translation 284, : niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © 1966 151). :

Research Philip Riris evangelisation of the region. This directly parallels processes of spiritual exchange that have been documented through rock art elsewhere in the frontiers of early colonial America (see Recalde & González Navarro 2015; Cooper et al. 2016), to which the Orinoco may now be compared.

Conclusion Examining the corpus in light of the available archaeological and ethnographic information places the Rapids rock carvings within a long trajectory of interaction along the Orinoco watershed (Dubelaar 1986; Boomert 2000; Gassón 2002). Although no rock art in the region has been directly dated, there are clear links between its content and culturally significant indigenous beliefs across the pre-Columbian and Colonial periods. Consequently, this multifaceted corpus can be viewed as a local manifestation of a constellation of broadly comparable indigenous practices that spanned the Orinoco interaction sphere. This shared tradition of symbolic expression can be found in the arc bounded by the Vaupés River, the Guianas and the upper Negro (Williams 1985; Dubelaar 1986; Reichel-Dolmatoff 1987; Valle 2012). Certain common motifs, such as opposed scrolls, may have had context-specific meanings lost to time (cf. Reichel-Dolmatoff 1978; Williams 1985). Their similarity and recurrence along and within waterways, however, suggest that the people responsible for their production shared enduring norms on how to make use of engraved iconography to imbue the landscape with meaning, well into the Colonial period. The diversity of motifs in the sample underscores the centrality of the Middle Orinoco landscape in mediating cultural contact between several regions. While painted rock art is principally associated with relatively remote funerary sites (see Scaramelli 1992; Greer 1995), engraved art is embedded in the everyday lived experience of travel and habitation in the Middle Orinoco River, including its rhythmic rising and falling, and its strong associations with important aquatic resources (Williams 1985: 380). With archaeological confirmation of long-term settlement on the islands (see Cruxent 1950; Lozada Mendieta et al. 2016), the corpus presented above can be placed within a complex social terrain that was inhabited by several different ethnolinguistic groups within an important zone of contact. Close to the Rapids, previously documented sites such as Cerro Pintado and Cerro Paloma (left bank, opposite the Rapids) have some of the largest petroglyphs currently known in northern South America. The production of engravings on this monumental scale is a phenomenon apparently unique to the Middle Orinoco (see Tavera-Acosta 1956)—these motifs share stylistic elements with the Rapids. Future research will focus on linking the Rapids rock art to neighbouring regions through analytically explicit techniques (e.g. locational modelling and formal network analysis). Although the study area stands out in many respects, the corpus is clearly embedded in a broader supra-regional aesthetic tradition. It is undoubtedly the work of multiple authors working in significantly different cultural milieux and conditions. This necessitates clearer definitions of the many overlapping elements and characteristics discussed here, which will provide stronger models of the social roles played by rock art over time, across this vast region. © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

1616 − − Boglar Barse − Cruxent Boomert Cooper Crispim Goberna Costas Chaffanjon Ramsey Bronk nttt eeoaod netgcoe inics n rmJa alsGrí nPet ycco Tom responsibility.References the author’s Ayacucho. the from Puerto are support errors in Any by García comments. possible insightful Carlos his made Juan for from was thanked Venezuela also and is in Cientificas, access Owen fieldwork regarding Investigaciones particularly The de acknowledged, Venezolano gratefully diaries. project is Instituto by unpublished paper obtained this Cruxent’s of (RPG-2014-234) J.M. preparation Grant the Research to Trust in help Leverhulme His a Oliver. José under PI out carried was research This Acknowledgements 95 ergio venezolanos. Petroglifos 1955. 93 ir fJM rxn,Oioo 22:22 12(2): Orinoco. Cruxent, J.M. of Diary 1953. 1978. Expresión collection. private document: Unpublished 1953. 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