Digital map records rock art in São Paulo – 02/18/2024 – Science

In the field of archeology, São Paulo was for a long time considered a state with almost no records of the past.

To deconstruct this image, archaeologist Marília Perazzo, a post-doctoral researcher at the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Research in Evolution, Culture and Environment (Levoc), at the Museum of Archeology and Ethnology at the University of São Paulo (MAE-USP), rescued research in scientific literature, such as those carried out by French explorer Guy Christian Collet (1929-2004), one of the pioneers in investigating rock records in the state. From them, she looked for places with graphics and paintings in São Paulo.

“Until now, work in the region had been isolated, without systematic research that would allow the identification of sites, in addition to the characterization and analysis of rock records”, says Perazzo. “This research fills a gap in São Paulo archeology, allowing São Paulo to be included on the rock map of Brazil.”

In the context of a project coordinated by archaeologist Astolfo Araujo, Perazzo and colleagues from Levoc have been carrying out a survey of these areas since 2019 and have now created an interactive map of archaeological sites with rock records in the state of São Paulo.

With 21 known sites when they started, in 2023 the MAE team registered another 33, totaling 54. For this they counted on the partnership of engineer Marcelo Zuffo and geologist Camila Duelis Viana, both from USP.

On the map, you can see photographs of the rock panels, three-dimensional models, bibliographic references, dates and other general information about the sites.

The group used photogrammetry and laser scanning techniques to create digital replicas of the prints and paintings on the site.

“It takes around two hours to photograph the set that will later give rise to the 3D model”, says Perazzo.

The site classifies sites into three categories: visited; not visited by the Levoc team —but with records of existence in the literature—; and destroyed sites. The team has already processed 3D images of six of them.

The São Paulo map was inspired by the Summa Arqueológica project, from the Fundação Museu do Homem Americano (Fumdham), in São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí, headquarters of the National Institute of Archeology, Paleontology and the Semiarid Environment (Inapas), which is dedicated to mapping information archaeological and paleontological aspects of the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil.

The research center is one of the National Institutes of Science and Technology (INCT) funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). In development for ten years, Summa was one of the pioneering projects in Brazil in terms of organizing archaeological data and mapping. There are 2,172 sites registered on the platform, which is being redesigned to be faster, among other improvements.

On the website of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (Iphan), there are records of thousands of sites spread across Brazil, but without details about each one.

“Mapping is a trend in the field of archeology, researchers have long been looking for an interactive way to connect the information they collect with society, generate educational and scientific dissemination content”, says computer scientist Eduardo Krempser, a researcher at Inapas and one of those responsible for developing the Summa and the rock records map of São Paulo. “In the case of São Paulo, we use robust technologies and programming languages, all with free access,” he says.

The intention was to make the map as simple to use as possible, light to carry and durable — a strategic decision, says Krempser. “Many projects fail because they don’t think about the long term; hence the importance of free software, which is easy to maintain and can be taken to other servers, which makes this system sustainable”, he adds.

Preserving memory is the main objective of the project, and the proposal is for the database to be open, so that it can be accessed by other researchers and interested people.

To feed the map, Krempser adopted a platform in which the researcher, upon returning from a field trip, inserts the collected data, which becomes available in real time to the map user.

“It stores information from collection in the field to storage in a research institution or museum,” he says. “In this way, it is possible to reconstruct the entire scientific discovery work process.”

The system adopted to feed the Levoc map can also receive records from the moment the researcher begins his studies, with observations from field trips being crucial.

Personally, Perazzo visited 39 sites in four years of research. “Some are very tiring to get to, you have to walk a lot”, says the archaeologist, who cannot choose a favorite, but is enchanted by each field trip. “When I arrive and look at those figures it’s as if I hadn’t walked at all, I renew myself and sit there for hours.”

The vast majority of São Paulo’s sites are located on private properties — only one of them is in a visiting location open to the public, Nhangussu Hill, in Guarulhos, in the metropolitan region of the capital. To create the database, it was necessary to seek permission from the owners of the land where the engravings are located. There are records of sites visited by Levoc researchers, sites not visited but known by archaeologists, and sites already destroyed. Only one, which is in Piracicaba, fits the last item. Records about it are only present in literature from the 1960s onwards, according to the bibliographic information present on the map.

“It is very important that this work was carried out at this time, because it records the existence of the sites before their disappearance”, says archaeologist Daniela Cisneiros, coordinator of the Postgraduate Program in Archeology at UFPE and researcher at Fumdham, who does not participates in the work of USP. “Many of São Paulo’s sites are in an advanced state of deterioration and great fragility, in unprotected areas. Knowledge about them can contribute to their protection.”

Among the most impressive panels visited is that of Pedra do Dioguinho, in the municipality of Dourado, in the center of the state, 280 kilometers from the capital. At 48 meters long, it is considered the largest rock art panel in the state. There are graphic types called tridigits, which are line drawings that resemble bird footprints, as well as linear formats, figures in simple circles, semicircles and dotted lines. In total, 16 graphic spots were identified. “It’s a beautiful place, one of the most expressive in São Paulo”, says Perazzo.

The analyzes indicate a date of around 4,000 years ago – which does not mean that human groups made records at the same time, warns the archaeologist.

She highlights two other sites that the Levoc team managed to date: Abrigo do Alvo, in Analândia, and Abrigo de Itapeva (in the city of the same name). The first is the oldest known in the state, with rock records from around 7,500 years ago; the second is estimated to be 4,700 years old.

Abrigo do Alvo was one of those that Collet explored in the 1980s. At the time, the Brazilian Army used the rocky structure as a target in artillery exercises and the researcher asked the military to stop carrying out activities there. The request was accepted and the French archaeologist’s team applied a resin to the graphics, which kept the material well preserved. Just like Pedra do Dioguinho, Abrigo do Alvo had records in tridigits, circular and dotted figures, as well as sets of lines and asterisks.

The same pattern is observed in records found in the Serra da Capivara and other parts of the Northeast. For experts, it is difficult to pinpoint the meaning of the engravings and paintings, mainly due to the lack of context. Therefore, the work of USP researchers is more focused on cataloging, preservation and typing. It is notable, however, that there may have been some kind of intention on the part of those who drew scenes and shapes on rocks. “The rock records, whether painting or engraving, are markers of the memory of the author groups”, assesses Cisneiros.

In São Paulo, engravings, carved directly into the rock, are more common than paintings, which involve pigments and predominate in the Northeast. “In the Southeast, there is a dominance of geometric shapes, with few scenes and more isolated graphics: the figures have little dynamism, they are more static”, analyzes the UFPE archaeologist. Most of the records in the Northeast are on riverbanks and in the open, unlike those in São Paulo, which are located mainly in shelters protected by rock.

All the characteristics of the rock records make Cisneiros think about the people who lived there thousands of years ago. “Coming into contact with this information, being able to see these engravings, for me is an encounter with ancestry, it goes far beyond a scientific discovery”, reflects the researcher.