World Atlas Core Records · Community

Serra da Capivara

c. 12,000 BCE-1000 CE, selected securely contextualized phases · Brazil

Rock shelters preserve extensive paintings and archaeological deposits documenting changing human occupation in northeastern Brazil.

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AI-generated evidence-guided visualization related to Serra da Capivara, c. 12,000 BCE-1000 CE, selected securely contextualized phases. — AI-generated visualization based on the cited record and period context. It is not documentary evidence or an authenticated reconstruction of a single event.

How the setting appeared

Sandstone cliffs, shelters, dry forest, water points and seasonal routes framed repeated camps and image-making.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARACIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN Setting and material context · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people lived

Different foraging and later communities used the region across millennia; one scene cannot represent the whole sequence.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARACIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN Lifeways and community · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people worked

Stone tools, pigments, fire, hunting and plant processing varied by period and environment.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARACIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN Work, tools and exchange · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Belief, ritual and worship

Paintings include people, animals and patterned scenes, but their languages, makers and exact ritual meanings are not known.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARACIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN Belief, ritual and evidence limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

World-atlas stage: Farmers and villages
Region: South America · Brazil
Languages and scripts: Not named in this record
Important people: No individual is centered in this record
Events and changes: Securely contextualized archaeological deposits document human occupation in the Serra da Capivara region by the late Pleistocene, including phases around 12,000 BCE.; Rock paintings accumulated across many Holocene phases; most individual images cannot be assigned a precise year or a named language community.; Serra da Capivara National Park was established in 1979 CE.; The park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991 CE.; Claims for substantially earlier occupation remain debated and should not be treated as a single settled date for all shelters or deposits.
Evidence confidence: Rock art and occupation are secure; the earliest proposed dates remain debated, so this record uses a cautious range.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARACIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN Dates, place, language, people, events and confidence · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Historical geography

A dated anchor, not an exact border

The local map uses modern coastlines only for orientation. The marker identifies this record's geographic anchor, not the full reach of a community or polity.

Map geometry loads only when requested. Modern outlines are orientation only; historical geography and identities changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARACIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN Historical-geography anchor and stated limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Evidence register

Guides used for this record

Each registered source ID is paired with its institutional URL for independent checking. Source count is transparent, and duplicate URLs count only once.

CIT-CORE-SERRA-DA-CAPIVARA

Serra da Capivara: record evidence guide

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/606/

whc.unesco.org

CIT-CORE169-SERRA-CAPIVARA-IPHAN

Patrimonio Mundial - Serra da Capivara

https://www.gov.br/iphan/pt-br/superintendencias/piaui/patrimonio-mundial

Brazilian National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN)

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