Sound images. Dances in the rock-art in the Serra da Capivara, Piauí, Brasil – an introduction

Abstract

In the area of the Serra da Capivara National Park in the Brazilian state of Piauí, there are numerous decorated shelters from pre-colonial times. These archaeological sites have thousands of paintings where it is possible to identify scenes that can represent dance. They are images of human figures with raised arms, flexed limbs, alone and in pairs or in groups of anthropomorphic lines. These images sometimes have decorated bodies and on the head what appears to be a mask. In the hands of some of these characters, there are objects that can be interpreted as musical instruments. Most of these scenes were made in a chronological period between 12 / 10,000 and 3,000 years before the present. Although there are currently no indigenous groups in the area and no historical or anthropological documentation, it is possible to relate many of these scenes to ceremonies and performances that are known among different groups of Índios. They are true sound images of the dance's past in the Brazilian territory and in the World.