Tourist Guide to Salvador, Bahia, Northeastern Brazil and Brazil

Travel guide to Brazil, with tours, beaches, architecture, music, gastronomy, culture and history – Videos.

Parque Nacional da Serra da Capivara

Serra da Capivara National Park is the largest collection of rock paintings ever found in the world, spread over 129,140 hectares.

Serra da Capivara National Park, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, was created to preserve one of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures – thousands of prehistoric inscriptions up to 12,000 years old carved into rock walls.

The paintings depict aspects of daily life, rites and ceremonies of the region’s ancient inhabitants, as well as figures of animals, some of which are now extinct.

In the excavations carried out in Serra da Capivara, researchers have found tools, remains of ceramic utensils and burials. Research into the discoveries made in the area has led archaeologists to believe that man would have inhabited the American continent more than 30,000 years ago, contrary to the theories most accepted by scientists.

The cave paintings and objects found can be seen in some of the archaeological sites open to visitors, among the more than 500 existing in the park.

The Serra da Capivara National Park is managed by Fundham (Foundation Museum of the American Man) in partnership with Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources).

It offers excellent facilities for visits, with marked trails and specialised guides. In the city of São Raimundo Nonato, there is the Museum of the American Man with a collection assembled from the pieces found in the archaeological explorations carried out in the park area.