n the Brazilian Amazon region, which is witnessing a period of extreme drought, the levels of several rivers have dropped significantly, revealing rocks that are usually submerged in water, bearing inscriptions that may date back more than 2,000 years.
“I thought it was a lie,” says Livia Ribeiro, who has lived for 27 years in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state in northern Brazil, located on the banks of the Rio Negro River. “I have never seen anything like this before,” she explains after noticing the sculptures along the river at the Praia das Lajes site, reports Al-Rai daily.
Most of these engravings represent human faces, rectangular or oval, with expressions revealing smiles or more dark ones. Until recently, the waters of the Rio Negro River, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River, whose flow last week reached its lowest level in 121 years, covered the rock formations and their works of art.
If the appearance of inscriptions due to drought has pleased scholars and curious visitors, the phenomenon nevertheless raises questions.
Livia Ribeiro confirms, “We come and look at (the inscriptions) and find them wonderful. But at the same time, it is worrying,” she added, “I wonder if this river will still exist in 50 or 100 years.”
Experts say that the situation is also exacerbated by El Niño (a periodic climate phenomenon over the Pacific Ocean that reduces cloud formation and thus precipitation).
During a previous drought in 2010, the inscriptions were noticed for the first time, and they constitute an archaeological site of “great importance,” according to what archaeologist Jaime Oliveira, from the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IFAN) in Brazil, confirms.