This year’s historic drought in the northern Brazilian state of Amazonas has caused widespread chaos, affecting nearly 600,000 people and placing all 62 of the state’s municipalities under emergency conditions. But amid the pressing social and economic problems caused by the drought, it has also had some surprisingly positive effects, with receding rivers temporarily exposing some of the region’s prehistoric archeological treasures.
The Amazon River in and around the state capital of Manaus, as well as the Madeira River in the south, reached record lows during this year’s drought.
But on the southeastern edge of the city, overlooking the majestic Meeting of Waters — where the Amazon and Negro rivers, with their differently colored waters, meet but do not mix — is Ponta das Lajes, a normally submerged rocky shore that is home to the so-called “Caretas,” or Funny Faces, one of the most curious prehistoric records ever found in Brazil.
“There are many cave paintings in the country, but these are engravings carved and sculpted into the rocks,” explains Jaime Oliveira, an archeologist at Brazil’s National Institute of Historical Heritage (Iphan). “The engravings are mainly anthropomorphic figures, human faces, and other geometric shapes whose meaning we haven’t yet identified.”
The Funny Faces were first discovered in 2010, during what was, until this year, the worst drought on record...
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