Documenting the Complexity of the Petroglyphs of Toro Muerto, Southern Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Toro Muerto, situated in Arequipa Region in southern Peru, consists of over 2.5 thousand stone blocks covered with petroglyphs, which makes this site unique not only in Peru but also in South America. In this presentation we outline the current results of a new project which aims to document the whole site. This includes creating GIS satellite map, aerial photography, photography and tracing of the petroglyphs, as well as recordings of offerings hidden near the blocks with rock images. We also briefly discuss iconography, with a particular focus on geometric designs which prevail in Toro Muerto. These patterns are often associated with human figures, often referred to as danzantes - dancing humans. We will show that surprising similarities to these motifs can be found in Amazonian area of South America, which together with analogies from other parts of America may suggest that at least part of the geometric patterns code cosmological ideas, possibly related to the concept of traveling to the other world.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23995