Oct 24, 2023
Brazil drought reveals ancient rock carvings of human faces
A drop in water levels of the Amazon has revealed rock carvings which had been mostly submerged since they were carved more than a thousand years ago. A severe drought means that the human faces carved into rocks on the shore can now be easily spotted. Some had been sighted during a previous drought but archaeologists say they have been able to locate a greater variety of the carvings this time. Archaeologist Jaime Oliveira told local media that they were carved by people who lived in the area in pre-Columbian times. The carvings were last seen in 2010, when the water level of the Rio Negro dropped to 13.63m. On Sunday, the river's level dropped for the first time to below 13m and on Tuesday it fell even further to 12.89m. The Brazilian government attributes the drought to climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has caused the volume of rainfall in the northern Amazon to fall below the historical average and river levels to drop to near record levels.
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