Amazonian worldviews
Three key elements of Amazonian cultures which can help outsiders to understand the rock art of La Lindosa
Nazario Acosta speaking to a group (2022) by ERC LASTJOURNEY projectUniversity of Exeter
Learning to see
Outside observers today can try to imagine our way into the world of the artists by learning about modern indigenous cultures. There are several key differences between Western and Amazonian thinking which may help non-Amazonians to try to understand the rock art of La Lindosa.
Ethnic groups local to La Lindosa today include the Tukano, Nukak, and Jiw people. We should remember that there is no single ‘Amazonian culture’; the Amazon region is home to hundreds of different groups, languages and cultures, which have also changed over the roughly 13,000 year history of this rock art. Modern indigenous cultures may not always map neatly onto older images, which could have had very different meanings for the people who made them.
1. Shamans and visions
Ritual specialists known in English as shamans have a key role in Amazonian life and may be closely linked to the art of La Lindosa.
Shamans communicate with the spirit world through rituals and trances, in order to see the future, to heal, or to help people in other ways.
Geometric patterns on the Principal Panel (2022) by ERC LASTJOURNEY projectUniversity of Exeter
In South America, shamans often use psychoactive substances to access the spirit realm. Hallucinogens can stimulate the user’s retina and cause them to see floating patterns known as phosphenes, often resembling the geometric shapes which appear in the art of La Lindosa.
Shaman drawing in sand (2022) by ERC LASTJOURNEY projectUniversity of Exeter
Other images which have been recorded as drawn by Tukano shamans in altered states of consciousness include animals, plants, the sun, rainbows, and ritual objects like stools and maracas. Many of these can also be found in the rock art.
2. Shape-shifters
Indigenous Amazonians see all living beings as having souls and social lives. A living being’s physical body is like a shell covering its human form, which can be seen through by members of the same species and also by shamans, who can cross the boundaries between species.
Detail of rock art on the Nuevo Tolima panel (2021-11-15) by Pete Kelsey, SEARCHUniversity of Exeter
In Amazonian thought, a person's self is not fixed but in a constant state of change. Humans can transform into other species through rituals and the use of psychoactive plants. Many images at La Lindosa seem to represent such shape-shifters, or therianthropes.
Detail of rock art on the Las Dantas panel (2021-11-12) by Pete Kelsey, SEARCHUniversity of Exeter
La Lindosa's numerous images of humans connected to animals by lines may represent hunting scenes, or may show a spiritual connection between species.
Human-animal interactions (2022) by ERC LASTJOURNEY projectUniversity of Exeter
This image from the Dantas panel shows a feline creature on the left connected to a human by a line, and a smaller, possibly juvenile, above it. Below them is another feline, and below that, four ‘headless bodies’ of a type which appears often at La Lindosa.
To the right, two upright figures face each other. Their animal features and human posture suggest they may be therianthropes or ‘shape-shifters’.
3. The Painted Forest
Plants play a major role in shamanic practices, with plant spirits believed to have given shamans their extensive knowledge of plants through visions and hallucinogen-induced altered states.
Stylised images of plants appear all over La Lindosa. Anthropologist Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, working with local Tukano people in the 20th century, recorded that symbols like this represented emerging life, plant growth and fertility.
Plant teacher from the Demoledores panel (2022) by ERC LASTJOURNEY projectUniversity of Exeter
Like the paintings of shamanic interactions with animals, images like this from the Demoledores panel may refer to shamanic connections with plants.
This appears to be a plant/human hybrid, with leaves or branches growing from a central trunk with human-like legs.
Figures on El Mas Largo panel (2022) by ERC LASTJOURNEY projectUniversity of Exeter
This painting from El Mas Largo panel may represent shamanic practices. The bottom left figure seems slightly tilted as if levitating and is attached to a spiral, perhaps a net, with a gourd hanging from his arm.
Above him, a person sits or floats with crossed legs. To the right, a person is connected to a fish, possibly in the physical act of fishing, or perhaps in a spiritual connection.
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