Thread by @LittleMsFossil

We have been keeping this quiet! In our series airing on @Channel4 this week we feature a significant new indigenous Amazonian rock art discovery, 1 of the largest rock art sites on the planet(!), by Prof José Iriarte & his team @LASTJOURNEY5. We speak exclusively to @ObserverUK

https://twitter.com/guardianscience/status/1332989815265005571

This is such a significant discovery and seems to not have been known about by science or locals (often locals know). It is deep in Farc controlled Colombian rainforest & Jose & his team only recently found it, when we joined them that was only the second time they had seen it.

It is so new it doesn’t even have a name. Some of the rock art seems to date back from when parts of the Amazon rainforest was still savannah ~12,000 yrs ago - mind blowing! This new site is likely the largest rock art site in South America (at the least). It is also a good...

eg of 2 things

1- the extent to which indigenous ppl were a part of the Amazon rainforest - it wasn’t some wilderness, they were highly involved in its management
2- the need to conduct scientific discovery in politically unstable places- that is the new frontier of discovery.

This discovery is not a drill - it is big news and will take many decades to unpack, it was also a bloody nightmare politically, security and rainforest-wise to get to. Like now I have FARC stories to add to my collection (I will live tweet about this during the episode). So

huge respect to this incredible world class team of archaeologists for finding it and for letting us see it and be the ones to break the story!

Thank you to Prof Jose Iriarte, Dr Mark Robinson @LastJourney5 @UofEArchaeology END/

PS Channel 4 starting Saturday 5th Dec 6:30pm Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon. It’s a series with different discoveries in each.