Location: Rupununi, Essequibo
Classification: Archaeological
Period/ Year Built: Predates 5000 BC
Historical Background / Description:
Petroglyphs are scattered across the Aishalton district in the Rupununi, Savannah. Aishalton is one of the most populated settlements in the Upper Takutu-Rupununi region and serves as the administrative centre of the southern sub-district.
Makatau Mountain, located some 3 kilometres (1.7 miles) from central Aishalton is one of the country’s most famous archaeological sites. Thousands of these petroglyphs which pre-date 5000 BC, illustrate the relationship the first people bore with their surrounding environment and with wild life. These images were mainly of biomorphic (plants, animals and humans) and geometric forms. The petroglyphs during 1970s were comprehensively studied by Dr. Denis Williams and a number of Anthropologists.
