Rock paintings
Over 12,000 years old.
Diego Rego Monteiro — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Carlos Souto — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Gervásio Carvalho — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Otávio Nogueira from Fortaleza, BR — CC BY 2.0
Serra da Capivara National Park, in the interior of Piauí, protects the largest and oldest concentration of prehistoric sites in the Americas: rock shelters covered with ancient paintings, some more than 12,000 years old, across more than 700 archaeological sites. Created to protect them and listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1991, it covers 1,291 square kilometres of the Capybara Hills. Its best-known site is the Boqueirão da Pedra Furada, a rock shelter at the foot of a cliff and the only site that can be visited at night, by arrangement with your guide. The park became famous through the work of the archaeologist Niède Guidon, who worked here from the 1970s, and at Toca da Tira Peia stone tools may be 22,000 years old. Its bearded capuchin monkeys use the widest known set of stone tools of any wild capuchins. Visits require an accredited guide (usually about R$150-200 a day). Entry to the park itself is free, but the municipality charges a tourism fee of R$20 for the first day and R$10 for each further day; the park opens 6:00-18:00, and the base is the town of São Raimundo Nonato.
Over 12,000 years old.
Night visits possible.
Using stone tools.
Near São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí
No. An accredited guide is compulsory, and the municipality charges a tourism fee of R$20 for the first day and R$10 per extra day.