Chamangá: A Rock Paintings Area
UruguayMinistry of Education and Culture
Disclaimer
The Tentative Lists of States Parties are published by the World Heritage Centre at its website and/or in working documents in order to ensure transparency, access to information and to facilitate harmonization of Tentative Lists at regional and thematic levels.
The sole responsibility for the content of each Tentative List lies with the State Party concerned. The publication of the Tentative Lists does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the World Heritage Committee or of the World Heritage Centre or of the Secretariat of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.
Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party
Description
The area of Chamangá, located in the Province of Flores is characterized for having the greatest concentration of pictographic sites from Uruguay. The potential of this place in relation to these type of archeological areas is confirmed day after day with the constant increase in the number of rupestrian representations findings. More than 40 rock paintings have been registered up until the moment. These artistic sites are found in open areas where granite blocks were used as support for the production of paintings. These round-shaped granite blocks are common in the center and south part of the country, surrounded by a landscape of plains and hilly lands. In this archeological area that entails 100 km2 approximately, the relationships between the painted blocks and their archeological context have been considered as well as their development within this frame that constitutes a cultural scenery called the rock paintings area of Chamangá. The pictographs are characterized by abstract representations with varied geometrical motives and the monochrome within the nuances of the red. They have been estimated to be more than two thousand years old. Some particular cases of paintings with miniature style as well as fine engravings are distinguished accurately. Besides the high density of pictographs, the archeological investigations - although still insufficient - have determined the existence of a varied archeological register. The latter includes: polished lithic materials, pottery, as well as quarry sites. The data taken from the archeological investigations indicate that the area was temporary occupied by groups of hunters-collectors-fishermen.