Ancient site · Rock art
Cueva de las Manos
Also known as Cave of the Hands
A cave and rock shelters above the Pinturas River canyon in Patagonia, Argentina, famous for hundreds of stencilled hands, almost all of them left hands, made by blowing paint through bone pipes. Hunter-gatherers painted here in waves over about 8,000 years, also showing guanacos, hunting scenes and symbols.
It is one of the best records of the earliest peoples of southern South America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Dates
- c. 7300 BCE – 700 CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 47.16° S, 70.66° W
How we know
No writing existed; the paintings are dated by radiocarbon, by the layers they lie above, and by bone paint-blowing pipes found below them.
Nearby sites
- Monte Verde c. 12,500 BCE (about 14,500 years ago) — date now challenged
- Tiwanaku (early city) founded c. 100 CE (dates debated); peak c. 500–1000; abandoned c. 1050 CE
- Cahuachi c. 1–500 CE
- Nazca Lines c. 500 BCE – 500 CE
- Paracas cemeteries (Cerro Colorado) c. 800–100 BCE
- Rapa Nui moai carved mostly c. 1250–1500 CE (later than this atlas's ancient period)