SANTINHO ROCK ART SITE - SANTA CATARINA

SANTINHO ROCK ART PROTECTION SITE BY JOHN ROBINSON

I have reference was made to the protection of one rock art site. This is at the Beach Resort of Costao do Santinho, on The Island of Santa Catarina on the coast of Brazil. The Resort has used the Mask located in hotel grounds as their Logo and have erected a beautifully designed sunshade over the petroglyph. A wooden cat walk allows visitors to examine the works of rock art, but stops them from walking on it as they used to do. Mr Marcondes, the Director and Vice-President of the Resort, is to be congratulated for arranging and financing this elegant example of protection and preservation of this wonderful work of rock art, the only such case in the whole of the area. Hopefully his example will be followed by the Brazilian government in the near future, as these rock art treasures of World Heritage are disappearing before our eyes. The elegant structure both shades and protects from tourist's feet. In the background can be seen the Resort Hotel and the three mile long golden sandy beach that runs north to the Rocky headland. At the northern end of the 3 mile long Santinho beach on the rocky headland are some wonderful petroglyphs like the Squares & Wasted Diamonds and the Mask above, others are not so lucky. Some of the rock art petroglyphs have been destroyed by tourist vandalism, while some are disappearing through natural causes of acid rain and sunshine, as you can see below. I would like to leave the viewers with one other Mystery. My daughter-in-law once taught on the Polynesian Island of Samoa, where she brought a traditional native painting on Tapa, the inner bark of the paper mulberry. Is it just a coincidence that the Masks of Samoa are very similar to the Masks on the Santa Catarina Islands?

THE ROCK ART OF SANTA CATARINA INDEX