Santa Catarina Island - Ilha de Santa Catarina - is an island 523 km2 in area, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil. It is very rich in prehistoric archaeological sites, the oldest of which is the Pântano do Sul, dated to 2500 BC, roughly contemporary to Stonehenge in England and the Egyptian Pyramids. The prehistory of the Santa Catarina Island was first studied by priest father Alfredo Rorh in 1977.

Of Brazil's 26 states, it is the 7th smallest state in total area and the 11th most populous. Additionally, it is the 9th largest settlement, with 295 municipalities. The state, with 3.4% of the Brazilian population. Santa Catarina is bordered by Paraná to the north, Rio Grande do Sul to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Argentine province of Misiones to the west. The coastline is over 450 km, i.e., about half of Portugal's mainland coast.

The petroglyph engravings of Santa Catarina Island show an almost exclusively abstract geometrical form [with the exception of the petroglyphs from the Galheta Beach site, which are composed of irregular lines of free form]. Whilst the style of the petroglyphs may not be unique on a global scale, their consistency and dense distribution certainly are. The petroglyphs are either pecked or ground to a smooth finish, ranging from a depth of 1 millimeter to 8 millimeters. The engraved area varies from 10 x 10 cms. to panels of more than 5 metres in length. The common symbols are groups of parallel straight lines, zig-zagged parallel lines, and waved parallel lines, as well as groups of triangles and irregular quadrilaterals.

Surveys have catalogued 564 engravings in 32 main sites in 14 locations, all coastal and all relatively fierce and inaccessible [with one exception - the Caminho dos Reis site]. Because of this, they have been interpreted as symbols relating to fishing, either as inviting divine intervention for a favourable sea harvest and/or territorial delimitations of fishing areas. Moreover, the ‘net-like’ formations have been associated with nets used in fishing, and circles and dots appearing within the ‘net-like’ formations representing caught fishes. The dot series have been related to some form of counting, such as the phases of the moon, used for and during fishing periods. Unfortunately, in more recent years, their presence has indicated to some the location of hidden treasure, which led to the degradation of many of the sites.

Of the 564 engravings, 522 were made by polishing (92.7%), 36 by pecking (6.2%) and 6 (1.1%) by both techniques. The petroglyphs have been carved in both horizontal blocks and in vertical blocks, sometimes on the stone floor of rock shelters, sometimes on cliff faces 8 metres in height. Several caves contain underground galleries of petroglyphs.

In Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, the resident archaeologist Keler Lucas has catalogued more than 20 rock art sites. Archaeological evidence, gleaned from shellmounts, lithic stations, shelters under rocks, and rock monuments such as dolmens and astronomical observatories, indicates the presence of a culture similar to the European Neolithic period. The oldest date established, at Rio Vermelho, is 5,250 BP. Presently, the only rock art site on the island that has been officially recognised and therefore protected is at Costão Santinho.

The carvings are predominantly ‘geometric’, the most common of which is the ‘mask’ motif, named thus because of the depiction of the ‘third eye’ symbol. This motif also occurs in the neighbouring islands.

Another geometric motif is represented by a series of points and small symmetrical carved lines, thought to have been used for calendar counting, including astronomical [solstice and equinox] calculations, based on the alignment of surrounding rocks.

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→ South America Rock Art Archive
→ Rock Art of Serra da Capivara
→ Rock Art of Pedra Furada
→ World Heritage Site of Cueva de las Manos (The Cave of the Hands)
→ Rock Art of Bolivia
→ The Rock Art of Santa Catarina
→ The Checta Petroplyphs - Peru

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