Serra da Capivara National Park

Lore & Background

The park was created to protect prehistoric artifacts and paintings, and became a World Heritage Site in 1991. Its head archaeologist is Niède Guidon. The best known archaeological site is Pedra Furada. A newer site, Toca da Tira Peia, contains stone tools that may date to as early as 22,000 years ago, dated through optically stimulated luminescence. Other important sites include Toca da Pena, Baxao da Esperanca, and Sitio do Meio. Lapa do Boquete is located directly south.

Reader's Guide

Serra da Capivara National Park holds the largest and oldest concentration of prehistoric sites in the Americas, with evidence of human occupation potentially dating back 22,000 years. The park's archaeological record, particularly at Pedra Furada and Toca da Tira Peia, challenges traditional timelines for human arrival in the New World. The Capivara-Confusões Ecological Corridor, created in 2006, links the park to Serra das Confusões National Park, expanding protected habitat. The park also hosts bearded capuchin monkeys with the largest known tool kit for wild capuchins, using stone and stick tools for foraging, threat displays, and digging. The site Sitio do Meio, the second most important rock shelter after Pedra Furada, features Pleistocene artifacts, with at least 98 stone tools older than 12,500 BP.

Did You Know?

• The park's name means 'Capybara Hills' in Portuguese.
• The park falls within the municipal areas of São Raimundo Nonato, São João do Piauí, Coronel José Dias, and Canto do Buriti.
• Bearded capuchins in the park have the largest known tool kit for wild capuchin monkeys.
• The Capivara-Confusões Ecological Corridor was created in 2006.