Sensational discovery in Alabama: Huge rock paintings discovered underground

Created: 05/11/2022, 19:11

By: Janine Napirca

In Alabama, USA, researchers have made a sensational discovery: hundreds of pre-Columbian rock paintings are underground.

Archaeologists have discovered countless pre-Columbian rock carvings underground in the state of Alabama in the United States of America.

It's not the first time rock art has been discovered in the United States.

However, some of the rock paintings that have been found are larger than any that have ever been discovered in North America.

Rock art discovered: Partially abstract art has been buried forever in Alabama

The motifs, some of which include abstract patterns and some of which may have a religious character, cover more than 400 square meters of underground rock walls in the so-called dark zones of the 19th unnamed caves.

The ceilings hang so low that there is very little space, which is why many of the rock paintings must have been made by the artists without them ever seeing them.

The art, which also depicts animals and anthropomorphic figures, is said to have originated between 133 and 949 BC.

Photogrammetry enables 16,000 partial images of the rock art to be combined into a 3D model

Jan Simek and his team from the University of Tennessee have used photogrammetry to combine 16,000 partial images of the rock art on the cave walls into a 3D model.

Now you can fully admire the rock paintings.