DIRECT DATING OF PETROGLYPHS IN RIO GRANDE DO NORTE, BRAZIL

This article presents the first attempts to secure direct dating of Brazilian rock art. Its results point to a sequence of petroglyph reuse and modification. On the basis of current evidence, petroglyph making in the studied area ranges from the middle of the Holocene up to the beginning of European colonisation of the region. The age estimates so far obtained by microerosion analyses are broadly in agreement with the relevant archaeological information from the sampled area, the Brazilian Northeast region. Its petroglyphs are generally found on exposures of granite, the rock type most suitable for microerosion studies.