NORDESTE PAINTINGS: THE CASE FOR A
PAN-ARCHAIC AMERICAN ROCK ART TRADITION

By Reinaldo Morales, Jr.
B.A., Christopher Newport University, 1995

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Master of Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University

Major Advisor: James D. Farmer, Associate Professor, Art History

Virginia Commomwealth University
Richmond, Virginia
December 1998

This thesis argues that a unified painting tradition was shared throughout Archaic period American rock art, characterized by depictions of an elongated anthropomorph. Research to this point indicates that this style is only found in two areas, the American Southwest and Northeast Brazil. In North America, the figures appear in the Barrier Canyon Style, the Grand Canyon Polychrome Style, and the Pecos River Style. In Brazil, these figures are represented in the Nordeste tradition, from the São Raimundo Nonato area, Piauí.

This analysis addresses the elongated anthropomorph as evidence of a shared aesthetic in Archaic North and South American rock painting. The numerous formal similarities indicate more than coincidental stylistic developments. The existence of a shared tradition is considered based on the available data. Conclusions are drawn based on the formal evidence of a pan-Archaic American aesthetic.

Link to Thesis Bibliography

SAMPLE THESIS ILLUSTRATIONS

Click on the thumbnails for a larger image.

All photographs copyright 1998 Reinaldo Morales, Jr.

Head of Sinbad

Boqueirão do Paraguaio

Molen Seep Wash

Vento

Great Gallery

Salitre

Fate Bell Annex

White Shaman

Angelim do Barreirinho

Shamans' Gallery

Caldeirão da Vaca I

Extrema II