Some analytical observations of Bolivian rock art

Resumen

A Bolivian project commenced in 1987 and has so far resulted in estimates of antiquity of petroglyphs at six sites in various parts of the country. At fi ve of these sites, microerosion was used to acquire data, and in three instances the work was set up as «blind test»: local archaeologists has some indication of what the age of the rock art might be, and this was announced to the analyst only after his results were given. In all three cases, the microerosion results coincided with archaeological estimates. At three of the sites, the microerosion data could not be obtained from the petroglyphs, because conditions were unsuitable, therefore petroglyph-making tools were collected and analysed instead. Consequently, in these cases the age estimates cannot be attributed to specifi c motifs. This is a new rock art dating approach not used before.