Oldest Rock Art In North America Revealed: Dates Back 14,800 Years With Erie Similarity To Boulders In Oregon

Oldest rock art in North America was revealed possibly dating back to 10,500 and 14,800 years ago.

A new analysis revealed that the oldest rock art in North America are on the west side of Nevada's dried-up Winnemucca Lake. The researchers first figured out when the boulders were above the water line in order to help determine the age of these boulders.

According to one of the researchers, Larry Benson of the University of Colorado Boulder, radiocarbon test revealed that the carbonate film underlying the petroglyphs dated back roughly 14,800 years ago, while a later layer of carbonate coating the rock art dated to about 11,000 years ago. This study would make this the oldest rock art in North America.

"Prior to our study, archaeologists had suggested these petroglyphs were extremely old," Benson said in a statement. "Whether they turn out to be as old as 14,800 years ago or as recent as 10,500 years ago, they are still the oldest petroglyphs that have been dated in North America."

This new study thus makes the rock art in Long Lake, Ore. not the oldest in North America any longer. An older study showed that rock art was at least 6,700 years-old.

There is deeply carved lines and grooves in geometric motifs in the petroglyphs at Winnemucca Lake, which is reportedly similar to the ones in Oregon. There is no definitive reason for the correlation between the two.

"We have no idea what they mean," Benson said. "But I think they are absolutely beautiful symbols. Some look like multiple connected sets of diamonds, and some look like trees, or veins in a leaf. There are few petroglyphs in the American Southwest that are as deeply carved as these, and few that have the same sense of size."

More details of these findings will be revealed in the December 2013 issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.