PETROGLYPHS OF OMETEPE ISLAND, NICARAGUA:

 

Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Photograph by Ancient-origins.

There is an isleand named Ometepe, rising out of Lake Nicaragua, in Nicaragua. The island of Ometepe has a large number of remarkable prehistoric petroglyphs as well as carved statuary.

Monkey petroglyph with concentric circles. Internet image, public domain.

Children with a statue of a figure with an eagle headdress. Internet image, public domain.

“Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes rising out of Lake Nicaragua in the Republic of Nicaragua. Its name derives from the Nahuatl words ome (two) and tepetl (mountain), meaning "two mountains". It is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua. The two volcanoes (known as Volcan Concepcion and Volcan Maderas) are joined by a low isthmus to form one island in the shape of an hourglass, dumbell or peanut. Ometepe has an area of 276 square kilometres (107 sq mi). It is 31 kilometres (19 mi) long and 5 to 10 kilometres (3.1 to 6.2 mi) wide.” (Wikipedia)

Ometepe petroglyphs. Internet images, public domain.

“The island first became inhabited during the Dinarte phase (c. 2000 BC – 500 BC), although evidence is questionable. The first known inhabitants were speakers of Macro-Chibchan languages. Traces of this past can still be found in petroglyphs and stone idols on the northern slopes of the Maderas volcano. The oldest date from 300 BC. Several centuries later, Chorotega natives created statues on Ometepe carved from basalt rock.” (Wikipedia) According to the local museum (Museo de Ometepe) there are over 1,700 recorded petroglyphs on this island.) But, Julian Smith of Archaeology Magazine has set the number at over 2,000 petroglyphs. It would appear that the original inhabitants produced petroglyphs primarily while the newcomers added sculpture to the list.

Statue and petroglyphs, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Internet image, public domain.

Petroglyph, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Internet image, public domain.

“Rock art is abundant throughout the region, and includes petroglyphs depicting geometric motifs, abstract shapes, and images of human figures and animals such as birds, monkeys, and caimans, as well as jaguar paw prints. A 17-year survey of rock art on Ometepe Island led by Suzanne Baker of Archaeological/Historical Consultants identified at least 2,000 petroglyphs at 116 sites.” (Smith 2024:60)

Small anthropomorphic statue and petroglyphs, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Internet image, public domain.

Petroglyph, Ometepe Island, Nicaragua. Photograph by Ancient-origins.

“’Zoomorphic’ figures, on the other hand, are relatively infrequent, and occur in both representational and stylized forms. Of the former, the monkey is said to be the most common motif. Other designs include quadrupeds (infrequent, but tend to be found in complex panels), amphibians such as frogs and toads (infrequent), and birds (rare). Figures of reptiles have also been found. Images of lizards and crocodiles have occurred occasionally, whilst those of turtles are infrequent. Additionally, some figures of snakes are present in the petroglyphs. It has also been suggested that some curvilinear designs may be stylized forms of snakes. Other stylized ‘Zoomorphic’ figures include possible bird heads and a crocodilian figure.

There are also a number of head-like designs that can neither be called anthropomorphic nor zoomorphic. These have been placed by the researchers under the category of ‘Mask-like Forms”’. Finally, there is a category called ‘Miscellaneous Motifs’. These include images of flowers or butterflies, sun-like symbols, calendars, and cruciform figures.” (Mingren  2015)

These last two quotations illustrate the difficulty of using trait lists in describing rock art, Julian Smith (2024) and Wu Mingren (2015) appear to contradict each other in their classifications of the petroglyphs with Smith implying that various categories are quite common while Mingren stating that those categories are rare. From the pictures and other reports, however, I receive a very strong impression that there is a lot of rock art on Ometepe Island and that it is almost magically impressive.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Mingren, Wu, 2015, The Mysterious Petroglyphs of Ometepe, Nicaragua, 3 October 2015, https://www.ancient-origins.net. Accessed online on 11 December 2022.

Museo de Ometepe, 2023, Museo de Ometepe, 25 August 2023, https://ometepeislandinfo.com/Museo-Ometepe. Accessed online 25 August 2023.

Smith, Julian, 2024, Who Were the People of Greater Nicoya?, Archaeology Magazine, March/April 2024, Vol. 77, No. 2.

Wikipedia, Ometepe, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ometepe. Accessed online on 12 December 2022.