Another piece of the puzzle

A petroglyph comes to us, wondering us again on Piura’s most ancient history. 

 Photos by Marco Paulini.  

Just for comparison, Marco Paulini is 1,75 m height, so calculate rock measures.

SAPILLICA, Peru. “Look at this, licenciado!,” the ambulance driver screamed out pointing out to his left, the Wednesday of July 2016’s last week. “What do you think about it?” Obstetrician Marco Paulini, who blogs about sexuality on FACTORTIERRA.NET, looked at the rock, closed down and opened up his eyes fastly, wondered where he had watched that image before: an anthropomorphous being wearing something similar to a helmet or a turban, a spiral line and something that suggested an octopus to him.

Is it a petroglyph like the ones on our photographic archive? His scientific curiosity asked thousand questions inside his head. He took many photographs and waited for mobile Internet signal to appear somewhere on the way from Sapillica (pronounce “Sapeejeecah”)to Coletas de Chachacomal towns, for sending them. It was impossible to him until he got back our Sullana City headquarters, and transferring the photos as well as comparing them to our archives. Would be there a match?

It is not the first time that somebody related to FACTORTIERRA gets in touch to art-on-the-rock this way. In May 2009, our actual vice-director and co-executive producer Luis Correa found a draw with same patterns in San Martín de Malingas, (Tambogrande, Piura Province), beside the local Catholic temple, but smaller. Seven years later, Correa is pretty excited than that morning: “They are similar to Morán Hill’s ones,” he affirms.

But if Paulini is an obstetrician, Correa is a lawyer. Despite their affection by research, each one in his career, no one is the right specialist to discard neither confirm what their enthusiasm suggests. That’s why Sapillica photographs go to Lima where Archeologist Daniel Dávila lives. He worked with us in exploration of at least a dozen archaeological sites in Malingas (Tambogrande District) between December 2009 and April 2011. “The most approppriate is calling it art-on-the-rock,” he preliminarily recommends. Before anything, he discards patterns on the rock block what we calculate 65 cubic meters of volume be geological.
This means Nature only contributed with the stone but decoration –except the moss- is human creation.

During two days, Dávila examinates the photos, identifies spectrum, compares traces, reviews and reviews before giving a preliminary opinion. Meanwhile in Sullana, there is a held enthusiasm in the whole crew. “It’s like the pieces of a puzzle appear and we have put together one by one,” Correa thinks. By his side, Paulini shows his best stoicism forged by his profession – he knows better than anyone that science steps forward slowly so being safe ones.

On his way, Dávila finds a first match. Near Jaén, Cajamarca Department, a Japanese scientific crew is researching similar traces. When we learn this, immediately Jíbaro corridor theory jumps into our heads: groups of this Amazon ethnicity migrated 4000 years ago from actual Amazonas Department to the West, marking specific places in Cajamarca Department northern side and Piura Department eastern half, because of the peculiar natural landmarks and water closeness.

Luis Correa has his own guess because he has got found a pretty similitude of the Malingas traces to others found in Narihua (pronounce “Nareewa”), a town near Saltillo, Coahuila State, Mexico. Inclusive Narihua sounds and is almost written like Narihualá (pronounce “Nariwahla”), an archaeological site to the South East of Catacaos City, Piura County.

Paulini Petroglyph (keyname inside our crew)is near a creek, and inside the surrounding landscape, there is a mountain ending like a needle, as dome volcanoes when lava does not erupts colossally but it elevates like a semi-solid column until losing stability, then falling down as a pyroclastic flow or a burning cloud.“That stone is basaltic origin,” Dávila announces. We have learned the basalt is a black, weaky and porous stone formed in plain layers when lava is viscous and gets solid in contact to the air.

At least in Malingas, many geologic buildings are made of basalt like Malingas micro-range and Platillos promontory. Petroglyphs and inverted domes are also there. “Isn’t that a ceremony table?,” Correa questions, reminding the similitude of Paulini Petroglyph to Morán one, located on the top of the same-name hill, between Monteverde Bajo and Cruz Verde towns. There is one of the biggest, best conserved petroglyphs of Malingas

Finally, Dávila seems to have an answer: “It could belong to Samanga Tradition, drawings similar to Samanga’s but the same display like Malingas’ in other words.” All the crew sees each other. Samanga (Ayabaca District)has the best studied and conserved petroglyphs across Piura Department. “More than jíbaros, the better will be to relate it to Samanga Tradition,” the archaeologist insists.

A photo helps but is not enough. It will have to be explored on the field and it will have to go much far than Malingas this time. Could more art-in-rock rests be in Sapillica?How is it connected to Malingas or Samanga as well?What is the message cut on the rock that, 4000 years later, we can not deciffer right yet? Now, FACTORTIERRA is looking for funds to unveil the history, maybe to re-write it. Who will want to associate to us in this new adventure?

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