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S13 Ep3: Carthage's Lost Warriors | Clip

Examining the Petroglyphs on the Rock of the Ingá

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Countless figures and symbols have been engraved into the monolith since the Itacoatiara culture existed in Rio Paraíba. At an early stage local archaeologists noticed that many of the petroglyphs on the Rock of the Ingá displayed similarities with writing from the Old World in classical times.

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Clip | Kuelap, the Giant Fortress Built by the Chachapoya
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Preview | Carthage's Lost Warriors
TRANSCRIPT

[Narrator:] There are no accounts of a transatlantic expedition to Brazil at any time before Columbus.

But not far from the coast, at Rio Paraiba, there is an archeological site which could be extremely significant -- the legendary Pedra do Inga.

Countless figures and symbols have been engraved into the monolith.

Experts are still unable to decipher their meaning.

- Here in Paraiba, a very long time ago, the Itacoatiara culture existed.

Many engravings in stone remain from this period, such as here, at the Rock of the Inga.

But we don't know how these people thought, or how they behaved.

We simply are not able to understand the messages they've left.

How were they created?

Which people immortalized themselves at the Rock of the Inga?

It's a mystery.

However, does it seem likely that the people who did this were not simple natives?

Maybe it was a completely different culture, 2000 years ago.

- At an early stage, local archeologists noticed that many of the petroglyphs on the Rock of the Inga displayed similarities with writing from the Old World, in classical times.

I've studied this.

Only similarities with individual letters were found, not with complete words.

However, similarities were mainly with letters from a Celtic Iberian alphabet.

- [Narrator:] Four symbols engraved on the stone resemble letters from ancient European languages.

We know their phonetic value, but so far it has not been possible to translate the engravings into a meaningful text.

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