Ancient Pecos River Murals Preserved Indigenous Cosmology for Over 4,000 Years

A new study finds that a distinctive rock‑painting tradition in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands — now spanning southwestern Texas and northern Mexico — recorded and transmitted an Indigenous worldview for millennia. Known as the Pecos River style, these large, multicolored limestone murals likely began nearly 6,000 years ago and continued until roughly 1,400–1,000 years ago, a period of more than 4,000 years and roughly 175 generations.

What the murals show

The region contains more than 200 murals, some exceeding 100 feet (30 meters) long and 20 feet (6 meters) high. Panels combine animal- and human-like figures with abstract symbols to create complex visual narratives. The authors interpret these images as encoding myths, ritual instructions and a coherent cosmovision — an overarching cultural conception of the universe that includes creation stories, cyclical notions of time and calendrical ideas.

How the researchers dated and analyzed the art

To build a reliable timeline, the team applied two independent radiocarbon methods at 12 mural sites and cross-checked the results. They also performed pigment and compositional analyses and studied stylistic and technical features across panels. Those studies revealed remarkable consistency: painters appear to have followed a durable sequence for applying pigments and adhered to strict stylistic conventions passed down across many generations.

Who made the paintings and what it means

The artists were mobile hunter-gatherers whose specific cultural identity is not preserved in the archaeological record. Still, the scale, technical skill and continuity of the murals point to a sophisticated system of knowledge transmission. Study co-author Carolyn Boyd (Texas State University) likens the canyonlands to 'an ancient library containing hundreds of books authored by 175 generations of painters.' Co-author Karen Steelman (Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center) notes that combining two radiocarbon approaches strengthened the chronology and confidence in these results.

'The paintings may be the oldest surviving visual record of core cosmological ideas that later appear in Mesoamerican civilizations and persist in Indigenous traditions today,' the authors write, and many Indigenous people treat these murals as living ancestral presences.

Significance and stewardship

The study, published in Science Advances on Nov. 26, underscores both the technical achievement of the artists and the cultural importance of the imagery they produced. The extraordinary continuity of style and technique across millennia suggests a sustained tradition for encoding and transmitting cosmological knowledge. Preserving these murals and engaging Indigenous communities in their interpretation and stewardship are essential for honoring their cultural and spiritual significance.