BonnyeMatthews Author

Courage, 30,000 BC: The Boqueirão Refuge at Pedra Furada

The second book in the Pre-Clovis Archaeological Sites in the Americas Series, Toca do Boqueirão da Pedra Furada, Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara in Brazil, is associated with phenomenal cave art. It depicts a vital community living in the middle of nowhere. I was entranced when I saw the first images of the cave art. I wondered why the people were there, what possessed them to create the cave art, why they painted what they did, why they chose the variety of media, what the tree ritual might be about, and so on. This is the place where the writer of fiction has a license that scientists are not supposed to have, the opportunity to answer the questions in a logical but creative fashion. Frankly, the cave art is the inspiration for the story. The images speak to me. I love their connectivity among the people and with the wildlife. There is a touch of joy to me exhibited in the cave art.

I intend to share with you images that I took from my research and from the cave art to weave this story. The reason for sharing is that when these images are printed they’ll be in black and white. You can see the full color images here. The other element in story development is in the Exordium in each of the novellas. It adds another level of transparency into the author process.

First, here are images of the elements intended for the cover. These will be transmitted to the publisher’s design team, and they’ll pull the images together into a whole. First, is the young girl, Maru. The image is from Pedro França/MinC (CCA 2.0). The second image is the crocodile. The image is from Tomás Castelazo, (CCA-SA 2.5). The background is the mimosa tree image, available in the public domain.

This is the geographic location of the Serra da Capivara National Park in Brazil.

My illustration.

The amazing picture here is Pedra Furada.

Pedra Furada, Serra da Capivara National Park (Artur Warchavchik CCA-SA 3.0)

This gives an impression of the land forms, sandstone from the bottom of a warm sea long, long ago.

The image is courtesy of Diego Rego Monteiro (CCA-SA 3.0)

This image is a distant shot of the cave art at Toca da Boqueirão.

Courtesy Diego Rego Monteiro, (CCA-SA 4.0)

Here is a close up of the same image. I had to magnify this shot 400 times normal to learn the secrets of the paint application and in some cases what the artist did. Today’s technology is phenomenal!

This image is courtesy Artur Warchavchik (CCA-SA 3.0)

This image is fun! Must have been quite a dash!

Serra da Capivara National Park Cave Art (B4unorocha CCA-SA 3.0)

Here are some random images. I wanted to show a rhea, the large bird that is a bit like an ostrich.

Courtesy Artur Warchavchik (CCS-SA 3.0)

This image shows what people today call the tree ritual.

It is shown courtesy Vitor 1234 (CCA-SA 3.0)

Here’s another active scene. The great white gash is where some of the cave wall fell off.

Courtesy Augusto Pessos (CCA-SA 3.0)

This image totally fascinates me. There is a giant cat overshadowing the whole image. It’s comparatively huge. I did not address this but find the artwork arresting.