Abrigo rocoso
Las Tinajas

Location
On the southern slopes of the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano, located near the Viscoyola Creek, in premontane (subtropical) rainforest.
Area size
17 m long by 5.50 m high.
Dating

300-800 A.D.

Access

Private

Description

It is one of the four sites in the mountain range reported to have petro-engravings and paintings. It has engraved decorations and was later painted with the colors red, white, and black.

Anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric motifs are used as decorations in this place, including heads, turtles, wavy lines, concentric crosses, grids, and specific depictions of a potential phytomorphic character. Stylistically, its decorations correspond with those of the other two rock shelters (such as Los Ahogados and Paso Hondito), as well as with other rocks located outdoors.

Although it was visited for several investigations and modern photographs were published showing a large number of different motifs, no topographic plan of the site was produced until 2021 with the studies of the Guanacaste Archaeological Project or PRAG.

Gallery
Processing techniques

Picoteado

Raspado

Pintura

In addition to the use of percussion and abrasion techniques, the representations were painted with red, white, and black tones, possibly applied with brushes.