‘The Sistine Chapel of the ancients’

Archæologists have documented tens of thousands of ice-age paintings that stretch across nearly 13 kilometres of cliff face in Colombia. They depict patterns, figures, handprints and animals, including now-extinct species such as mastodons, palæolamas, giant sloths and ice-age horses. The discovery was made last year but is only now being revealed to coincide with the release of a television documentary that includes the art. The paintings are in the Serranía de la Lindosa, near the Chiribiquete national park, another site that is rich with prehistoric art.