Ancient murals painted on limestone rock shelters in southwest Texas carried a shared spiritual worldview across generations of hunter-gatherers for more than 4,000 years, according to a new study.
Researchers analyzed murals in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands that contain vivid images painted by forager societies along the Pecos River and its tributaries. The study, led by Karen L. Steelman of the Shumla Archaeological Research & Education Center, confirms that this visual tradition, known as Pecos River style, began as early as 5,760 years ago and continued until about 1,035 years ago.
Using radiocarbon dating techniques on 12 rock shelter sites, the team dated 57 paint samples directly and 25 more from surrounding mineral layers. Their findings, published in the journal Science Advances, suggest the murals were part of a cultural system that preserved beliefs recognizable in later Mesoamerican traditions.
Researchers said the murals were not random images added over time. Instead, they were created with care and consistency, following a sequence of darker to lighter colors and featuring repeated symbols.
Among the recurring figures are human-like forms, animals, and abstract elements such as ladders, power bundles, and dart tips. These elements were arranged in complex compositions, often covering large sections of rock shelter walls.
Stratigraphic analysis confirmed that each mural was painted in a single event rather than in separate episodes. The team used digital microscopy to examine how paint layers overlapped, revealing a repeated pattern in the application of colors: black first, then red, yellow, and finally white.
Chemical testing showed the pigments came from local iron and manganese minerals. Organic traces found in the paints suggest the artists used natural binders such as animal fats and plant extracts, including yucca.
Steelman explained that the long-term consistency in both style and content reflects a structured belief system.
She said this belief system likely played a role in shaping the religious symbols and cosmology found later in Mesoamerican societies far to the south.
The murals appear to have been painted in significant locations, such as canyons, springs, and shelters, which researchers describe as places of cultural and spiritual power.
These Texas murals, preserved through time in remote limestone shelters, offer what the team calls the earliest known graphic expression of a Pan-American metaphysical worldview.
With over 130 known Pecos River style sites, researchers believe the murals reflect a deep-rooted system of knowledge that remained stable despite thousands of years of environmental and social change.