A study of the Serrote do Letreiro Site (meaning “Signpost Hill”) in Brazil’s Paraíba State has led to the discovery of an assemblage of petroglyphs alongside dinosaur tracks.
The Serrote do Letreiro site has three rock outcrops covering an area of 15,000 square metres. The site is situated in the Vale dos Dinossauros Natural Monument (Known as Dinosaur Valley), located on the periphery of the Sousa Basin in the Sousa municipality.
A recent study, published in the journal scientific reports, reveals that the outcrops have fossilised footprints from the Early Cretaceous Period, left behind by theropods, sauropods, and iguanodontian dinosaurs.
The earliest mention of dinosaur tracks from the Sousa region date back to the early 20th century, with the first palaeontological study conducted in 1975.
A later publication in 1979 gave reference to the existence of petroglyphs (referred to as "Cariri Indian carvings"), however, no further investigations were carried out to document the findings.
In a recent study at Serrote do Letreiro, archaeologists have found a series of petroglyphs alongside the dinosaur tracks, which according to the researchers are mainly characterised by circular motifs similar to petroglyphs found in the states of Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte.