The Mysterious Connection: Cave Paintings Separated by 14,000 Kilometers

Across vast distances and oceans, two ancient cave paintings one in Caxingó, Piauí, Brazil, and the other in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India have baffled archaeologists with their striking similarities. Despite being separated by more than 14,000 kilometers (about 8,700 miles), both paintings share a unique design: 13 vectors converging toward a central point.

Paintings of India (left) and Brazil (right) and the detail of the equal amount of vectors converging towards the center.

My focus at first turned to this phytomorphic looking painting.

The painting in a closer view.

From this perspective, our featured image is one of the branches of this tree. In this case, the 13 vectors are actually 13 fruits.

The identical nature of these cave paintings raises intriguing questions.

Were these distant civilizations somehow connected, or is this similarity a result of parallel thinking, a coincidence of human creativity emerging independently across continents?

In this panel we also see two very interesting scenes of fruit gathering. One of them, drawn in fine lines, is formed by a tree, with several of its branches full of fruit forming circular clusters, which is climbed by an anthropomorphic figure who has a bag or basket hanging from one of his arms to collect the fruit.

In both Brazil and India, these ancient artworks have sparked debates among researchers, who are eager to understand the symbolism and meaning behind the 13 converging lines. Could they represent celestial patterns, communal gathering points, or spiritual symbols shared by distant cultures?

Section of the immense decorated panel of the Arco do Covão, highlighted, a painting with a phytomorphic appearance, very similar to the painting found in India.

Whatever the answer, these two cave paintings offer a fascinating glimpse into the creativity and mystery of our ancestors, showing that even across great distances, human expression can converge in astonishing ways.