Beautiful rock formations and
different trails in the oldest concentration of
prehistoric sites in the Americas

Going to the city of São Raimundo Nonato is a great journey through time and history. The town is located in the southern region of Piauí and is home to the Serra da Capivara National Park, a World Cultural Heritage Site.

Records tell us that the region was initially occupied by the farms of Domingos Afonso Mafrense and after his death they were donated to the Jesuits. With the Jesuits came settlers and adventurers, resulting in constant conflicts with the Tapuias tribe. 

By order of D. João Amorim Pereira, Governor of the Captaincy of Piauí, José Dias, known as Comandante Zé Dias, and his companions managed to conquer the region of what is now the Municipality of São Raimundo Nonato, amid much litigation, indigenous people, adventurers and settlers. After eight years of hard work, opening up roads and being exposed to various dangers.

By decree of the Regency of the Empire in 1832, São Raimundo Nonato was elevated to an ecclesiastical district,

with its headquarters in a place called Confusões, where a nucleus dedicated to farming and livestock was prospering. Elevated to the category of Village and Municipality in 1850, it acquired Town Status in 1912.  The Serra da Capivara National Park was created in 1979 to preserve archaeological remains of man’s earliest presence in South America. Its demarcation was completed in 1990 and the park is subordinate to the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio).  Because of its importance, UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List on December 13, 1991, and also on the Brazilian Tentative List as a mixed heritage site.

In 1993, the park was added to IPHAN’s Archaeological, Ethnographic and Landscape Book of Records. Around 400 archaeological sites have been located in the listed area. Most of them contain panels of paintings and rock engravings of great aesthetic and archaeological value. 

The area is part of one of Brazil’s 63 national parks and is among the ten that protect the caatinga, making up almost 40% of the country’s protected caatinga.

Serra da Capivara National Park

Serra da Capivara National Park is made up of four mountain ranges – Capivara, Branca, Talhada and Vermelha – which are home to many paintings considered to be the oldest on the American continent, as well as different environments and landscapes. Located in the semi-arid region, it has two well-defined seasons, one rainy and the other dry. It has 1,354 registered archaeological sites, 183 of which are open to visitors. To visit the park, you need to be accompanied by a tour guide.  

Open from Sunday to Sunday, from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Museum of American Man

The Museum of American Man is located at the headquarters of the foundation that bears its name (Fumdham) and its collection is made up of the results of research in the region, revealing the life of prehistoric man, giant animals, among other topics. There is an interesting interactive section in which visitors can put themselves in the role of an archaeologist.

The museum is closed on Mondays.