We got to Lore's house at 6:30 AM got a couple of hours of sleep. Around 10 AM we went to the Setor de Arqueologia of the Museu de Historia Natural at UFMG. Lore caught up on some work and I had a meeting with Prous. Among other things, we discussed the difficulties of doing research across political borders in Brazil. Few, if any, Brazilian researchers have had the opportunity to pursue the multi-regional (multi-State) research that I am currently undertaking. The researchers in charge of the various archaeological areas seldom (if ever) grant permission for archaeologists from other areas to visit "their" sites. Rather than first-hand observation, researchers have had to rely upon published drawings to draw comparisons between the various traditions of Brazilian rock art. These drawings fall pitifully short of conveying even a fraction of the information garnered by first-hand observation.

Prous and Lore were eager to show me their recordings of sites I didn't visit. They rolled out sheet after huge sheet of velum with 1:4 scale color drawings of sites from other areas of Minas. I saw several sites I would like to visit the next time I get down here, including sites near Montalvânia and a few close to Belo Horizonte. I selected a few and they let me take them outside to photograph them. Lore and Prous went back to work, and I walked around the botanical park for a while.

We had lunch at "Sabor de M!nas" then went downtown so I could buy some CDs and film. That evening I had a fancy dinner (pizza and beer) with Prous at his house. We went through my fieldbooks from the last several years of research, discussing almost every drawing in detail. After the official work, he treated me to a private concert of Baroque and Classical lute (he's rather good, and his instruments were not too shabby either!) This was a very relaxing end to an exciting week.

Fri 6 July

I left Belo Horizonte on a Transnorte at 2:30 in the afternoon for Buenópolis. At 7:30 I arrived at the Pousada Pimenta —an absolutely beautiful hotel. The dang garrapatos (ticks, chiggers, and no-seeums) and mosquitoes from Peruaçu left their legacy on my arms, and the dang ônibus seat left its legacy on my, well, lower lumbar region. Where I didn't itch, I was sore.

Buenópolis is a cute little town, tucked away in a little valley between the Serra do Cabral to the west and the Sera de Minas to the east. All the architecture looks recent, no colonial buildings that I could see. Up the central street from the hotel I could hear music blasting from the trunk of a car. It wasn't forro, but a quasi-forro quasi-American folk music (traditional forro instrumentation, but American folk chord structures).

I met my guide, Sr. Paulo Menezes, at the hotel later in the evening. He was a well dressed man, soft spoken, and rather adamant that his price of R$100 per day could not change. After a stroll through town, I retired to my room.

Sat 7 July

I had a great sleep and a wonderful hot shower. Sr. Paulo arrived around 8 AM in an old beat up truck and we headed up into the serra. After about an hour of driving we came to the first of two sites I wanted to see: Lapa da Chuva. The paintings were in a shallow alcove at the bottom of a large granite outcrop —one of several in the vicinity. The motifs were mostly large monochrome "deer," fairly naturalistic, with linear internal elaborations. Several of them had what appeared to be darts or spears impaled in their torsos. These paintings reminded me of photos I'd seen of the rock art near Montalvânia.

We met the man who worked the area, Sr. Jeronimo Texeira de Toledo, and sat and talked with him a little. I left to explore the nearby lajes while Paulo and Jeronimo chatted. I found paintings in two more small shelters within a couple hundred meters of the first site. The last of these had four very odd motifs which, to me, looked like possible representations of bee hives.

Link to photos: Lapa da Chuva

I made a wide loop back to the first site and we drove to another part of the serra to the most important site for my research: Lapa do Macaco. Again, the site was a cluster of granite lajes -in fact, the entire serra was made up of rolling grasslands spotted with patches of burití, pequi, maniçoba, and other low vegetation, and hundreds of lajes. Even in the midst of a dryer than normal dry season, there were many flowing stream in this serra.

The paintings at Lapa do Macaco were spread across the south, west, and north sides of the outcrop. The south panel had the "macaco," as well as a huge "deer" and another zoomorph Paulo called a lobinho (little wolf). The "deer" was in the same style as the paintings at Lapa da Chuva —the quasi-Montalvânia style— but the "lobinho" and the "macaco" were in a radically different style. As I suspected (as far back as 1998 when Paulo Seda introduced me to the site at a congress in Portugal), the "macaco" was in an open-contour style, like the Angelim Style from Piauí and Bahia. This raises some serious questions about the possibility of a separate "Tradition" of rock art in Piauí, Bahia, and Minas. My dissertation just got a bit more interesting.

Link to photos: Lapa do Macaco

After about an hour of shooting and drawing, we drove over to a little ranch for lunch. Paulo built this for Seda's archaeological team to use during their fieldwork in the serra. It had quite a few amenities, including a nice bathroom, several bunk beds, a good stove, and a bottle of "field" cachaça tucked away in the corner (which, of course, I had to sample). After lunch (and a couple more "samples") Paulo and I began to chat a little more freely. I learned that this part of the serra (with all the cool rock art) is part of his rather substantial property. His fazenda (ranch) is down in the valley, and he herds cattle and goats between there and this high serra.

We drove back into town, pausing to take a few shots of the incredible landscape. We talked quite a bit along the way. I asked about the local cachaça. Minas is the cachaça capital of Brazil, and I wanted to bring some back to Bahia for some friends. As we entered the outskirts of town Paulo stopped at a little fazenda. This was not just any fazenda, it was Fazenda do Condado, the premier cachaça distillery in Buenópolis! I was treated to a walking tour of the facility by the owner, Sr. Antonio Texeira Toledo. The last stop of the tour was the room where they bottled the cachaça. Antonio got a glass and tapped me a sample directly from the giant cask. It was quite good!

I asked if I could buy two bottles —one for me and one for Luydy (the Mineiro trapped in Bahia). Antonio said no. He insisted that I take four bottles, fresh from the cask, for free! Since they were being bottled right there for me, I asked to have one of the labels put on upside-down (as a special souvenir). They were a little perplexed by this strange request. I told them that with the label upside-down, it was only possible to read the name when the bottle was in its "proper" position: upside-down after pouring the last glass. They got a real kick out of this.

Back at the hotel I paid Paulo the R$100 for his services. I explained that I had only budgeted R$150 for all three days in the field here. I asked if it was possible to spend only half a day in the serra tomorrow for R$50. Again, he was quite firm with his price. He explained that even a half day would require the same gas for his old truck. After seeing the roads and trails, I understood completely. I thanked him kindly and retired to my room to get cleaned up.

Later in the evening Sra. Marta (the hotel owner) told me that Paulo had called and agreed to take me into the serra again, for only R$50! I guess I'd made a new friend. I'd been told that the way to a mineiro's heart is to share good cachaça with him.

Sun 8 July

Paulo picked me up at 9 AM for our abbreviated day in the field. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had brought his daughter, Regina Paula, to join us in the field. She is a second year fine arts student at UFMG, and he thought it would be good for us to talk about art programs in the States (and she speaks English very well).

The first cluster of sites we visited were in the Lapa do Pintado Region. Paulo didn't remember the names Seda had given each site. The paintings were the same general styles as the others, dominated by large linear "deer" with "darts." A couple of panels really caught my eye. One small shelter had a concentric circle motif on the ceiling and a large "monkey-omorph" on the back wall. Another shelter had an open-contour zoomorph in the same style as Macaco. There was also an elongated anthropomorph in apparently the same hand, just below and to the left of the zoomorph.

We drove to another group of lajes called Corral da Pedra. Again, almost every major outcrop had paintings. We found many "deer," as well as a huge "monkey" and an Angelim-esque "dog." The most unusual panel featured a well conserved geometric motif that appeared to be quite unusual for the region. We drove a little farther and went to one of Seda's more important excavations. The site is called Lapa do Pintado, but the paintings in the primary shelter are no longer visible due to thick carbon build-up from recent campfires. Now, all that is visible are hundreds of recent historic inscriptions. A real shame.

I poked around the lajes and shot a few more paintings while Paulo disappeared to look for a specific panel. We met back at the main shelter for lunch, then Paulo took us to the panel he'd found. By now he pretty much understood what I was looking for, and proved it by showing me another "macaco" in the open-contour style. After completing my work, I engaged Regina in a conversation about "Style" and the differences between the figures I was studying and the dominant regional style. She understood. She has a good eye and quite a head on her shoulders.

Link to photos: Lapa do Pintado Area

After poking around an abandoned mining area to hunt for crystals, we made the long, slow drive down from the serra. Paulo and Regina dropped me off at the hotel and headed back to the fazenda. I spent the evening making arrangements for the next leg of my trip. I had to rely on the generous assistance of Claudia in Bahia to make all the necessary phone calls to São Paulo and Tocantins.

Mon 9 July

Today was just rest and recuperation. In addition to reading and writing, I sewed up my "field" jeans, and walked into town to buy some CDs of local music (musica sertaneja mineira).

Tue 10 July

This was the start of a long journey from Minas to Tocantins (TO). I caught the 4:30 PM Gontijo to Curvelo. We arrived at 6:40 and I bought a ticket to Brasília DF (Distrito Federal). The bus (Itapemirim) was a little late, but by 10:30 I was on my way.

Wed 11 July

At 7:30 AM we arrived in Brasília (I was quite surprised to hear Led Zeppelin's "All of My Love" blasting from the speakers in the cavernous rodoviária). As tradition would have it, the only bus to Palmas TO was a commercial Transbrasiliana that wouldn't depart until 3 PM —and there were no more seats available. I paced back and forth in front of the ticket counter having no idea what I would do. I guess the ticket agent sensed my desperation and felt a little sorry for me, because he disappeared for a moment then returned with a ticket. I didn't ask any questions, I just took the ticket.

I checked by bags and walked out to a little road-side shack for lunch and refreshments. It was extremely hot and dry. After a few hours nose began to hurt. I'd heard that even people who live here suffer nose-bleeds in the dry season. At 3 PM I was off to Palmas.

Thu 12 July

I arrived in Palmas at 6:30 AM (38 hours after leaving Buenópolis) and got a R$10 taxi to the Hotel dos Buritis. Wow! What a nice hotel (5 Stars, by my standards --not by those of the Guia Quatro Rodas, however, just to be clear)! I cleaned up and met the University of São Paulo archaeology team at breakfast. Since they thought I would arrive last night (and I didn't), they cancelled the guide for today. This turned out to be rather fortunate. I learned I had to rent my own car, and the cost would only allow for two days in the field, not the three I had planned for.

I rented a car (Volkswagen Gol) and drove around Palmas a bit. The city was only built a few years ago, and had a lot of very beautiful modern architecture and monuments. I was glad I had air conditioning, since it was easily 38ºC (100ºF) outside, and dry as heck. That evening I had dinner with the USP team and got to know them a little. With typical Brazilian hospitality and gusto they invited me to go with them to a forro. Of course I accepted. By the time they got me back to the hotel I was wiped out from two days of travelling and one night of trying to dance.

Fri 13 July

Roni, the guide who Dr. Paulo de Blasis (Paulé) had arranged for me, met me at the hotel around 7 AM. It was quite a privilege to have his help. Paulé pulled him away from his duties with one of the other teams to show me the rock art sites. This was necessary since Júlia Berra, the researcher in charge of the rock art, had to return to São Paulo and couldn't show me the sites herself. All these plans started with conversations Paulé and I had in New Orleans, at the SAA meeting in April. From that point on, he and Júlia bent over backwards to insure that I could get to see the sites.

We drove out of the city to the north, then about 15k east on a dirt road to the foot of the Serra Lajeado. I was a bit tied from the late night forro, and when Roni pointed out the distant site —easily a kilometer of climbing— I got the feeling that I might not survive the day. After about an hour of up-hill hiking, with several stops to keep my heart from exploding, we arrived at the long stretch of exposed rock near the top of the serra, and the first site. Roni didn't know the names of the sites. They are relatively new, unpublished, and not widely known.

The paintings at Site No. 1 were different from anything I knew in the Nordeste. I could make out several slightly different styles: 1) light red finger-painted (some zoomorphs and geometric motifs); 2) dark red finger-painted (several zoomorphs); 3) dark red solid figures (older? some "dart-throwers," plant-like motifs, one "fish" and one anthropomorph); 4) dark red thin-line painted (two anthropomorphs); 5) dry pigment drawings (scattered motifs, lines, patterns); and, 6) one thin-line painted figure unlike any other at the site (an open-contour anthropomorph, up in the highest panel).

We continued northeast along the parede (exposed rock wall) about a hundred meters or so to the next site, Site No. 2. There were only a few paintings: one group of yellow painted motifs (vertical lines, quasi-anthropomorphic); a weird red painted motif (dart-thrower?); and a group of red-monochrome zoomorphs ("deer"). Another hundred meters from here was the last site of the parede, Site No. 3, where I finally got a GPS reading (and learned that we'd ascended about 500m from the trailhead). This site had a lot of zoomorphs in the same style as most others I'd seen, and one weird "centipede-looking" motif.

At some point while I was shooting photos a yellow wasp flew into my t-shirt through the sleeve. As soon as I felt something I made the mistake of trying to pick it out. The little bugger stung me pretty good on my side. I pulled it out and showed Roni, who was rather worried. He said they cause people to swell up and get sick. It didn't effect me that bad, just a little swelling and a sharp pain.

Link to photos: Serra Lajeado Sites 1-4

The other sites were several hours away by foot. I was a little tired and content to call it a day. I took Roni home and was back at the hotel by 4 PM. I managed to hang out with the USP team when they got in from the field, but only briefly. I was sound asleep by 8 PM.

Sun 14 July

Roni met me at the hotel and we headed back to the same access road to Serra Lajeado. The trailhead was about half a kilometer northwest from the one we used to the first sites. Roni told me this trail would be longer and a little more difficult, but I was well rested and ready...

then it got interesting...

No more than 30 minutes into the hike I got that bad feeling in my gut —that feeling that comes when the guide stops, backtracks a little, then looks around with the tell-tale facial expression of being completely lost.

We meandered around the talus, occasionally catching a glimpse of the distant parede. Roni knew the site was up there somewhere, but the parede stretched over a kilometer from north to south. Rather than following some of the animal trails that switchbacked across the talus, Roni insisted upon a direct ascent, straight up the slope, no trails, no apparent destination but the top. The talus got increasingly steeper as we hiked, until we had to basically crawl through the thick brush. Perhaps the only saving grace —apart from my facão (machete)— was the nature of the local flora. This area is not caatinga like the Sertão do Nordeste, but mato cerrado (closed forest, typical of the highlands of the Amazonian watershed —Amazônia Legal). At least we had shade from time to time.

After a couple of hours of torturous trail-blazing we arrived at the top, a short distance from one of the many cachoeiras (waterfalls) along the rim of the serra. Since this was the dry season, the cachoeiras were not flowing with a lot of water, only trickles, but enough to fill the water bottles and cool off our hot necks and heads. The terrain was the rockiest at these spots and the most dense with huge shade trees. We decided to follow the rim to the north in hopes of coming across the site. It was all up and down, no trail, and some serious scrambling in places. At least we came to a cachoeira every twenty minutes or so.

After about an hour of pushing our way along the parede, the terrain became too difficult to continue. Roni made his way a little farther, with considerable difficulty, while I rested and took a GPS reading. He returned and confirmed that we'd reached the north end of the parede. We turned back and made our way to the spot we first hit the top, and continued following the parede south. The cachoeiras became increasingly difficult to traverse, requiring us to abandon several trails we'd cut, back up, and try different routes. We finally came to a wonderful clearing where we could sit and take lunch.

There were signs of animals recently foraging through the underbrush and leaves. Roni said these were porcos do mato (wild pigs), then after a brief pause uttered the following phrase with a rather unsettling grin: "Onde tem porcos, tem onças" ("Where you have pigs, you have jaguars"). Great.

We had hiked for over four hours and covered over a kilometer of the rim. Roni felt certain that we were close to the site. From our lunch area we could see the parede across the serra where we had been the day before. We continued south until we came to a bend in the serra, around to the east. Here we hit a sheer drop-off and had to back up, climb (slide) down, and climb (claw) our way back up. We came to a group of huge boulders and Roni's pace picked up a little. I did my best to cut and claw my way behind him. When we finally got back up to the rim he smiled and confirmed we'd arrived at the site.

Thankfully, the site had hundreds of paintings, stretching over at least 50 m of the parede. There were many good spots to rest in the shade, a rockshelter, and several large boulders. Roni rested while I took photos and made drawings. The art was basically consistent with the other sites. A few geometric motifs and a few groups of anthropomorphs seemed quite unique, but not a radical departure from the regional styles (at least in my limited experience). After photographing a large, fresh snake-skin we headed down from the site along a clear, easy trail to the car.

Link to photos: Serra Lajeado Site 5

After returning the rental car, I hung out with the USP team back at the hotel, recounting the day's ordeal. They were quite entertained with the tale. They twisted my arm into going out to another forro with them. I did my best to keep up with all the dancing and associated festivities, but by 11 PM I was exhausted. I hailed a moto-taxi and retreated to the hotel. What a day.