pusharo

The authors, Rainer Hostnig and Raúl Carreño Collatupa, in their 2006 publication state:
"The rock support, - sandstone and not granitic as it erroneously appears in the literature about Pusharo, (...) apart from the thin surface layer of silica alteration, does not present greater resistance to percussion and could have been easily worked with simple stone tools of greater hardness, such as those abundant on the banks of the Palotoa River. (...) Due to its morpho-climatic characteristics, the place is periodically flooded by the river, while the eddies formed during the flood season in front of the cliffs on both sides have repeatedly removed the soil since the petroglyphs were made; because of this, it is practically impossible to find substrates that contain evidence of archaeological artifacts, such as ceramic fragments, lithic tools, organic materials like bone remains, fabrics or charcoal from fires, which would allow a relative dating of the engravings. Any speculation about their age would be premature. (...) A detailed analysis of the engravings would allow us to determine whether our hypothesis that the petroglyphs were made in a short period of time by members of the same ethnic group, without later rock additions, with the exception of some recent fakes, is sustainable or not. (...) Ferstl (1986) describes the execution technique used as percussion or deep chiseling, possibly carried out with axes or lithic hammers with subsequent finishing done by rubbing with a stone and wet sand. This observation is valid for most of the engravings on the panel".

We also highlight these words: "We agree with the Dominican father Aza (1923) who, shortly after the discovery of the Pusharo petroglyphs, (...) had concluded that the engravings are the work of an Amazonian people from the pre-Inca period. Deyermenjian (2000) agrees with this observation, mentioning that there is no indication to suspect an Inca cultural affiliation of the engravings. The fact that Inca-style stone axes have been found in the Palotoa River basin reveals the existence of Inca colonies in the area during the expansive period of the Tahuantinsuyo (1450 to 1533), but in no way can these findings be associated with the Pusharo engravings. "Quechuacentric" speculations, according to which the petroglyphs would be spatially organized according to the three levels of the Andean cosmological worldview (Hananpacha, Kaypacha and Ukuypacha), have no foundation and correspond to the perception of those who have difficulties in conceiving the existence of pre-Inca and, above all, Amazonian peoples capable of expressing their ideas and myths in a symbolic and abstract language through their own system of visual representation and a complex semantics".

"Due to the high degree of abstraction of the graphics, it is assumed that they were the work of a culturally advanced Amazonian society that inhabited the area perhaps one or two thousand years ago. It will be difficult to establish the exact cultural affiliation of the authors and there will possibly always be doubt as to whether they were the ancestors of the Matsigenkas or members of a different ethnic group that has disappeared, leaving as the only palpable trace of their passage through the world this extraordinary rock art on the banks of the Palotoa River.

We believe that the interpretation closest to reality is the one that advocates for the shamanic origin of the Pusharo engravings, as already observed by Vega Centeno (1996) and Deyermenjian (2000). In this case, and based on the writings of Reichel-Dolmatoff (1971, 1978) and Schultes & Hofmann (1992), the petroglyphs would be abstract representations of the cosmology, mythical and spiritual world depicted on the rock by the "dreamers" of the Amazonian world, possessors of a global and precise perception of the universe that is given to them at the moment of the shamanic trance produced by hallucinogenic plants (Ayahuasca or the extract of other plants). In the case of the Matsigenkas, the trance produced by these plants enables the shamans to contact the saanka'rite or protective spirits that inhabit the forest, and when the shaman, instead of taking ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis sp.) or tobacco, ingests other plant juices, he can achieve visions in which a powerful jaguar appears, who protects the Matsigenkas, but whose true form is human. (...) It is possible that a highly schematized and repetitive motif from Pusharo (T sign with a vertical appendix like a feather headdress) represents this shamanic vision of a jaguar or the transfiguration of a shaman into a feline.

It is important to emphasize that the meaning of graphic symbols, metaphors, and allegories, which today seem impenetrable to us, was common and understandable to contemporary members of the ethnic group. However, the study of myths can help decipher some of the symbols. For example, the motif of the heads that appear engraved in different shapes and sizes most likely represents masks, as it was and still is a widespread custom among Amazonian peoples to represent the extrahuman beings of their myths through masks made of different materials (gourd, baked clay, wood, and tree bark). For the Piros, Shipibo-Conibos, and Matsigenkas, these mythological beings are the spiritual owners and protectors of forest resources, particularly the game animals that, as they are dangerous and ferocious, must be neutralized by the masks in which they have transformed. (Baer, 1998, Vega C. 2003:70, citing Baer).

The few ethnographic data published on Pusharo are owed to researchers Baer, Ferstl, and Dubelaar (1983). (...) The authors state that, according to the Matsigenkas' belief, these petroglyphs, called Sankena'rintsi by them, were made by their cultural hero Chaenka’vane.

The natives visited the site at irregular intervals, particularly when they went hunting for a special type of monkey that inhabits this part of their communal territory. During their visits to the site, they painted some petroglyphs that they considered important (faces, puma tracks, sinuous lines indicating rivers), with a blue-black vegetable paint made from huito (Genipa americana), also used (like achiote) for facial and body paints."