Inga Stone

The Pedra do Inga is a gneiss outcrop in the bed of the Inga River, about twenty-four metres of it carved with figures cut deep into the rock and polished smooth - spirals, human forms, animals, star-like clusters and shapes with no obvious referent. The carvings are attributed to pre-Columbian populations and are usually placed within the last few thousand years, but there is no accepted reading of what they represent, and the vacuum has been filled by a long series of proposals, from astronomical calendars to Phoenician script to extraterrestrials, none supported by evidence. The site is fenced with a walkway and a small interpretation centre. The river runs over it in the wet season, which both protects and periodically hides the carvings.

What you actually see

• Deep polished grooves - figures cut into gneiss across twenty-four metres.
• Unread symbols - spirals, figures and star-like clusters with no agreed meaning.
• A riverbed setting - carvings in the bed, covered when the river runs.
• A century of speculation - the theories the absence of evidence has attracted.

When to go

All year, though the dry months expose more of the rock. Two hours.

Honest expectations

The site is small and a visit takes under an hour. Water covers part of it after rain. Interpretation is limited and in Portuguese, and some of the material on offer locally leans into the speculative theories. There is little shade.

Nearby

Campina Grande is west; Lajedo de Pai Mateus is further into the Cariri.