Some of the earliest known art completed by humans was painted onto rocks throughout the world. This makes since given that paintings on other materials likely wouldn’t have lasted this long.

Of the many examples of rock paintings in the world, the ones completed by Native Americans in Southeastern Texas are among the most impressive.

According to a study published in the journal Science Advances, the artists followed a set of motifs and styles in their murals for thousands of years. The concepts depict things like circular time, the universe being separated into layers, and much more. The author of the study, Carolyn Boyd, said in a statement:

“These paintings may be the oldest surviving visual record of the same core cosmology that later shaped Mesoamerican civilizations and is manifested today throughout Indigenous America. They show that complex religious and philosophical thought arose among foragers long before the rise of cities and states.”

The style of painting is called Pecos River Style (PRS) and it includes human and animal-like images that are arranged on massive murals.

These compositions can be as much as 30.5 meters (100 feet) in length. The researchers conducted radiocarbon dating on some of them and found that they were completed as far back as 5760-5385 years ago, with some being done as recently as 1370-1035 years ago.

This means that those living in this region used the same techniques and styles for over 4000 years, which is remarkable. That is an estimated 175 generations of painters in this indigenous tribe.

The painting was done by applying black paint to the rock, and then letting it dry. After that, they would repeat the process with red tones, then yellow, and finally white. This technique likely produced striking images at the time, and allowed them to survive over the millennia.

As one would expect, the various murals depict many different things regarding the beliefs, practices, and overall way of life of the tribes throughout time.

The specific names of the tribes likely changed over the years, and those details have been lost to history. There are, however, still indigenous people living in the region that are almost certainly the direct descendants of those who painted the rocks thousands of years ago.

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