Native artists in Texas and Mexico shared their vision of the universe for 4,000 years, ancient murals suggest

Archaeologists often seek to understand ancient cultures by studying images left behind on rock faces. While these images vary widely, they're a global phenomenon. In fact, petroglyphs and painted murals created by past societies have so far been found on every continent, except Antarctica.

And, in a new study, researchers say they’ve found evidence of consistent imagery on cliff faces, caverns and natural recesses in 12 sites in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands — an archeological region in southwestern Texas and Northern Mexico — providing evidence of consistent themes in the murals across 175 generations. They say this continuity suggests that, in both regions, hunter-gatherers' conception of the universe — which the team calls their "cosmovision" — stayed largely the same across roughly 4,0