DIVERSITY OF ROCK ART FROM RIO-VERMELHO - THE SITE GLEBA-DA-CERCA (RONDONOPOLIS, MATO-GROSSO, BRAZIL)

Located between Rondonopolis in the east and the confluence with the S ao Lourenco in the west, on the edge of Pantanal (the biggest swamp in the world), the rio Vermelho incises deep the continental sandstone p lateau. The most important rock art area of the Mato Grosso is precise ly there, in the middle of a maze of residual rock outcrops above both banks of the river. From 1983 to 1995 co-operative researches associa ting the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle of Paris (Prehistoric La boratory) and the University of Sao Paulo (Museum of Archaeology and E thnology) (researches directed by A. Vilhena Vialou) were concentrated on the left bank of the rio. Thanks to a program of systematic prospe cting, approximately 60 rock art sites (rock faces, shelters and caves ) were discovered along the river or in the middle of the plateau. Som e of them have been published, others are still being studied. As part of the Rock Art program directed by D. Vialou together with the autho r, the recent research extension (1995-1996) on the right bank has alr eady enable to localize 5 other rock art sites, among those was Gleba da Cerca. A first collective and pluridisciplinary study (rock art and archaeological soundings) concerning that setting was made and is pre sented in the following pages. With its themes (essentially abstract o nes) and its expression techniques (engraving and sculpture) the art o f Gleba da Cerca had introduced a certain diversity in the rio Vermelh o area, which used to be considered as rather homogeneous. The future and planned extension of the excavations around the decorated rock fac es should enable to define the chrono-cultural data peculiar to that o riginal setting.