This presentation highlights a unique South American tradition of monumental rock art and links it to the extant archaeological and ethnographic knowledge of the Orinoco River. Previously understood mostly in outline, Orinoco rock art is experiencing unprecedented levels of attention. First it discusses recent data on the distribution and role of monumental rock art, all of which are engravings (or petroglyphs), including some of the possibly largest individual figures in the world. The presentation also tackles the not-so-monumental painted rock art found in the much more intimate spaces of rock shelters, and on river boulders spread across the Atures Rapids whose engravings are subject to seasonal flooding. It argues that extant Indigenous myths and legends are key to understanding the rock art record in its landscape setting. The results of research in the Middle-Upper Orinoco, undertaken since 2016, underline how prominent engravings structured the social environment pointing this unique lowland South American tradition of art production. As the title “Great Snakes!” implies, the focus is on the significance of this creature (Boidae, anaconda) but also highlights other rock art figures, key personages that are still imbued with potency and meaning among Indigenous peoples today
