The oldest petroglyph in North America, with a history of more than 10,000 years

Paleo Indians are often considered pioneering explorers or experts in mammoth hunters. But the new age of geometric rock carvings in Lake Winnemaca Basin, Nevada, now shows that they were also accomplished artists.

A team led by Larry Benson, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Colorado, was able to date carbonate crusts covered with petroglyphs. Benson concludes that the artwork must have been created more than 10,000 years ago, when the carving was submerged under the lake's higher waters and covered with carbonate. "We know they're old," he said. "We just didn't know they were that old." According to Benson, ancient artists may have made these carvings as early as 15,000 years ago.

The rock paintings of Lake Winnemaca, Nevada, are believed to be more than 10,000 years old

What those artists want to depict is not yet clear. Some petroglyphs may represent clouds and lightning, others are diamonds, and some patterns may represent trees. Whatever the inspiration for the carvings, the Pyramid Lake Paiut tribe that owned the Lake Winnemucca basin still considers them sacred to this day.