There’s plenty of mystery to explore in Brazil. Astonishing archaeological sites include a petroglyph found carved into bedrock in Lapa do Santo in the central part of the country, thought to be over 10,000 years old and the oldest example of American rock art so far discovered. In northern Brazil’s Amazon River Basin, close to the town of Monte Alegre, pictographs on the walls within the Caverna da Pedra Pintada, or Painted Rock Cave, are among the earliest discovered in the Americas. The images, rediscovered by archaeologist Anna C. Roosevelt, include geometric designs, and a drawing of woman giving birth.

Brazil is also home to an impressive megalithic site near Calçoene. The mysterious stone circle is composed of 127 standing blocks of granite, positioned on a slope above the Rego Grande River. Called the Tropical Stonehenge or Amazon Stonehenge by locals, the site was first reported by Swiss-Brazilian naturalist Emilio Goeldi towards the end of the 19th century. Since that time, other sites have also been noted along the Rego Grande, thought to have been constructed by a pre-Columbian society. Intriguing artifacts, bones and pottery have been found in pits nearby, covered by large slabs of stone.