Cerritos de Indios

The Cerritos de Indios (Spanish for: Indian Mounds or Indian Little Hills) are a collection of more than 3000 tumuli or earth mounds found mainly in the eastern region of Uruguay and in the southernmost tip of Brazil.

Cerritos in Rocha, Uruguay.

Of different sizes and shapes some of them date back to 5000-4000 years ago. It is still unknown to this day the name or the fate of the people group responsible for its construction as they disappeared long before the arrival of the first european explorers and left no written records.[1]

In 2008 they were declared a National Historic Monument by the Uruguayan government.[2]

Archeological investigations have found ancient human remains buried alongside domestic dogs, pots, stone tools, corn seeds, pumpkins and beans, giving for the first time evidence of agricultural practices by the indigenous peoples of the region who were thought to not have discovered agriculture until the arrival of europeans.