The paintings — made with red pigment, predominantly iron oxide — appear on the walls and ceilings of rock shelters and caves, representing human figures, animals, geometric forms, and complex scenes whose narrative or symbolic content is not fully understood.

Some of the images appear to depict hunting scenes or other activities.

Some appear to represent figures in ritual or ceremonial contexts.

Some are abstract geometric forms with no obvious representational content.

The chronology of the rock art is difficult to establish precisely — pigment is difficult to date directly, and the images cannot always be linked to datable archaeological contexts.

Some of the paintings in the Lagoa Santa region may be as old as the skeletal material; others may be significantly more recent.