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Did You Know? Rock Art Neolithic urn burial Ostriches Pit Dwellings Memorials for the Dead Deer Burial Oldest Skull Harappan traders Stone Age tools Rock
shelters and caves in many parts of India, are host to a wealth of beautiful
and ancient paintings. Early hunter-gatherers depicted anima (Ackn: Picture reproduced from: E. Neumayer:1993. "Lines on Stone. The Prehistoric Rock Art of India" Manohar Pub:Delhi) Tekkalkota: Early farmers at this site, situated amidst granite hills in South India, lived in circular and square huts. People were buried within their own houses, often in large urns, as shown in this picture. Ground axes, sling balls, hammerstones, rubber-stones and pots were also used by these early farmers and pastoralists. Ostriches roamed over the plains of Central and Western India, around 30,000 years ago. Stone Age hunters used their egg shells to make beads and discs for necklaces. "Pit-dwellings of Kashmir": Many sites occupied by early farmers in Kashmir, have large deep pits, some with hearths, bone and terracotta objects and pottery. Some believe that these pits were "pit-dwellings" occupied during the cold winter months. Others scholars feel that some of these were grain storage areas. The Anal Nagas of Manipur (North-east India) still erect upright stones (menhirs) in memory of their dead ancestors. Such stones were erected during the Megalithic/Iron Age phase more than a 1000 years ago. ...another example of how traditions continue in India. A deer was buried in a large urn along with carnelian beads, a sword and axes; at the Megalithic site of Kodumanal in South India. Some bowls along with this bear graffiti marks. That the oldest skull in India, is called the "Narmada Man" and was found near the river Narmada.. It is associated with Lower Palaeolithic tools. It was possibly archaic Homo sapiens, and was very likely a female! That the Harappan settlers at Bagasra in Gujrat, exploited marine shells and semi-precious stones for trade. Some of their large jars, have graffiti in the Harappan script and have also been found in Oman.That our earliest ancestors made and used tools of stone? They chipped away at pebbles and cobbles and large flakes and made axes and cleavers, choppers and scrapers and many more tools. They used these to butcher animals, dig up roots and tubers, fashion tools of wood and bone and for many many more tasks which we take for granted today. Try your hand at chipping a stone into a symmetrical shape........ |
ls,
birds, plants, and scenes of hunting, gathering, fishing, and dancing on the
walls and roofs of their caves. They used mineral dyes to bring these images to
life. The earliest paintings date back to around 8000 years ago, and are
assigned to a phase called the Mesolithic. The most famous rock art images are
from the caves and rock shelters of Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh.