An Unknown Ancient Civilization in India Carved This Rock Art
Hikers are cataloging the petroglyphs in the western part of Maharashtra state
Ratnagiri rock art
One of the human figures depicted in the newly documented petroglyphs (Ratnagiri tourism)
By Marissa Fessenden
smithsonian.com
October 2, 2018
A passion for hiking first brought two engineers into the hills and plateaus of India’s picturesque Konkan coast. But now they return for clues to the identify of a lost civilization.
As BBC Marathi’s Mayureesh Konnur reports, the duo, Sudhir Risbood and Manoj Marathe, have helped catalog hundreds of rock carvings etched into the stone of hilltops in the western part of India’s Maharashtra state. The depictions include a crocodile, elephant, birds, fishes and human figures. They may date back to 10,000 B.C., and they come from the hands of people who belonged to an as-yet-unknown civilization. Some of the petroglyphs were hidden beneath soil and mud deposited during the intervening millennia. Others were well-known by locals and considered holy.
Risbood and Marathe have been hiking for years, leading a small group of enthusiastic explorers to interview locals and rediscover this lost art. “We walked thousands of kilometers,” Risbood tells BBC Marathi. “People started sending photographs to us and we even enlisted schools in our efforts to find them. We made students ask their grandparents and other village elders if they knew about any other engravings.”
The region had three documented petroglyph sites before the hikers started their search, reported Mayuri Phadnis for the Pune Mirror in 2015. The duo initially identified 10 new sites home to 86 petroglyphs. “Judging by the crudity, they seem to have been made in the Neolithic era,” Sachin Joshi, a researcher with Pune’s Deccan College of Archeology said. Just a few months later, in a follow up story for the Pune Mirror, Phadnis reported that thanks to support from the district administration, the hiking group identified 17 more sites, and its petroglyph count had reached above 200.
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unknown-ancient-civilization-india-carved-strange-hilltop-rock-art-180970441/#IKSx0L25HM2jBIyQ.99
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Can't imagine how exciting it must be finding these petroglyphs.
Intriguing Petroglyphs Reveal Traces Of A Lost Ancient Civilization In India
AncientPages.com | October 4, 2018
AncientPages.com - A new set of petroglyphs may offer evidence of a lost advanced civilization that existed thousands of years ago.
The rock art was found in India's western state of Maharashtra. Archaeologists say it’s unknown who created these prehistoric rock carvings depicting animals, humans, and geometric designs.
Scientists are also puzzled by how the artists were able to produce recognizable carvings of non-native species, like rhinos and hippopotamuses, that usually reside in Africa.
. . .
But the truly interesting aspect of these petroglyphs is that they depict animals like hippos and rhinoceroses which aren't found in this part of India. Did the people who created them migrate to India from Africa? Or were these animals once found in India?
http://www.ancientpages.com/2018/10/04/intriguing-petroglyphs-reveal-traces-of-a-lost-ancient-civilization-in-india/
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IN INDIA FOUND THE PICTURES OF AN UNKNOWN ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
Nash Konston | October 2, 2018
More:
https://bobrtimes.com/in-india-found-the-pictures-of-an-unknown-ancient-civilization/119427/
10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
By Anirudh - July 1, 2016
Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), also known as Harappan Civilization after its first find-spot Harappa, was the largest of the four great ancient civilizations. It covered an area consisting of most of modern Pakistan, a significant part of India and parts of Afghanistan. It lasted for at least 1600 years. Its beginning date is not yet known but it did collapse due to unknown reasons somewhere around 16th century BC. Indus Valley Civilization is famous for its advanced engineering, well planned cities and a drainage system which wouldn’t be bettered for many centuries. Here are 10 interesting facts about the advanced features of the Harappan Civilization as well as its famous structures, artifacts, society, and its discovery in modern times.
#1 FIRST RECORDED NOTE OF THE RUINS OF THE CIVILIZATION WAS MADE BY A BRITISH ARMY DESERTER
The first recorded note of the discovery of Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was made in an 1842 book by James Lewis. Lewis was a British East India Company soldier who deserted the army and while travelling through the Punjab province in British India saw the ruins of the ancient civilization at a small town called Harappa. By 1872, brick robbing had destroyed the upper layer of the site. These hard well-burnt bricks were primarily used to build a railway bed being constructed by the British. Though finds at Harappa were reported, it was not until 1920 that proper excavations began at Harappa under John Marshall, the then director of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). These excavations resulted in the discovery of IVC. Due to the common archaeological convention of naming a civilization after its first find-spot, IVC is also known as the Harappan Civilization.
#2 IT IS THE LARGEST OF THE FOUR GREAT ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AND PROBABLY THE OLDEST
Excavation of the sites of the Indus Valley Civilization is an on-going process and by 1999, 1,056 cities and settlements had been found. IVC flourished in the basins of two major rivers: Indus River, which remains one of longest in Asia; and Ghaggar-Hakra River, which is identified by many scholars as the dried up form of what was once the Sarasvati River. IVC encompassed most of Pakistan, a significant part of India and parts of Afghanistan. With an area around the size of Western Europe, it is the largest of the four ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China. The era in which IVC existed is not known yet. According to a May 2016 study published in the prestigious Nature journal, experts now believe that the Harappan Civilization is 8,000 years old – 2,500 years older than previously thought. This would make IVC older than the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations.
#3 INDUS VALLEY CITIES WERE ENGINEERING MASTERPIECES OF THE TIME
Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and other Indus Valley cities had a level of architectural planning that was unparalleled in the ancient world. For protection from seasonal floods and polluted waters, the settlements were built on giant platforms and elevated grounds. The network of streets in the cities formed an orderly grid, being laid out in straight lines cutting each other at right angles. The buildings along the roads were all constructed of bricks that were uniform in size. The houses had connected outer walls which formed a barrier to the noise and dust on the street. Narrow passages through this outer wall led to a common courtyard for several houses which can be considered as a neighborhood compound.
More:
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/indus-valley-civilization-facts