INTACHThe Heritage Club Newsletter

JULY-SEPTEMBER 2007 VOL 4 No. 3

Rock ArtArt of the Stone Age

Heritage Club members’ entries 2, 3Evolution of Human Beings and their Art 4Rock Art Sites in India 5Bhimbetka 6, 7Finding Ancient Treasures 8Activities 9, 10Heritage Alert 11What’s Next, Prize Winners 12

CONTENTS

Hello Heritage Club Members,Welcome back from your summer break. We hope you had a lot of fun during your vacations. This issue of Young Intach is on a fascinating theme most of us know very little about – the drawings and art made by early man. Popularly called Rock Art all over the world, these drawings and paintings are the only surviving clues to what life might have been like 30,000 – 40,000 years ago.In India, one of the oldest known Rock Art sites has been found at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. Visiting and studying sites like these is like going on a treasure hunt with a handful of clues to find the treasure. Answers to questions like: who were our ancestors? how did they live? what did they do?You want the answers? Read on, and find out more!

FROM US TO U

It was in 1856 that the first Rock Art sites were found in India near Almora. Soon after this discovery, Archibald Carlleyle, who worked in the Archaeological Office of the British India government at that time, came upon some remarkable sites of Rock Art in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh. These discoveries sparked off a lot of excitement among historians and archaeologists as it proved that people had lived in this part of the world even before the Harappan civilization. Some experts believe there could be 5,000 to 6,000 Rock Art sites in India.Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2004 for its Stone Age remains that date back to 10,000 BC. Some of the paintings show several layers made in different times of human evolution.These extraordinary examples of our heritage are carved and painted onto natural stone and rock that cannot be moved and protecting them is a continuous process. We must try to save them as nothing else remains from that very ancient time in our history. A complete study of all the known prehistoric sites could very well tell us the story of the first human beings who moved to the Indian subcontinent, where they came from, how they lived and survived, and how they progressed to larger and more stable settlements.

~ India has one of the three largest concentration of Rock Art sites, along with Australia and Africa.~ Over one million different motifs and shapes have been discovered in Indian Rock Art.~ Animal motifs are the most commonly drawn figures in Indian Rock Art, then human forms followed by other symbols and designs.

DID YOU KNOW?

LIFE - 40,000 years agoImaginative essays by Heritage Club members

If I lived in the Stone Age, one day in my life would have been like …. We woke up in the cave and went to the river and spent some time there. Then we went to the jungle for hunting. For this we took our weapons. In the jungle we hunted a few animals and ate their raw flesh and saved some to eat later. We also tasted some fruits. After coming back we did various activities like playing in the river etc. The whole day passed like this. At night, we took dinner. Soon, we felt cold as it was winter. So, to protect ourselves we went into our rock shelter in our caves. We did some cave paintings also. Now we are very tired so, slept soon. That day was very interesting.

Sent by Prakhar Sharma. Class 10, Greenwood Sr Sec School, Rampur

I woke up as the Sun God peeped in our cave through a hole. I made the others get up too. We were hungry. So we went out to get some food. As we thought we might find some fierce animals in the forest, we carried our tools with us. Soon we were among the trees that were full of fruits. We ate as much as we could and moved towards the pond for water. We drank and sat there to rest. After some time, a lion came there and paced towards us. We got attentive as he was going to attack us. But soon he went away and we were very happy. At noon we took our lunch. When it was growing dark we took our final meal. We lit up a fire and rested there for some time. We carried one stick of fire each when we made our way back. On our way, we met a tiger but he did not attack us as we had fire sticks. After searching for a cave we made a fire and went to sleep.

Sent by Waseem Parvez Class 10, Greenwood Sr Sec School, Rampur

Today was an interesting day. We had a lot of fun. After worshipping the sun in the morning we took our weapons and went to the jungle for hunting. We hunted some animals and ate their raw flesh. We also ate some fruits. Then we came back. Now was the time for fun. We engaged ourselves in our favourite activities. I made a cave drawing. I also went to the river for playing. The day passed. At night, we ate some fruits, roots etc. Suddenly it started raining, so we went in our cave. As we were tired, we slept soon, except me. I went outside to sleep under the tree in the rain as I love rain and trees. Hoping, tomorrow will be the same day, full of fun as today.

Sent by Mohd Monis Class 10, Greenwood Sr Sec School, Rampur

VOL 4 No. 2

The life of early man was very different from the life of modern man. In those days, men did not have any homes to live in. They lived in forests. They did not live in one place. They wandered here and there. Early man had to face many difficulties. He found it difficult to protect himself from wild animals. He was not as strong as the other animals. He did not have any weapons to protect himself. He did not know how to grow food for himself. He had to live on what he could find and hunt. But it was not so easy to dig roots or kill animals with bare hands. So the early man started using stones. He saw that stone with sharp edges were more useful for killing. Slowly he learnt to make simple tools from stone like tying a sharp stone to the end of a long stick. Now he could kill an animal without going near it. The use of stone changed the life of early man. He could protect himself and hunt more easily. He also noticed

that during forest fires, the animals were afraid of fire. So he started using fire for protection. It protected him from the cold and from animals. One day perhaps a piece of meat may have got accidentally cooked in the fire. Man noticed that it was soft and tasty. This is perhaps the way he started cooking food.Sometimes early man saw sparks when he broke stones to make his tools. Then one day perhaps the sparks fell on some dry leaves and there was a fire. Thus early man learnt that fire could be made by striking two stones together. This was an important step in the life of man.

Sent by Radhika Batra Class 5, DAV Public School Vikas Puri, New Delhi

Find out the following:

QUIZ time

2. When did we start praying to a force more powerful than ourselves?

1. When did humans discover how to make fire?

3. When did we start living in natural caves?

4. When did we start building shelters?

Upper Paleolithic

Neolithic

Early human existence was marked by great struggle – for food, shelter, safety and survival. They did not know how to grow food, so hunting and gathering was necessary for them to survive. It was important for them to have knowledge about the earth, what food was good to eat, when it would rain and which animals were dangerous, as without this they would perish. It took many thousands of years before they learned how to overcome dangers successfully and survive. They also learned to use natural resources around them to make their life safer and easier.As these early people evolved, some of their dwellings became places where they started to make simple paintings about their life as well as their thoughts, fears, hopes and victories.

UPPER PALEOLITHIC (40,000 – 12,000 BC)Early man was slowly changed his habits from being a nomad to creating partial settlements. He made temporary shelters to live in and places for storing food. His hunting tools became sharper making him a more skilled hunter.

MESOLITHIC (12,000 – 10,000 BC)He began to lead a more settled life, spending more time in one place. Fishing tools, bows and arrows are also found from this time showing further development in hunting techniques.

NEOLITHIC (8,000 – 5,000 BC)The greatest development that occurred during this period was that man learnt how to grow food and he no longer had to hunt for food every day. Wheat and millet were the most common agricultural crops. He began to tame certain animals like sheep and goats and use them for different purposes. Pieces of pottery have been found in different parts of the world from around 6,000 BC. With the discovery of copper around 5,000 BC, metal tools became common. Special tools were made for grinding, cutting and chopping. This period is known as Chalcolithic period.

From 40,000-5,000 BC

Mesolithic

EVOLUTION of human beings and their art

VOL 4 No. 2

FIND the ones closest to YOUROCK ART SITES IN INdIa

Jammu & Kashmir1. Leh 2. Kargil

Uttarakhand3. Uttarkashi4. Pauri5. Nainital6. Almora7. Pithoragarh8. Chamoli

Uttar Pradesh9. Agra10. Banda11. Allahabad12. Varanasi13. Mirzapur

Bihar14. Nawada

Jharkhand15. Chatra16. Hazaribagh17. Kodarma18. Singhbhum

Chhattisgarh19. Koria20. Sarguja21. Durg22. Rajnandgaon23. Raigarh24. Kanker25. Bastar

Rajasthan26. Bundi27. Kota

Madhya Pradesh 28. Morena29. Gwalior30. Datia31. Shivpuri

32. Rajgarh33. Mandsaur34. Chatarpur35. Damoh36. Panna37. Satna38. Rewa39. Vidisha40. Bhopal41. Sehore42. Sagar

43. Raisen44. Narsimhapur45. Jabalpur46. Hosangabad47. East Nimur48. Chindwara

Orissa49. Sundargarh50. Jharsuguda51. Bargarh

52. Sambalpur53. Kendujhar

Andhra Pradesh54. Patancheru55. Kurnool56. Chittoor

Karnataka57. Gulbarga58. Belgaum

59. Raichur60. Bellary

Tamil Nadu61. Vellore62. Dhrmapuri63. Villupuram64. Nilgiris65. Erode66. Coimbatore67. Theni

68. Dindigul69. Madurai70. TirunelveliKerala71. Malapuram72. Idukki

Manipur73. Garo Hills

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BhimbetkaA World Heritage Site

The DiscoveryIn 1957, the archaeologist VS Wakankar was travelling by train to Bhopal. While passing through Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, he noticed some unusual rock formations. He returned to the site with a team where they found incredible examples of rock art inside the caves.

The LandscapeIn the foothills of the Vindhyas, less than 100 kms south of Bhopal, Bhimbetka is a hill surrounded by deciduous forest with clusters of 20-30 natural sandstone rock shelters where early man chose to stay. Beautiful paintings from the Mesolithic Age were found inside the caves.

The PaintingsThe paintings depict scenes from everyday life thousands of years ago: hunting scenes, a variety of animals and people celebrating by playing musical instruments and dancing. Apart from the paintings, 10,000 year old flints and stone tools made by the hunting and food gathering people of that time have been found in the area.

ColoursTwenty one colours have been used in the rock paintings in Bhimbetka including white, ashy white, creamy white, yellow, yellow ochre, raw sienna, raw umber, orange, dark orange, vermillion, scarlet, burnt sienna, emerald green, black crimson, crimson lake and purple. These are made by crushing different coloured natural rocks and stones found in nearby places.Use natural colours to make your own original drawing on page 10.

Drawing ToolsMost of the paintings found in Bhimbetka have been painted using a finger. The range of textures found in the paintings however tells us that they must have used other materials like feathers, wooden sticks and perhaps the sharp needles of porcupines to enrich their drawings.

Other Interesting Facts about Bhimbetka• There are several layers of paintings found on the rock surfaces in Bhimbetka. In some places, four or five layers of drawings have been discovered from different times in human evolution. We can tell this because the colours and style of drawing in each layer is different. This tells us that people used the same caves to live in at different times in history.• Writings in the Brahmi script found inscribed on some of the rock surfaces, remains of a Buddhist stupa (probably from the 3rd – 4th century AD) and a temple nearby show that the thread of evolution and man’s journey has left its mark in this region.• Objects similar to those seen in the paintings are still in use in the villages near Bhimbetka. The tribes who live there continue to decorate their homes using similar images and shapes as we see in the rock paintings. The continuity of tradition over 10,000 years is one of the most remarkable features of Bhimbetka.

VOL 4 No. 2

Finding Ancient TreasuresRock Art in Jharkhand

In 2005, INTACH Convenor, Hazaribagh Chapter, Mr Bulu Imam and his dedicated team completed a compilation on the Rock Art sites they had discovered and documented in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. The discovery represents art that spans across over 5,000 years – from approximately 8,000 BC to 3,000 BC!Some of the drawings seen in the Hazaribagh caves are hunting scenes, but most of them are geometric patterns consisting of squares, circles and triangles. The hunting scenes probably belong to an earlier period of human evolution. The animal figures are drawn far apart with a lot of space between them, whereas the geometric figures or symbols are drawn very close together, mostly in straight lines.The coloured stones of certain oxides, haematite and kaolin were used to get the different colours that we see in the paintings. They were crushed and made wet using water, put into leaf cups and then painted onto the stone walls using stems of the local saal tree after chewing.The geometric art of Hazaribagh has survived thousands of years and can still be found on the walls of nearby village homes. According to Mr Imam, certain regions of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh became a place of refuge for prehistoric people who were driven out of the north by other groups of people coming in. It is likely that it is a relic of some of the earliest people who made their way into the Indian subcontinent.

ARCHAEOLOGISTExploring ancient sites and objects

~ BHU, Varanasi: Advanced PG Diploma 1 year • www.bhu.ac.in ~ Deccan College of Post-Graduate and Research Institute, Yervada, Pune: www.indiaeducation.ernet.in ~ MS University of Baroda, Vadodara: MA in Indian History, Culture and Archaeology • www.msubaroda.ac.in~ Punjab University, Chandigarh: MA 2 years • www.puchd.ac.in ~ University of Calcutta: MA in Ancient History and Archaeology • 2 years • www.caluniv.ac.in

Preserving murals, paintings and sculptures

~ National Museum, Delhi: MAwww.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in

~ University of Delhi:www.du.ac.in

Studying how different people live

~ Pt.Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur: MA • 2 years • www.prsu.ac.in ~ Pune University, Pune: MA • www.unipune.ernet.in ~ Ranchi University:www.educationinfoindia.com~ University of Calcutta:www.caluniv.ac.in~ University of Delhi: BSc (Hons.), MSc, MPhil, PhD • www.du.ac.in~ Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar: MAwww.utkal-university.org

I WANT TO BE AN: ART CONSERVATOR ANTHROPOLOGIST

VOL 4 No. 2

Story TimeGet Creative!

Imagine you are Mr Wakankar’s Assistant Archaeologist and you have found these paintings. Explain to Mr Wakankar what each one means and why you think it is so important.

NamE ThE ANIMALThat people saw 10,000 years ago

Celebrating Natural HuesMake a drawing

We want you to draw a picture in the space below using natural shades of colours, like those made by human beings 10,000 years ago. Mix different colours to get the shade that are closest to colours of natural materials.

VOL 4 No. 2

hErITagE ALERTPreserving Rock PaintingsPreserving art in any form is a difficult process. Immovable art like rock art is even more difficult because it cannot be wholly protected from natural elements like the sun, rain, moisture, animals and birds. The heritage of such places can be called non-renewable cultural resources, as they can never be made again. They are in the gravest danger of being destroyed if proper steps are not taken to ensure their protection and we will lose a priceless part of our heritage.

Damage due to natural deterioration~ Moisture – water present in the rock surface, high humidity in the atmosphere and other sources of moisture in or around the area can cause damage to the surface of the painting. Water mixes with the salts to cause peeling, discolouration and other forms of deterioration.~ Temperature changes – Strong heat rays cause expansion and contraction to occur on the surface of the rock causing the surface with the paint or drawing to fade or flake off the surface.~ The presence of plants, birds, insects and animals causes damage to the rock surface.

Damage due to human interference~ Graffiti – defacing the surface by touching, scratching and other means.~ Irresponsible Tourism – uncontrolled and unsupervised visitors can damage the site.~ Deforestation of the surrounding area removes a natural protective shelter, exposing the site to sun, rain and erosion.

WHAT CAN HERITAGE CLUB MEMBERS DO?

~ Do not throw any garbage in or around the historic site.~ Do not touch the painting as body oils damage the natural colours.~ Food attracts animals and birds so make sure you carry back all snacks, wrappers, bottles, etc. with yourself when you leave the place.~ Tell others about the importance of the place so they may also learn to respect it as part of India’s common composite heritage.

WHEN VISITING ANY HISTORIC PLACE, REMEMBER:

A recent study conducted by National Geographic Society and IBM shows that all people on this planet come from a single male and female ancestor who lived in Africa about 50,000 years ago. This means that all people on earth have the same great great great great …….. grandparents. It does not matter whether the colour of our skin is fair or dark or what the shape of our nose is. We are all earthlings and we are all relatives!

The study shows that 50,000 years ago, there were only about 10,000 human beings on the entire planet and all of them lived in Africa. But only one male and one female gene survived over the years and we have all evolved from the same one pair. (A gene is a hereditary component composed of DNA that determines the particular features and characteristics of a person.)This fascinating study is still incomplete. The researchers are now trying to see

how different groups of people moved out of Africa and took different routes to various parts of the world and evolved so differently that today we have hundreds of races with distinct physical features and cultural habits from each other.Ted Waitt, head of the project, says, “The more that we can improve our understanding of the common origins and journeys of humankind, the greater the possibility for all of us to see each other as members of the same family.”

ONE EARTH, ONE DNA, ONE PEOPLE

WHAT’S NExT?

October - December, 2007Theme: Endangered Species in a Changing WorldMake original drawings of endangered animals, fish, insects, birds, plants and trees along with their names and the reasons why they are in such grave danger today. Please make your drawings on separate plain paper so we can print them in the next issue.Last date for entry:August 15th, 2007

January - March, 2008Theme: Traditional Games and ToysWhat games do you play? What games did people play in ancient times? Ask your grandparents and parents about traditional games and toys. Send us drawings and descriptions of these games, or photographs if you have some of these in your home. You can also include songs that are sung while playing certain games like skipping, etc.Last date for entry:November 15th, 2007

Prize WinnersFor the current issue

~ Prakhar Sharma, Waseem Parvez, Mohd Monis Class 10, Greenwood Sr Sec School, Rampur~ Radhika Batra Class 5, DAV Public School Vikas Puri, New Delhi

REFERENCESBednarik, Robert G. Rock Art Science. New Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2007.Bronowski, J. The Ascent of Man. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1976.Imam, Bulu. Rockart of North Jharkhand. Unpublished work, 2007.Neumayer, Erwin. Prehistoric Indian Rock Paintings. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983.

Feedback

We welcome your suggestion, comments and ideas. Please write to:

Radha DayalHeritage Education and Communication Service (HECS)Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH)71 Lodi Estate, New Delhi – 110003.

Tel: (011) 24641304, 24645482, Fax: (011) 24611290Email: radhadayal@yahoo.comWebsite: www.intach.org

Young INTACHHeritage Education and Communication ServiceShobita Punja, Chief Programme Director

Research, Text and CompilationRadha Dayal

CreditsBulu ImamRahas Mohanty Pratibha PandeDeepti DivyaNidhi GaurCentre for Cultural Resources and Training, Delhi

DesignKadambari Misra

Hindi Translation and EditingYatra Books

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