State's most ancient, prehistoric site lies ignored
By Prachi Desai
It will be a long-drawn battle of perception for India to make her mark in the world map of pre-historic rock art. The first image that comes to one’s mind with regard to ancient rock art remains that of the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave in the Ardèche department of southern France that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life.
Located near the commune of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc on a limestone cliff above the former bed of the Ardèche River, in the Gorges de l'Ardèche, the Cave was discovered on December 18, 1994 and is considered one of the most significant prehistoric art sites and the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO granted it World Heritage status on June 22, 2014. Each year, millions of tourists visit them, to marvel at their beauty.
In sharp contrast, lie the rock carvings at Pansaimol in Usgalimal, in South Goa. It houses a stupendous collection of petroglyphs tracing back to a whopping 30,000 years discovered by sheer coincidence.
As a bend of the Kushavati river where it takes a sharp turn here, a part of the laterite rock bed stood exposed with some detailed etching on it. After clearing the area, the team discovered about 140 rocks with clear engravings, depicted human beings in various postures, different variation of cattle, elephant, deer and other animals along with geometric and abstract designs scattered all over the area.
The period during which the site was occupied has been debated by scholars and archaeologists over the years. Owing to a lack of scientific dating of the site, parallels have been drawn with petroglyphs on the basis of the pattern of carvings. Dr. P.P. Shirodkar compared them with the rock bruising ( as these etching is called) in Europe and Bhimbetka in India attributing it to the Mesolithic period.
The rock art at Pansaimol lends us strategic insights into the lives of those who lived in the zone ages ago. Settlers would prefer rock shelters and caves located in thick forest regions near sources of water, hence the Kushavati River whose proximity fetched food - wild fruits, roots, tubers and other edible forest products and small game.
Among the most interesting and enigmatic geometrical designs etched at the Pansaimol Rock Carvings are the concentric circle labyrinths. Incidentally, these are common designs noticed in rock art from across the world and from different periods depicted on pottery, coins and other forms. Till the Pansaimol Rock Carvings were discovered, the labyrinths on the rock surface at Winnemucca Lake, Nevada, USA were considered to be the oldest dating back to 8500 - 12,800 BCE. “The symbol is found in Europe in Galacia caves in Spain (dating to 2,000 BCE) and Rocky Valley in England from early Bronze age (1,800 – 1,400 BCE)” says Dr. Varad Sabnis. The Pansaimol Labyrinth is identified by experts across the world as one of the oldest if not the oldest of such forms on Earth.
It will be a long-drawn battle of perception for India to make her mark in the world map of pre-historic rock art. The first image that comes to one’s mind with regard to ancient rock art remains that of the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave in the Ardèche department of southern France that contains some of the best-preserved figurative cave paintings in the world as well as other evidence of Upper Paleolithic life.
Located near the commune of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc on a limestone cliff above the former bed of the Ardèche River, in the Gorges de l'Ardèche, the Cave was discovered on December 18, 1994 and is considered one of the most significant prehistoric art sites and the UN’s cultural agency UNESCO granted it World Heritage status on June 22, 2014. Each year, millions of tourists visit them, to marvel at their beauty.
In sharp contrast, lie the rock carvings at Pansaimol in Usgalimal, in South Goa. It houses a stupendous collection of petroglyphs tracing back to a whopping 30,000 years discovered by sheer coincidence.
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| A figure of two animals carved out of the rocks at Usgalimal more than 30,000 years old |
A year before the world-renowned Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave was discovered, in 1993, a team headed by archaeologist P.P. Shirodkar exploring the region nearby chanced upon this site at the Pansaimol village.
As a bend of the Kushavati river where it takes a sharp turn here, a part of the laterite rock bed stood exposed with some detailed etching on it. After clearing the area, the team discovered about 140 rocks with clear engravings, depicted human beings in various postures, different variation of cattle, elephant, deer and other animals along with geometric and abstract designs scattered all over the area.
The period during which the site was occupied has been debated by scholars and archaeologists over the years. Owing to a lack of scientific dating of the site, parallels have been drawn with petroglyphs on the basis of the pattern of carvings. Dr. P.P. Shirodkar compared them with the rock bruising ( as these etching is called) in Europe and Bhimbetka in India attributing it to the Mesolithic period.
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| A make-shift bridge across River Kushavati at the site of the rock carvings at Usgalimal |
Goa’s Department of Archives and Archaeology’s Assistant Superintending Archaeologist Dr. Varad Sabnis maintained the petroglyphs found at Pansaimol were not a one-time phenomenon. He maintains, “Looking at the carvings and their styles one can be sure that they were made in different periods. The carving occur from Mesolithic period (8,000 - 6,000 BCE) to Medieval period (10th – 12th century CE).”
The rock art at Pansaimol lends us strategic insights into the lives of those who lived in the zone ages ago. Settlers would prefer rock shelters and caves located in thick forest regions near sources of water, hence the Kushavati River whose proximity fetched food - wild fruits, roots, tubers and other edible forest products and small game.
Among the most interesting and enigmatic geometrical designs etched at the Pansaimol Rock Carvings are the concentric circle labyrinths. Incidentally, these are common designs noticed in rock art from across the world and from different periods depicted on pottery, coins and other forms. Till the Pansaimol Rock Carvings were discovered, the labyrinths on the rock surface at Winnemucca Lake, Nevada, USA were considered to be the oldest dating back to 8500 - 12,800 BCE. “The symbol is found in Europe in Galacia caves in Spain (dating to 2,000 BCE) and Rocky Valley in England from early Bronze age (1,800 – 1,400 BCE)” says Dr. Varad Sabnis. The Pansaimol Labyrinth is identified by experts across the world as one of the oldest if not the oldest of such forms on Earth.
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| A signage giving directions to the petroglyphs in South Goa at Usgalimal |
“In the last 30 years, a range of petroglyphs have been discovered along the western belt of the country especially in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. This rock art site of Pansaimol is symbolic of a rather obscure and even unknown cultural history of Goa, in particular, and the subcontinent, in general,” maintains Panjim-based History professor and Chairperson of Goa Heritage Action Group Prajal Sakhardande.
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