GEOGLYPHS
1. Context
Experts and conservationists have raised concerns that the proposed mega oil refinery in Barsu village, Maharashtra, may damage nearby prehistoric geoglyphs.
2. Geoglyphs
- A geoglyph is a form of prehistoric rock art. It can be carved on Laterite stone (Sada in Marathi). It can be in the form of rock paintings, etchings, cup marks, and ring marks, India's largest rock engraving or geoglyph is in Kasheli in the Ratnagiri district.
- It has 18x13 meters large figure of an elephant. Some of these clusters have one or two standalone figures of larger-than-life scale and others show multiple figures gathered together.
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Image Source: The Indian Express3. Ratnagiri's pre-historic Rock art
- Clusters of geoglyphs are spread across the Konkan coastline in Maharashtra and Goa, spanning around 900 km.
- Ratnagiri district has more than 1,500 pieces of such art, also called "Katal Shilpa," spread across 70 sites.
- Age: According to carbon dating, these sites are believed to be over 12,000-20,000 years old.
- The sites are protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
- The figures depicted in the geoglyphs include humans and animals such as deer, elephant, tiger, monkey, wild boar, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cattle, pig, rabbit, and monkey.
- They also include a high number of reptilian and amphibian creatures such as tortoises and alligators, aquatic animals such as sharks and stingrays, and birds like peacocks.
4. Inclusion in UNESCO's list
- In April 2022, these sites in the Konkan region were added to a tentative list of UNESCO's world heritage sites.
- The UNESCO listing mentions "Konkan geoglyphs." However, elsewhere, the term petroglyph (literally, "rock symbol/character") is also used.
- UNESCO's tentative world heritage list mentions seven sites with petroglyphs in Ratnagiri district-Ukshi, Jambharun, Kasheli, Rundhe Tali, Devishsol, Barsu, and Devache Gothane, one in Sindhudurg district-Kudopi village, and nine sites at Phansamal in Goa.
5. Significance of the rock art
- It is evidence of the continued existence of human settlements from the Mesolithic (middle stone age) to the early historic era.
- It is amongst three potential sites to become world heritage sites.
- The other two include Jingkieng Jri, the living root bridge in Meghalaya, and Sri Veerabhadra Temple in Andhra Pradesh's Lepakshi.
- It depicts how people adapted to wetlands in a dry-arid plateau having shallow rock pools, streams, and watercourses.
- Its clusters are examples of advanced artistic skills showing the evolution of techniques of etching and scooping in rock art.
- It has carvings of humans and animals such as deer, elephant, tiger, monkey, wild boar, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cattle, pig, rabbit, and monkey.
- It also includes a high number of reptilian and amphibian creatures such as tortoises and alligators, aquatic animals such as sharks and sting rays, and birds like peacocks.
For Prelims
| For Prelims: Geoglyphs, Konkan geoglyphs, Katal Shilpa, Konkan region, UNESCO and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). |
Source: The Indian Express
