Chapter 01: Prehistoric Rock Paintings - Notes
1. Understanding Prehistory
Definition: Prehistory refers to the distant past when there was no paper, language, or written word, thus no books or written documents.
Knowledge Acquisition: Scholars infer information about prehistoric life by excavating sites, discovering old tools, pottery, habitats, human and animal bones, and drawings on cave walls.
Expression: Once basic needs (food, water, clothing, shelter) were met, early humans felt the need for self-expression. Painting and drawing were the earliest art forms, using cave walls as canvases.
Possible Reasons for Painting:
To make shelters more colorful and beautiful.
To keep a visual record of daily life (like a diary).
2. The Palaeolithic Age
Definition: The prehistoric period in early human development is commonly known as the Old Stone Age or Palaeolithic Age.
Artistic Proliferation: While it's uncertain if Lower Palaeolithic people produced art, the Upper Palaeolithic times saw a significant increase in artistic activities.
Global Presence: Around the world, cave walls from this period are filled with finely carved and painted pictures of animals hunted by cave-dwellers.
Subjects: Human figures, human activities, geometric designs, and animal symbols.
3. Discovery of Indian Rock Paintings
First Discovery: The first discovery of rock paintings in India was made in 1867-68 by archaeologist Archibald Carlleyle, twelve years before the Altamira discovery in Spain.
Other Discoverers: Cockburn, Anderson, Mitra, and Ghosh were early archaeologists who discovered numerous sites in the Indian subcontinent.
4. Major Sites in India
Locations: Remnants found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Bihar. Some reported from Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand.
Lakhudiyar (Uttarakhand):
Located on the banks of the River Suyal, about 20 km on the Almora-Barechina road.
Literally means "one lakh caves."
Categories of paintings: Man, animal, and geometric patterns.
Colors: White, black, and red ochre.
Human Depiction: Stick-like forms.
Animal Motifs: Long-snouted animal, fox, multiple-legged lizard.
Geometric Patterns: Wavy lines, rectangle-filled designs, groups of dots.
Interesting Scene: Hand-linked dancing human figures.
Superimposition: Earliest are black, over which are red ochre, and the last group is white.
Kashmir: Two slabs with engravings reported.
Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh (Neolithic Period):
Granite rocks served as canvases.
Famous sites: Kupgallu, Piklihal, and Tekkalkota.
Types of Paintings:
Paintings in white.
Paintings in red ochre over a white background.
Paintings in red ochre.
Periods: Belong to late historical, early historical, and Neolithic periods.
Subjects: Bulls, elephants, sambhars, gazelles, sheep, goats, horses, stylized humans, tridents. Vegetal motifs are rare.
5. Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh)
Richest Paintings: Reported from the Vindhya ranges of Madhya Pradesh and their Kaimurean extensions into Uttar Pradesh.
Ideal Habitat: These hill ranges are rich in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic remains, forests, wild plants, fruits, streams, and creeks, making them a perfect dwelling place for Stone Age people.
Largest Rock-Shelter: Bhimbetka, located in the Vindhya hills, 45 km south of Bhopal.
Covers an area of 10 square kilometers.
Has about 800 rock shelters, 500 of which bear paintings.
Discovery: Discovered in 1957-58 by eminent archaeologist V.S. Wakankar. Wakankar extensively surveyed these inaccessible hills and jungles.
Themes: Great variety, from mundane daily life events to sacred and royal images.
Includes hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honey collection, body decoration, and other household scenes.
Classification: Rock art classified into seven historical periods based on style, technique, and superimposition.
Period I: Upper Palaeolithic
Period II: Mesolithic
Period III: Chalcolithic
(Four successive periods follow, but the focus is on the first three).
6. Painting Periods in Bhimbetka
Upper Palaeolithic Period (Period I):
Style: Linear representations.
Colors: Green and dark red.
Subjects: Huge animal figures (bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos, boars) and stick-like human figures.
Technique: Few wash paintings; mostly filled with geometric patterns.
Color-Subject Association: Green paintings depict dancers; red paintings depict hunters.
Mesolithic Period (Period II):
Largest Number: Contains the largest number of paintings.
Size: Smaller in size compared to Upper Palaeolithic.
Themes: Multiple themes, but hunting scenes predominate.
Hunting: People hunting in groups, armed with barbed spears, pointed sticks, arrows, and bows. Some show traps and snares.
Human Depiction: Hunters wear simple clothes and ornaments; sometimes adorned with elaborate head-dresses or masks.
Animals: Elephant, bison, tiger, boar, deer, antelope, leopard, panther, rhinoceros, fish, frog, lizard, squirrel, and sometimes birds. Mesolithic artists loved to paint animals.
Animal-Human Interaction: Animals chasing men, or being chased and hunted by men.
Emotional Range: Some hunting scenes show fear of animals; many others show tenderness and love for them.
Engravings: A few engravings, mainly of animals.
Human Style: Humans depicted in a stylistic manner (not naturalistic).
Women: Painted both nude and clothed.
Age Groups: Young and old equally present.
Children: Painted running, jumping, and playing.
Community Activities: Community dances (a common theme), people gathering fruit/honey, women grinding and preparing food.
Family Life: Some pictures depict a sort of family life.
Prints: Hand prints, fist prints, and fingertip dots are found.
7. Colors and Materials Used by Bhimbetka Artists
Colors: Many colors used, including shades of white, yellow, orange, red ochre, purple, brown, green, and black. White and red were favorites.
Paint Preparation: Paints were made by grinding various rocks and minerals into powder.
Red: From haematite (geru).
Green: From a green variety of chalcedony.
White: Likely from limestone.
Binding Medium: Powder mixed with water and a sticky substance like animal fat, gum, or tree resin.
Brushes: Made of plant fiber.
Durability: Colors have survived thousands of years of adverse weather due to the chemical reaction of oxides present on the rock surface.
8. Location of Paintings and Their Significance
Surfaces: Paintings made on walls and ceilings of rock shelters.
Living vs. Sacred Spaces: Some in living spaces, others in places that don't seem to be living spaces, possibly indicating religious importance.
High Locations: Many beautiful paintings are very high up or close to ceilings, suggesting they were meant to be noticed from a distance.
Pictorial Quality: Despite limitations (acute working conditions, inadequate tools/materials), paintings possess charm and simple rendering of the environment.
Depiction of Life: Men appear adventurous and joyful. Animals are shown youthful and majestic. Primitive artists had an intrinsic passion for storytelling.
Struggle for Survival: Dramatically depict men and animals in the struggle for survival.
Example: Group hunting a bison, injured men scattered on the ground.
Example: Animal in agony of death, men dancing – possibly to gain a sense of power over animals.
Modern Parallel: This practice is common among some primitive people today, using rock engravings/paintings for rituals (birth, death, coming of age, marriage) and masked dances for hunting rites.
9. Superimposition of Paintings
Recurrence: At many rock-art sites, new paintings are painted over older ones.
Bhimbetka Layers: At Bhimbetka, up to 20 layers of paintings are found in some places.
Possible Reasons for Superimposition:
Artist disliked previous creation.
Paintings or places were considered sacred or special.
Area was used by different generations over time.
10. Understanding Early Humans
Insights: Prehistoric paintings provide insights into early human beings' lifestyle, food habits, daily activities, and their way of thinking.
Witness to Evolution: Prehistoric remains (rock weapons, tools, ceramics, bones) are great witnesses to the evolution of human civilization.
Greatest Wealth: Rock paintings are considered the greatest wealth left behind by primitive humans of this period.
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