ROCK ART IN INDIA -- C 1000 BCE -- NEWLY DISCOVERED -- BUT NEEDS CONSERVATION!

Two more engravings of wild bulls on basalt rock have come to light in the Zarme tributary of River Mhadei at Mauxi, Sattari (Konkan, West India). On March 28, members of the Keri-based group Vivekanad Puratatva Abhyas Mandal spotted these engravings below the 'bullfight' that was part of the rich rock art heritage discovered in the area on August 10, 1999. The new findings are due to unauthorized sand excavations made to the lower part of the rock.

The engravings on basalt rock boulders spotted earlier include a bull with straight and vertical horns, with a rounded hump; it shows the use of the bruising technique (chipping off the weathered rock surface to create a two-dimensional picture by changing the rock surface). On another rock is a deer with linear, elongated body and legs shown separately in lines, with a raised head and short raised tail. In front of it is found a deeply engraved trishul, a type of traditional trident.

Well-known archaeologist M Nambirajan, in his book 'Coastal Archaeology of Western India' notes, "Engravings and bruises in Mauxi of animals and a trishul may be of the Megalithic phase, probably datable to C 1000 BCE." "The Petroglyphs discovered in Mauxi are our greatest surviving art treasures, yet no effort is being made to protect this heritage for posterity. They simply lie in the open and can be destroyed by anybody," said Arvind Redkar, principal, BEd college, Mumbai, who visited the site.

Edited from The Times of India (31 March 2015)
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