Ancient Rock Art in the Plains of India

Looks like some of these rock carvings are already lost under that road seen in the last picture!

This is a story about ancient rock carvings in India. But it was painful to read this paragraph. "According to villagers the impression was left by Sita, Lord Rama’s wife, who was stolen away by the demon king Ravana in the epic poem the Ramayana. This was where Ravana, while on the run, lay with Sita." This implies Sita, revered by all Hindus as the epitome of chastity, was not so chaste after all. I do not how such an opinion was formed by villagers in the area, but it is an opinion NOT shared by an overwhelming majority of Hindus. In fact, I will venture so far as to say, this opinion of Sita is limited to these villagers only.

Looks interesting. Congratulations to the people working on this. Sadly, right-wing Hindu forces seek to rewrite every aspect of history in India according to a Hindutva script. With insane 'theories' like "Out of India" claiming India as the birthplace of humanity and all human civilization. Social science is under total assault in India, and I hope this will not be weaponized like cow dung. If these etchings were to date back 40,000 years (which is undoubtedly pure speculation) that would antedate the Aryan arrival by tens of thousands of years. So...no Sita, no Rama, no Mahabharata. Hopefully scientists will prevent the destruction and misuse of the sites by political forces like the BJP and RSS.

My bucket list just got another extended trip. Thanks to the amateur sleuths with the drive to bring these wonderful finds to world.

Love this. Every habitable part of Earth has at some time been the home of cutting-edge minds.

These petroglyphics are similar to the ancient hieroglyphics of Egypt except they are astoundingly macro in dimension. It was perhaps a joint team effort similar to the stone henge rock assembly except these are carvings on the ground rock. I hope the project gets more funding from private philanthropy or government funding.

Wow! A wonderful article about a fantastic new find illuminating our ancient history. In the midst of chaos in our political climate this is refreshing, and awe inspiring. Thank you NYT!

Thank You NY Times for covering this wonderful discovery. I read Indian media a lot, but have not seen this covered there yet.

There is so much about our past that is not known. It's great to see that people are doing the exploring of the artifacts. Without a past we have no future

It is striking how often animal figures are naturalistic, but human ones are schematized or abstract, in the art of prehistoric cultures. I don't know if it's a universal characteristic, but it certainly seems dominant. Naturalistic depiction of humans almost seems associated with the development of agricultural or even urban cultures.

How do we know these are genuine ancient artifacts and not carvings from more recent times? Are these the rock versions of "fake news"?

NYT thank you! Another interesting article that links the collective of human prehistory experience: the emergence of culture, art, religion and science. Magnetic dirt!

Incredible. Too bad we can’t see clear over-view photos to get a better sense of what we are looking at. A little drone can capture images from above, a handy tool for modern photography.

We in our headlong rush would be wise to listen to the shepherds and the tea sellers

Why no mention in this article of the wonderful carvings in the ground in Peru?

they may served as signs and marks to help people find their way orient themselves and gather at a certain point

What if the climate had been different 10000 or 40000 years ago? Would there have been a monsoon season? There were glaciers around that time farther north, after all. How does that affect the detective work required to find out about the people who made these carvings?

The image described as a hunter looks like an image of the Mistress of the Animals. Wikipedia says "Many depictions in ancient art present a widespread ancient motif of the Mistress of Animals, showing a central figure with a human form grasping two animals, one to each side. The oldest depiction has been discovered in Çatalhöyük."

Want to wish the discoverers and their team good luck. That they did this on their own time is highly laudable. Finally thank NYTimes and James for writing this piece. We need more articles of people and countries that are not generally covered.

I like the idea that an individual or individuals would be selected by the groups responsible for these carvings for their artistic abilities. That they would be excused from the daily work of hunting and gathering to produce these carvings for a spiritual or other purposes that extended to all the members. It appeals to the artist in me. Plus, I'm not that great a hunter and maybe it would have allowed me to eat better if I had lived in those times. Except if fish were a major source of food for these people, I would have been down at the water. That's my sport and an art form. Do you suppose they had fly rods back then.

Amazing. This article is one reason why I subscribe to NYT and read everyday. What a wonderful and mesmerizing piece of reporting. Bravo to the amateur archeologist engineers.

The article is so interesting - a view into the past 40,000 years ago. The photos are amazing and life-like.

Exquisite photos and great read, thanks NY Times.

This is beautiful. It's as if an ancient people just reached out and spoke to us.

Some of these designs as described as "abstract," but could they be symbolic? To label something simply as "abstract" is sometimes an easy out. Did humans who had lots to do simply to subsist have time to make images that had no meaning? Clearly, these carvers had a heightened sense of aesthetics, and were highly talented artists, but that doesn't mean that they were their era’s versions of Jackson Pollock. Some of these images almost look like language, some sort of pictograph opaque to us by perhaps connecting with meanings for the artists. I am not suggesting anything like an alphabet, but I do hope that as the study progresses paleolinguists will be involved.

The most ancient human compulsion, aside from hormonal ones, is to create lasting images of how they perceive their environments for future generations of their kind to discover and wonder at. Always people have sought to express meaning with figurative interpretation, and when that will not do, with mysterious symbolic abstraction. How fearlessly the ancient mind expressed the unknowable with the abstract! This compulsion to make art is forever new, and forever the same. To be found the world over, these types of images are touchstones speaking to our common humanity and our common continuing need to express ourselves with art.

These carvings also support other studies that argue that the people of this region practiced a matrilineal religion with a woman as the central deity. After the Aryan invasions from the north the patriarchal system was imposed but aspects of the original matriarchal system were merged into what is now modern Hindu culture. As we learn more about our ancient ancestors two things emerge. Homo sapiens are older than we thought and developed more advanced cultures in more parts of the world than we thought.

Extraordinary - thank you NYT, the pictures are exquisite.

What an exciting find! It really supports the power of amateur archaeologists to seek and find (and report accurately. I only disagree with Dr. Garga's final assessment, where he says that humans always worship malevolent gods first. If that were the case, why does every discovery of BCE figures and paintings worldwide, in clay and stone represent women? There are legions of female figures who are dieties, pregnant, giving birth, or deeply marked with the vulval triangle and cleft. I believe the real source of awe and worship is the power over life and death.

In his tribe someone larger tells everyone what to do and he is supposed to hunt everyday. With three kids under the age of three his wife is on that guy's side. So he leaves like he is going to fish or hunt and hides out where, like my brother, to the exclusion of all else he can become focused on planning or designing a better world he escapes to in his mind. He did it in sand. He did it in dirt. They couldn't be added to because they washed away. So rock. He's got the time.

Absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for you dedication bring these findings to life and expanding our world view of life.

Hello, Laterite often contains a magnetic mineral - maghemite. Laterite mostly consists of a iron mineral called Goethite. This is an hydrated iron oxide, i.e. it contains some water molecules. When bushfires sweep over the laterite during the dry season some of the goethite dehydrates and recrystallizes to maghemite which is magnetic. Since it is not evenly distributed it will differently attract the needle of the compass in different places. Run a magnet over the loose rubble on the laterite. If it comes back covered in magnetic fragments you have your explanation.

simply awesome. The magnetic anomalies are intriguing. These petroglyphs seem to be rarely as simple as they appear

Wow. Rajapur, Kankavali - all places that we pass through on our frequent trips to Goa from Mumbai, and to think that I just got to know about this. So fascinating, but so many questions. It does seem unusual for these carvings to be on flat ground as opposed to vertical walls. The Konkan region is a dense, fertile, lush region which gets very heavy rains. How deep were these discovered? When were they discovered? Would make sense for the shepherds and herders to be involved somewhat as they really know the lay of the land. During/after the monsoons, when the grass grows, u see them moving from place to place with their bunch of animals. The animals graze, and the manure helps the soil, helps agriculture, and so on. The carvings look pretty well preserved. In one of the pics we see a petroglyph very close to a house. We see lots of such houses dotting the landscape. To think that there might be more? (petroglyphs that is..) Also, hippos and rhinos! In this region! that's pretty incredible.

Amazing. Congratulations to Sudhir and Dhananjay for their passion that enabled this beautiful art and heritage to be exposed to all. I am curious to know if there are any horse like figures in these. Thanks.

Amazing these have survived for so long, unprotected as they are. One hopes the tourists DON'T find them but that is probably a pointless wish. Hopefully the local and "big" governments can try to protect these and prevent their destruction as population growth and other pressures come closer to them.

I really appreciate articles like this, with the potential to introduce people to genuine human mystery, and with the effect of acting like attitudinal palate cleansers. Hopefully the Indian government uses this trove in a way that is in everyone's interest, including the local landowners. It is possible!

WOW. Can we keep civilization going? Can we appreciate the beauty of the ancients? The human being has the ability to be good. Decent. Artistic. Hopeful. Wise. Let's protect the earth and treasure it's natural and creative beauty. Art is the answer!