History and Art and Culture
Context: Experts and conservationists have raised concerns that the proposed mega oil refinery in Barsu village, Maharashtra, may damage nearby prehistoric geoglyphs.
About the art:
- It is also known as Katal Shilpa locally in Ratnagiri.
- These sites are protected by state archaeology department and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
- Ratnagiri-based non-profit organisation Nisarga Yatri Sanstha has been working for the last few years to find and preserve geoglyphs in the Konkan region.
- It has more than 1500 petroglyphs.
- Petroglyphs: It is an image drawn on rock surface using incising, picking, carving and abrading as rock art.
- UNESCO dates these sites over 12,000 years old using carbon and geological dating.
- UNESCO listing mentions “Konkan geoglyphs.”
About geoglyphs:
- It is a form of prehistoric rock art.
- It is 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 metres 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.
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 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.
Source: Indian Express
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) Consider the following pairs:
Site of Ashoka’s major rock edicts Location in the State of
- Dhauli Odisha
- Erragudi Andhra Pradesh
- Jaugada Madhya Pradesh
- Kalsi Karnataka
How many pairs given above are correctly matched? (2022)
- Only one pair
- Only two pairs
- Only three pairs
- All four pairs
Q.2) Consider the following pairs:
Historical place Well-known for
- Burzahom Rock-cut shrines
- Chandraketugarh Terracotta art
- Ganeshwar Copper Artefacts
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (2021)
- 1 only
- 1 and 2
- 3 only
- 2 and 3
