Tracing Konkan carvings nominated to the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites

To describe our ancestors as ancient or primitive is often a misnomer The word conveys the image of man as barbaric rough and uncouth to the ways of the world It is erroneous As the findings of the stunning petroglyphs in Konkan prove mdash before there was language there was artDating back to 5000 years to almost 20000 years the petroglyphs from the Konkan region of Maharashtra and Goa are a stunning evidence of the ability observation and life of our ancestors Carved on the laterite Konkan plateau these works are an evidence of life during that period Sudhir Risbud of the Nisargyatri Sanstha and a dedicated naturalist says ldquoFrom the perspective of the history of human evolution petroglyphs are the first example of a human beingrsquos need for expressionrdquoRhino petroglyphFound in every part of the world petroglyphs are twodimensional carvings on rock The most famous petroglyphs are the Nazca lines in Peru Dr Kurush F Dalal archaeologist and culinary anthropologist tells us ldquoLaterite is unique to this region You can carve through it and find sediment underneath to shape If you leave it out to oxidise in the sun it turns into brickrdquo He adds ldquoWe donrsquot know of anything similar elsewhere in Indiardquo The discoveries in Konkan range from works depicting wildlife humans birds and abstract carvings whose purpose is yet to be discoveredA keen birdwatcher Risbudrsquos interest in these esoteric carvings began in 2008 There had been discoveries since the late 1990s and early 2000s but the last decade has seen an explosion of interest Risbud along with several passionate and likeminded researchers founded the Nisargyatri Sanstha which works with the Maharashtra Directorate of Archaeology to continue these discoveries among other effortsTortoise petroglyph Kapadgav PicDhananjay MaratheFrom these carvings it can be implied that the original artists were huntergatherer nomadic tribes living off the land Their observations of wildlife around them led them to leave carvings on the ground including the largest geoglyph in Asia mdash an elephant with animals around and inside itWhy was the carving so large we ask ldquoYou need to understand a bit of psychology The things we fear we see them as they are or larger than they arerdquo Risbud explains The primitive man in many ways was a realist He adds ldquoThese are not drawings from memory They have expressed life so beautifullyrdquo Yet what they saw would be surprising for their modern descendantsDr Kurush DalalRisbud reveals the singlehorned rhino and hippopotamus have never been sighted in the Konkan region Yet their etchings imply that the region was once populated by these species This also implies that the current Konkan climate and surroundings as pleasant as they are would be a strange phenomenon to the original artists For archaeologists these glyphs are a wormhole into the past From the depiction of fauna to activities these works offer information about life back thenDr Dalal reveals that the challenge also lies in the inability to carbondate them ldquoCarbon samples cannot be found on a rock You have to have some kind of habitation next to it No habitats are found next to itrdquo Much like piecing together a big jigsaw puzzle with the pieces all over the place New discoveries lead to new theoriesSudhir RisbudThere is progress though both Dr Dalal and Risbud revealed a recent discovery of stonetools that may give a better insight into the workings and lifestyle of these forgotten Konkani residents The nomination of these sites to the tentative list of UNESCOrsquos World Heritage Sites also brings with it global recognition It also comes with a practical advantage Dr Dalal says ldquoThe moment it gets into the list It attracts money interest and thirdly more expertsrdquo Risbud agrees that the global recognition will bring in funding tourism and more awareness about these rare heritage sites