Palaeoart of India: Nature, Spirit and Significance
Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Why Should we visit and Study Palaeoart Sites? 3. A Brief History of Palaeoart Research in India. 4. Chronology and Dating of Indian Palaeoart. 5. Regional characteristics of Indian Palaeoart. 6. Scientific investigations. 7. Origin of Art: Early Indian Palaeoart and development of Motifs. 8. Appreciation of the Iconic Palaeoart. 9. Continuity of the Rock Art Tradition. 10. Conclusion. Appendix. Bibliography. Index. Plates.
India is one of the three countries having the richest treasures of rock art in the world. Indian Palaeoart (Purakala), consisting of non-iconic and iconic rock art, and non-utilitarian objects, presents the dynamic and vibrant life of our Stone Age ancestors in the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Age. It also depicts the clear picture of transition from hunting-food gathering to pastoral economy in late Mesolithic Age. It happened with humpless cattle. Humped bull and metallic implements appeared later. It led the foundation of self-reliant economy which brought radical change in the life and culture of the people.
The crucial issue of the origin of art has also been discussed in the perspective of latest research. It has established that throughout the world iconic Palaeoart is preceded by non-iconic presentations. It was because of the human brain and his capacity to produce the nonutilitarian communication symbols, forms, motifs, and iconic compositions. It developed slowly from Homo erectus onwards through Neanderthals and Homo sapien sapiens. The issue of the origin and development of different stages of the Palaeoart has been discussed for the first time through the Indian evidence of non-iconic Palaeoart art from Lower Palaeolithic onwards to Upper Palaeolithic in the global perspective. The evidence is so important that it is set to affect not only our concepts of art origins and Pleistocene hominin development in southern Asia, but it will influence the way we view cognitive evolution generally.
The replication of different forms and size of the early cupules in Daraki-Chattan and the rock paintings of Chaturbhujnath Nala in river Chambal Valley carried out in the last 22 years helped us to understand the intelligence, cognitive, technological, and cultural development of the authors of Palaeoart. Attempts have also been made to study Indian Palaeoart from the perspective of art and communication design. It is quite capable of changing the perception of the art historians to look beyond the Harappan culture for the rich early tradition of the Palaeoart heritage of India.
The continuity of art tradition through the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age cultures and Cave art has been discussed, so also the current practice of rock art production by Karbi Naga community in Assam. Scientific dates for Indian Palaeoart obtained by different methods of dating through the EIP Project have been presented and discussed. Regional characters of Indian Palaeoart in this book have brought out its regional colours, flavours, and nature. The main objective of the study of Palaeoart is to understand the origin and development of the human ability to create constructs of reality. It is to trace our journey of progress in ourself and social behaviour, science and technology, and the spirit to explore unfathomable secretes of the Nature; and how the man became the dominant species on the planet Earth. We can observe the clearly defined stages of the cognitive, technological, and cultural development lively depicted in Indian Palaeoart.
The location of the Palaeoart sites in the lap of the Nature, stunning beauty of the landscape, and rich wild fauna are great attractions to the people, especially the young ones. Rock art sites inspire us to follow the spirit of adventure and creativity of our ancestors. In short, this book presents the brilliant and dynamic personality of Indian Palaeoart in a holistic way and its significance to the humanity.
