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CLOTTES J. (dir.) 2012. — L’art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo
Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010
SYMPOSIUM 4
L’ART PLÉISTOCÈNE EN ASIE
PLEISTOCENE ART OF ASIA
EL ARTE DEL PLEISTOCENO EN ASIA
Président / Chairman / Presidente
Giriraj KUMAR (Inde), [email protected]
CLOTTES J. (dir.) 2012. — L’art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world /
Arte pleistoceno en el Mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010
SOMMAIRE / CONTENTS / ÍNDICE
Nom document
Symposium 4
L’art pléistocène en Asie / Pleistocene art in Asia / El arte del Pleistoceno en
Asia
Indian Pleistocene rock art in a global context
Robert G. BEDNARIK
Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs and hammerstones obtained from the excavations at
Daraki-Chattan Cave in India
Giriraj KUMAR, Narayan VYAS, Robert G. BEDNARIK, Arakhita PRADHAN
Typological context of the Lower Palaeolithic lithics from Daraki-Chattan Cave, India
Robert G. BEDNARIK & Giriraj KUMAR
Physico-psychological approach for understanding the significance of Lower
Palaeolithic cupules
Ram KRISHNA & Giriraj KUMAR
Late Pleistocene art of India
Giriraj KUMAR & Ragini ROY
Pleistocene art in Azerbaijan
Malahat FARAJOVA
An overview of Asian palaeoart of the Pleistocene
Robert G. BEDNARIK
L'art rupestre de Bornéo : présentation et nouvelles observations sur quelques mains
peu communes
Luc-Henry FAGE
Page CD
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ASI2 Kumar et al
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ASI3 Bednarik-Kumar
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ASI4 Krishna-Kumar
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ASI5 Kumar-Roy
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ASI6 Farajova
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ASI7 Bednarik
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ASI8 Fage
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Sommaire Symposium 4•Asie – page 1
Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010 – Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie »
Indian Pleistocene rock art in a global context
Robert G. BEDNARIK
Abstract
The incredibly early petroglyphs reported from central Indian quartzite caves immediately raise the
issue of the compatibility of this information with our knowledge from the rest of the world. It is
demonstrated that, with the exception of the presumably greater antiquity of the Indian finds, they are
fully consistent with what five continents have yielded. The Indian sites offer numerous cupules and a
very few linear grooves; the oldest forms of rock art from Africa, Europe, Australia and the Americas
comprise precisely the same forms of petroglyphs, and even the subsequent traditions are almost
identical. This is demonstrated with the earliest known examples of rock art from those continents, and
is partly attributed to the taphonomy of rock art. Rock paintings, similarly, are limited to regions where
deep limestone caves were used by Pleistocene hominins, evidence for which is so far only available
from two continents. Even the earliest known indications of portable palaeoart from India are entirely
consistent with other continents.
Very early rock art
The first rock art ascribed to the Lower Palaeolithic were the eleven petroglyphs in
Auditorium Cave, Bhimbetka complex, Madhya Pradesh, India (Bednarik 1993,
1994). Nine cupules (cup marks) occur on a large vertical boulder face above ground
level, while a tenth cupule and a meandering groove clearly associated with it were
found in an excavation, covered by the uppermost part of substantial Late Acheulian
occupation deposits (Fig. 1). The latter were overlain by a horizon of heavily calcitecemented Middle Palaeolithic sediment that virtually excluded the possibility of postdepositional disturbance. Below two substantial Acheulian strata, an occupation layer
of a Lower Palaeolithic chopping tool industry was also excavated (Wakankar 1975;
Bednarik 1993, 1996; Bednarik et al. 2005) and it is now thought that the two
stratified petroglyphs relate to this rather than the Acheulian deposits, particularly in
view of the evidence from Daraki-Chattan. The co-occurrence of the two buried
petroglyphs and the nine cupules above ground at the site suggests that the latter
were created at the same time, and this was confirmed by microerosion analysis
(Bednarik 1996). The cave is formed in heavily-metamorphosed quartzite, a rock of
such hardness that it was extensively quarried by Acheulian hominins at several
Bhimbetka sites. This, together with their sheltered location inside a cave, is thought
to have facilitated the survival of the Auditorium Cave petroglyphs since the Lower
Palaeolithic.
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Fig. 1. Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs in Auditorium Cave, Bhimbetka, central India.
Fig. 2. Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs on the wall of Daraki-Chattan Cave, Chambal basin, central India.
At the time of the proposal of the Lower Palaeolithic antiquity of the Bhimbetka
petroglyphs was controversial, but within a few years it found unexpected validation
in a newly discovered site. In 1996, another Indian occurrence of very early
petroglyphs was reported, the quartzite cave Daraki-Chattan (Kumar 1996). Because
apparently Middle Palaeolithic and Acheulian lithics occur on the surface of the
cave’s floor deposit, it was suggested that the cupules on its walls might also be of
great age (Fig. 2). Similarly, two further cupule sites in Rajasthan, of exposed granite
boulders as well as in a further quartzite shelter, were also considered to be of great
antiquity, although here the evidence remains circumstantial (Kumar & Sharma
1995). In response to these discoveries, I established the Early Indian Petroglyphs
(EIP) Project with Giriraj Kumar, with the intention of testing these claims by an
international panel of specialists (Bednarik 2000a, 2001a). As part of the EIP Project,
major excavations were commenced at Bhimbetka and Daraki-Chattan in 2002. This
led to Kumar’s excavation at the latter site of numerous exfoliated wall fragments
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BEDNARIK R.G., Indian Pleistocene rock art in a global context
found within the Lower Palaeolithic occupation deposit. These rock slabs bear a total
of 28 cupules, identical to those on the walls above. Also, two engraved grooves
were found on a boulder excavated in the Lower Palaeolithic deposit, and one cupule
was encountered in situ in the excavation (Bednarik et al. 2005). Stone tools
exhibiting Lower Palaeolithic characteristics occurred both above and together with
these slabs, in deposits that are considered undisturbed. Most importantly, numerous
hammerstones used in the production of the cupules were recovered from the
excavation, mostly from the layer below the exfoliated wall fragments, which
contained only chopping tools and was free of bifaces (Fig. 3). There can be no
reasonable doubts that the cupules, or at least some of them, were made by people
of a Lower Palaeolithic tool typology dominated by choppers resembling those of the
African Oldowan, and predating the Acheulian. This is the earliest stone tool tradition
occurring in India. Unfortunately, the chronology and typology of the early human
occupation of India remain largely unexplored.
Fig. 3. Schematic section of the entrance of Daraki-Chattan.
The audacious claims concerning the Bhimbetka petroglyphs have therefore been
soundly validated by the comprehensive archaeological evidence from DarakiChattan, demanding an age of the rock art of several hundred millennia. While this
may seem incredible to conservative archaeologists, it must be remembered that the
earliest known petroglyphs in every continent (except Antarctica) are completely
dominated by cupules. Also, the earliest approximately dated cupules of Africa, the
eight found on a sandstone slab excavated at Sai Island, Sudan, are thought to be in
the order of 200,000 years old (Van Peer et al. 2003). Moreover, the Middle Stone
Age and possibly Fauresmith sites Peter Beaumont has recently discovered are of
identical inventories and occur on identical rock. Here, the surviving rock art begins
also with cupules, linear marks, later followed by circle petroglyphs (Fig. 4). A
discovery of apparent palaeoart of such great age was previously made by
P.W. Laidler in South Africa many decades ago (Laidler 1933). He excavated at the
Blind River mouth in East London a decorated grindstone of the Fauresmith industry
on which was a clear pecked grid pattern. The deposit is thought to be in the order of
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400,000 years old (P. Beaumont, pers. comm.). This find, too, vies for the title of
“earliest known rock art”, but unfortunately the rock itself has disappeared. It may
therefore well be the case that further research places southern Africa on par with
India in the antiquity of symbolic production. Therefore the evidence from India is
quite consistent with what we know from other continents —except that it may well be
older.
Fig. 4. Middle Stone Age or Fauresmith petroglyphs, southern Kalahari.
Fig. 5. Mode 3 petroglyphs of the Pleistocene in Australia, Sacred Canyon, Flinders Ranges.
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Australia, as far as we know, was colonised by hominins only around 60,000 years
ago, by Asian seafarers with a Middle Palaeolithic technology who apparently
brought with them a tradition of creating rock art, especially cupules and circular
designs (Fig. 5). But they developed the production of circular patterns to great
complexity and variety in Australia, which continued in Tasmania into the late
Holocene, together with a Mode 3 technocomplex. In contrast to Europe, where
examples of Pleistocene rock art have so far remained limited to limestone caves, in
Australia they can be found both in deep caves and at open sites (Bednarik 1990,
2010a, 2010b). In the latter case, it is limited to petroglyphs on the most weatheringresistant rock types (especially dense quartzites and granites) in arid or semi-arid
regions.
In North America it has long been observed that the apparently earliest rock art
tradition consists of the ‘pit-and-groove’ (Heizer & Baumhoff 1962; Grant 1967) or
‘pitted boulder’ genres (Parkman 1992). Parkman proposed that this tradition dates
from ‘pre-Hokan’ or Palaeo-Indian times, i.e. from between 12,000 and 9000
years BP. However, as in all other continents, cupules occur in North America also in
clearly very much more recent contexts. In South America, cupules have been most
thoroughly studied in Bolivia (Querejazu Lewis 1991, 2001; Querejazu & Bednarik
2010). Although credible dating of any one South American cupule remains elusive,
reliable indirect age estimates of petroglyph features are available from Toro Muerto,
Lakatambo and Inca Huasi (Fig. 6) (Bednarik 2000b, 2001b). Epullán Grande Cave,
northern Patagonia, contains cupules and linear grooves, and the latter were
excavated below a hearth of about 10,000 years age, thus presumably indicating a
Pleistocene antiquity for the rock art (Crivelli Montero & Fernández 1996).
Fig. 6. Cupules at Inca Huasi, Mizque valley, possibly very early Holocene.
Although these American occurrences of early petroglyphs are entirely consistent
with the rest of the world, the magnitude of age seems to be quite different. This
suggests that the type of surviving early rock art is perhaps determined by
taphonomy: where early forms of cave art seem to be lacking, the most deteriorationresistant petroglyphs form the oldest surviving traditions. However, in the four
continents occupied by Mode 3 (Middle Palaeolithic or Middle Stone Age)
technocomplexes, their rock art as well as portable art are both amazingly uniform.
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Very early portable palaeoart
While this uniformity is already notable in the surviving rock art, this is even more
obvious in the mobiliary art so far credibly attributed to the Pleistocene. Moreover,
the very limited Indian component is again consistent with the rest of the Old World.
The most detailed portable palaeoart of the Indian Palaeolithic is the engraved
ostrich eggshell from Patne, which is about 25,000 years old (Sali 1989). Its
crosshatched design enclosed in bands (Fig. 7) occurs also on other early palaeoart,
such as the engraved antler fragment from Longgu Cave in China (Bednarik 1992a)
or the Chandravati core (Sonavane 1991). The latter is provisionally attributed to the
Indian Mesolithic (Fig. 8), and with it the stylistically similar ‘intricate patterns’ rock
paintings found in central India (Tyagi 1988). The marking strategy of enclosing a
simple geometric design, so prominent in all the three designs on the Longgu object,
is frequently encountered in Upper Palaeolithic engravings of Eurasia, and can
perhaps even be traced back to Mode 3 marking traditions, at least in Africa. Its
earliest examples are the engraved stone plaques from the Middle Stone Age of
Wonderwerk and Blombos Caves in South Africa, roughly 75,000 years old, with their
various criss-crossing or bundled convergent lines motifs (Fig. 9). A similar marking
strategy is evident in the Urkan e-Rub II stone plaque and an Upper Besor 6 ostrich
eggshell fragment from the Levant, but the traditions of geometric or reticulate
engravings on portable plaques of the Upper Palaeolithic is particularly widespread in
Russia (Marshack 1976), Ukraine and Siberia. They are perhaps best exemplified at
Eliseevichi, Mezin, Kirillovskaya and Mezherich (but also occurring, less pronounced
or in smaller numbers, at Mal’ta, Afontova, Kavkaz, Balinkosh, Klinets, Timonovka,
Suponevo, Novgorod-Severskaya, Avdeevo and Gagarino), and eventually, in the
very final part of the Pleistocene, even in North America. Here they are perhaps
evident in the 134 engraved plaques from the Clovis tradition of the Gault site, Texas
(Collins 2002; Collins et al. 1991, 1992). Very early representatives of this behaviour
evidence from Europe are the Mousterian nummalite from Tata, Hungary, and the
Micoquian engravings from Bacho Kiro, Bulgaria (Bednarik 1992b).
Fig. 7. Engraved ostrich eggshell fragment, Upper Palaeolithic, Patne, India.
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Fig. 8. The engraved Chandravati core from India.
Fig. 9. Middle Stone Age engraved stone, Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa.
These many examples can be summarised as featuring one or more of the
following characteristics: they are responses to the outline or pre-existing markings of
the available surface, the designs are delineated or enclosed, and they are often
repetitive or reticulate in their arrangement. They begin with basic components in
Mode 3 tool traditions and become very complex and structurally sophisticated
towards the end of the Pleistocene, culminating in India’s intricate pictogram tradition
and the mysterious Russian ivory and bone plaques, which have been suggested to
resemble maps or mnemonic devices. However, there is a possibility that these
purely noniconic graphic traditions have survived to the present in such isolated
cultures as those of the Jarawas on the Andaman Islands (Sreenathan et al. 2008).
A second trend in Pleistocene portable art that seems to extend even further into
the distant past is documented by the portable engravings of the Lower Palaeolithic.
None have so far been reported in India, but their consistent characteristics in Africa
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and Europe imply again the existence of a long-lived and widespread tradition. These
engravings consist of sub-parallel incisions or notches, sometimes with traces
indicating that they were very deliberately made or spaced. Examples are the finds
from the Fauresmith of Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa (Bednarik & Beaumont,
this conference), the series of deliberate engraved sets of markings on several
Bilzingsleben objects, the Whylen and Sainte Anne I engraved bones, and the three
engraved bones from the Micoquian of Oldisleben (Bednarik 2003, 2006) (Fig. 10).
Similarly engraved portable objects from the Middle Palaeolithic have been found at
numerous sites in Europe.
Fig. 10. One of the Oldisleben engravings, Micoquian, Germany.
Summary
The claims concerning the Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs at two central Indian
sites may surprise many researchers, and yet there is little that should surprise us if
we consider their global context. Portable engravings of the earliest period we
perceive in human culture have been found in both Europe and Africa; two protofigurines of the Acheulian are known, one from Israel, one from Morocco; beads or
pendants of that traditions are known from five countries; and evidence of Lower
Palaeolithic use of pigments, especially of ochre or haematite, has been reported
from dozens of site in many parts of the Old World. A pigment crayon of the
Acheulian is also known from India, as are presumed quartz crystal manuports. Since
we know that Lower Palaeolithic hominins were capable of crossing the sea to
colonise islands (Fig. 11) for about one million years –which certainly demands the
use of one form of symbolism, language– it would be prudent to allow for the
possibility that these people used other forms of exograms as well. Forms or
evidence of symbolism use in the Lower Palaeolithic have been found in many
places in Africa, Europe and Asia. Moreover, the use of cupules and linear
petroglyphs may extend as far back as the Fauresmith in southern Africa; there is
then nothing extraordinary about finding cupules and linear petroglyphs in the Middle
Pleistocene of India. Cupules have been dated to 200,000 years BP in Sudan;
perhaps in India they are somewhat older. Whatever the case, it would be premature
to reject any of these finds out of hand, because they do not suit the Replacement
Theory that has dominated global archaeology for the past three decades. I have
always opposed this false model, and the most recent genetic evidence clearly
renders the ‘African Eve’ notion untenable (Green et al. 2010).
But that is another story.
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Fig. 11. Pleistocene seafaring began about one million years ago in southern Asia.
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Quote this article
BEDNARIK R.G. 2012. — Indian Pleistocene rock art in a global context. In: CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le
monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège,
septembre 2010, Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie ». N° spécial de Préhistoire, Art et Sociétés, Bulletin de la
Société Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées, LXV-LXVI, 2010-2011, CD: p. 869-878.
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Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs and hammerstones obtained
from the excavations at Daraki-Chattan Cave in India
Giriraj KUMARa, Narayan VYASb,
Robert G. BEDNARIKc, Arakhita PRADHANd
Abstract
Daraki-Chattan in the Chambal basin is the richest known Pleistocene cupule site in the world. Here
excavations were conducted by the Rock Art Society of India in collaboration with the Archaeological
Survey of India under the EIP Project for five seasons from 2002 to 2006. The excavations established
that the site was in use mostly in the Lower Palaeolithic. The excavations also yielded twenty-eight
cupules on exfoliated rock slabs, two still lying in the trench, and ten hammerstones from different
levels of the excavated sediments right from close to bedrock. Besides, a stone block bearing two
linear petroglyphs was discovered from layer three. The paper presents the contextual study of the
cupules and hammerstones excavated from this site.
Cupules are a simple form of human expression that has been in use from some
of the earliest cultural periods to, in some parts of the world, modern times. They are
of hemispherical form, usually circular, sometimes oval, elongate or conical. Their
creation is easy on soft rocks, but it becomes a very tedious and time-consuming
task when executed on very hard rocks like quartzite and quartz (Kumar 2007;
Kumar & Krishna 2009; Krishna & Kumar 2010 and this CD).
Early petroglyph sites have been discovered in the Vindhyas, Aravallis and in the
Chambal basin in central India during the last twenty years. Mention may be made of
those in Auditorium Cave, Bhimbetka (Bednarik 1993a), Daraki-Chattan, Bajanibhats
(Kumar & Sharma 1995), Moda Bhata (Bednarik & Kumar 2002) and other hill series
in greater Ajmer (Kumar & Prajapati 2005), and Indragarh Hill, Chanchalamata Hill,
Modi, Kanwala, Arnyabhau and Pola Bhata in the Bhanpura region (Kumar et al.
2006). Out of these, Daraki-Chattan is the most important and has been excavated
under the EIP project for five seasons from 2002 to 2006 (Kumar et al. 2005; Kumar,
2006).
For the first time in the history of world archaeology, excavations at DarakiChattan Cave have produced confirmed evidence of Lower Palaeolithic cupules and
some of the hammerstones used for their production (Kumar et al. 2005). This finding
a Indian Director of the EIP Project, Rock Art Society of India, Faculty of Arts, Dayalbagh Educational Institute,
Dayalbagh, Agra-282 005, India – [email protected]
b Co-Director and Offical Representative of ASI in the excavations.
c Australian Director of the the EIP Project – [email protected]
d Member of the excavation team, ASI – [email protected]
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endorsed the occurrence of Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs (a large cupule and a
meandering line) from the excavation carried out in the Auditorium cave, Bhimbetka,
by V.S. Wakankar in the 1970s, which were recognized in 1990 (Bednarik 1993).
This refuted the Eurocentric view of the origin of art and culture in the Upper
Palaeolithic period. It strongly supported the view that Pleistocene rock art is a global
phenomenon and that non-iconic rock art precedes iconic palaeoart in the
Pleistocene period. In Australia, hundreds of thousands of petroglyph motifs are
considered to be of ‘Middle Palaeolithic’ age (sensu Foley & Lahr 1997) on
technological grounds, having been made by societies of Mode 3 production. Even in
Europe itself, we have at least one instance of Middle Palaeolithic rock art in the form
of eighteen cupules executed on the underside of a large limestone slab placed on
top of La Ferrassie burial No. 6, the grave of a Neanderthal infant (Peyrony 1934).
This, however, is an isolated case, whereas in other continents, pre-Upper
Palaeolithic rock art and portable palaeoart are much more common (Bednarik
1992a, 1993a, 1994a, 2001a, 2002a, 2003). While we have huge numbers of Middle
Palaeolithic rock art motifs, mostly from Australia and southern Africa, the incidence
of Lower Palaeolithic cases remains very rare, and confirmed cases of it are limited
to India.
1. Daraki-Chattan
Fig. 1. Daraki-Chattan Cave, a Lower Palaeolithic cupule site in the quartzite buttresses on Indragarh Hill
near Bhanpura, Chambal basin, Madhya Pradesh.
Daraki-Chattan is a small, narrow and deep cave in the upper strata of quartzitic
buttresses of Indragarh Hill, which are broken into big blocks by vertical fracturing
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KUMAR G. et al., Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs and hammerstones obtained from the excavations at Daraki-Chattan Cave in India
(Fig. 1). With more than 500 cupules on both its vertical walls it is an extraordinary
Palaeolithic cupule site, located in the Chambal basin, Bhanpura-Gandhisagar
region, Mandsaur district, Madhya Pradesh in India (the exact location is not given
because of protection concerns; Kumar 1996, 2002). It is located at an elevation of
420m a. m.s.l. and is among a complex of painted rockshelters in Indragarh Hill
which on its top bears a fort of the Rashtrakuta period (seventh century C.E.), and
close to its base has yielded remains of an early Historic period habitation. This
Historic site was excavated by H.V. Trivedi and V.S. Wakankar in 1959-60 (1958-59:
27-28; 1959-60: 22-24). Indragarh Hill is a part of the Pariyatra Hill valley system,
which comprises further rock art and Stone Age sites.
Daraki-Chattan is facing almost due west, with an entrance orientation at 10° NE
and 190° SW. It is overlooking a 1.5km-wide beautiful and fertile valley of the river
Rewa which is bounded on both the sides by Vindhyan escarpments. Deccan trap
escarpments with laterite cap at places are overlapping the Vindhyans on the northwestern side of the valley. Through the valley flows the small perennial river Rewa.
The valley is still a forest reserve, which provided sanctuary to tigers and other fauna
up to the 1960s.
The cave floor slopes 1.4m over a distance of 6.7m (21%), then it suddenly dips to
60cm lower. From there it slopes down at about 20%. The cave floor is covered by
quartzite rubble forming a 10 to 20cm-thick deposit, together with fine sediment and
humus. Some of this deposit might have been washed in by rainwater from above.
The thickness of the deposit appears much greater at the mouth of the cave, until the
floor suddenly slopes down outside the entrance dip.
Daraki-Chattan Cave was discovered by Ramesh Kumar Pancholi in 1993
(Pancholi 1994: 75) and was scientifically studied by Giriraj Kumar assisted by his
son Ram Krishna in 1995 (Kumar 1996). It has been studied under the EIP Project by
Indo-Australian scientists since 2001.
2. The EIP Project
Excavations at Daraki-Chattan have been the major aspect of the EIP Project. The
EIP Project (Early Indian Petroglyphs: scientific investigations and dating by
international commission) is a joint venture by the Rock Art Society of India (RASI)
and the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) under the aegis of the
International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO). Established in 1999, its
work has enjoyed the support of the Archaeological Survey of India, the Indian
Council of Historical Research and the Australia-India Council. The EIP commission
is to thoroughly investigate all matters concerning the very early rock art of India,
including that of Daraki-Chattan, using methods such as carbon isotope analysis,
optically stimulated luminescence dating, microerosion analysis, uranium-thorium
analysis and archaeological excavation. The commission consists of geologists,
geochemists, archaeologists, rock art scientists and archaeometrists from India and
Australia. The fieldwork of the EIP Project was commenced in 2001 by G. Kumar
(GK) and several colleagues and accelerated in the following years with an intensive
campaign involving several specialists. A project web-page was established by
R.G. Bednarik (RGB) at http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/eip1/web/index.html. The first
tangible findings were presented at the RASI-IFRAO Congress in Agra in November
2004 and have been published in 2005 (Kumar et al. 2002; Kumar et al. 2005;
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Bednarik et al. 2005), but fieldwork has continued and will take several more years to
complete.
3. Excavations at Daraki-Chattan, 2002 to 2006
Daraki-Chattan was excavated under the EIP Project and the direction of GK from
2002 to 2006 (Kumar 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006; Kumar et al. 2005; Bednarik et
al. 2005). N. Vyas (NV) was the official representative of the Archaeological Survey
of India and was nominated as the co-director of the excavation. The area excavated
from 2002 to 2006 is 33 m2. The major excavations were carried out just in front of
the cave and in the associated rockshelter immediately to its north (Fig. 2). The initial
objectives of the excavations and explorations at and around Daraki-Chattan were as
follows:
1. To establish the stratigraphy of the sediments and palaeoclimatic and cultural
history of Daraki-Chattan.
2. To find evidence related to the production of cupules in the cave, and other art
objects and artefacts, if any, from the sediments.
3. To obtain scientific dates for different levels of sediments exposed in the
excavations and containing artefacts, and to date cupule production by using
various archaeometric methods.
4. To establish the occupation sequence and Pleistocene history of the region.
Fig. 2. Floor plan of Daraki-Chattan Cave, with excavation squares indicated
and the extent of the excavation shown.
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4. Stratigraphy
In the excavation at Daraki-Chattan during five season’s work (2002 to 2006), we
have exposed sediments up to a depth of -311cm from A1 in the main trench (Fig. 34). The sediments slope towards west by 150cm over a distance of 5m, i.e. up to
XB6(2). The nature of the sediment so far exposed in the excavation is fairly uniform
in respect of gradations of colour and size of the exfoliated flakes and sediment
clasts. However, to facilitate study the sediments have been divided broadly in two
parts, a lower deposit with pseudo-layers 6, 5 and 4; and an upper deposit with
pseudo-layers 3, 2 and 1 (see Table 1).
Fig. 3. Section facing south exposed in the excavation of Daraki-Chattan Cave, 2006.
Fig. 4. Daraki-Chattan excavations: section map facing south, with pseudo-layer markings, 2005.
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Table 1. Stratigraphy and tool typology, section facing south, main trench. Layers 1 and 2 are visible only in the
area of XB3 and XB4 and are almost indistinguishable.
Fig. 5. Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from Daraki-Chattan excavations.
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Fig. 6. Chopper on quartzite cobble lying in situ on bedrock.
1. Lower deposit: The lowermost sediment is lateritic red soil, grading into the
following compact brownish red soil and again into compact calcareous yellowishbrown soil. These sediments also comprise fallen large slabs and stone blocks.
Most of these clasts have been weathered deeply and become highly patinated
with dark-brown mineral accretion. These sediments contain Lower Palaeolithic
artefacts. Their stratigraphic-typological variation has been given in Table 1.
2. Upper deposit: It is composed of loose brown sediment with exfoliated flakes and
clasts, generally of comparatively small size and progressively of lower number. It
consists of the upper three pseudo-layers. The top 20-24cm sediment grades into
greyish-brown pseudo layer (2) and thin humus layer (1). Locally pseudo-layers 1
and 2 have been washed away by rainwater.
5. Observations on the stratigraphy
1. From the very beginning of the excavation in 2002, the artefact assemblage
represents a transitional phase from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Middle
Palaeolithic. However, the proportion of Lower Palaeolithic typology increases with
depth.
2. Polyhedrons and discoid cores of quartzite are found from the lower level of
layer 3. Cobble artefacts, like spheroids, were also found from the lower part of
layers 3 and 4. Layers 5 and 6 revealed artefacts mostly of quartzite cobbles and
thick nodules (cobble tools, discoids and spheroids). Patinated chert flakes and
artefacts of chert nodules are found even up to the last level of the excavated
sediment but their number decreases with increasing depth. Microliths of
chalcedony and chert are rarely found in the loose sediments of the upper layers.
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3. Tiny granules of haematite were found throughout the depth of the sediments.
4. The humus layer 1 and following layer 2 contain some pottery shards, brick
fragments, microliths and chert and chalcedony flakes.
5. In layer 3, the size and number of the stone blocks increase with the depth of the
sediment. Huge blocks were found lying at a depth of -135cm from A1 (-85cm from
surface) and continuing up to the depth of -177cm from A1 (-127cm from surface).
Besides the huge collapsed boulder in the centre of the trench, a big block
measuring 104 × 46 × 21cm was lying at a depth of -135cm from A1 in A3 and
XA3. Lower Palaeolithic artefacts of quartzite are numerous, mostly in mint
condition, only a few bearing abrasion marks. Patinated chert flakes and nodules
are also found. The concentration of Lower Palaeolithic artefact assemblage is
greatest in its lower half. Highly patinated utilised chert flakes and nodules occur
there.
6. Excavated cupules
6. 1. Cupules obtained in the 2002 excavation
The excavation in 2002 yielded many slab pieces from squares A2, XA2, XA1 and
A1, distributed mostly around point A2 at depth -26cm to -43cm from A2 (-38cm to
-55cm from A1). Out of these, seven fragments joined perfectly to form a slab
measuring 95 × 50 × 5-10cm (Fig. 7). Its three big pieces bear seven cupules. The
dimensions of the cupules range from 26.1 × 29.0 × 1.85mm to 50.5 × 51.9 × 7.4mm.
Stone artefacts representing the transitional phase from the Lower Palaeolithic to the
Middle Palaeolithic were discovered both above and below these slabs
Fig. 7. Exfoliated cupule slab assembled from seven fragments, which were found in pseudo-layer 3 in the
excavations at Daraki-Chattan in 2002.
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Another slab piece, bearing three cupules, was discovered from A2(2) at the time
of collecting soil sample No. DC-1 for OSL dating on 27 September 2002. The soil
sample was collected at a depth of -50cm from the surface. The cupule slab fragment
came out while digging horizontally into the section facing north. This fragment is
roughly rectangular in shape, with one corner curved and another side obliquely cut
towards the end. The maximum dimensions of the slab are 22.0 × 13.5 × 5.5/2.6cm.
The upper surface of the slab is sloping, while its lower surface is almost plain with a
shallow depression in the centre. The slab piece bears three cupules:
1. At the ‘left’ side, 45.8 × 37.7 (broken) × 6.7mm.
2. In the ‘right’ half of the slab, 41.0 × 35.0 (broken) × 8.8mm.
3. At the extreme end of the ‘upper right’ corner. The cupule is broken, only onequarter of it remains. It is 16.0mm deep.
6.2. Cupules obtained in the 2003 excavation
1. A piece of cupule-bearing slab was found in XB(3) at depth -63cm to -70cm from
A1. It is 18 × 16cm in size and was inclined towards north. It bears two deep
cupules and two shallow ones. It comes from slightly below the level from which
cupule slabs were obtained from the Daraki-Chattan excavation in 2002. Stone
artefacts obtained from around it were of quartzite. In the month of December
2003 a team of Stone Age archaeologists, consisting of S.B. Ota, R.K. Ganjoo, GK
and AP, studied the material. The team came to the conclusion that the
assemblage obtained in the excavation up to 2003 represents a late Acheulian
tradition.
2. A small piece of cupule slab was found lying upside down in XB2(2) at a depth of 72cm from A1 (Fig. 10). Two stone artefacts of quartzite were obtained close to it.
3. Another small slab piece with two broken cupules was obtained from XA2(1) at a
locus 55cm from XA2, 81cm from XA3, at a depth of -85cm from A1 (-55cm from
surface) (Fig. 11).
The following cupule-bearing slabs were discovered in the excavation in 2004:
1. A slab piece of quartzite bearing two cupules was found upside down in XC5(1) in
the adjacent rockshelter at a locus 36cm from XC5 and 74cm from XB5, at a depth
of -17cm from the surface (-127cm from A1 datum), in a Lower Palaeolithic
context. The cupule surface is weathered, the cupules’ dimensions are as follows:
cupule 1, 31.0 × 25.0mm (broken) x 4.7mm; cupule 2, 40.6 × 36.8mm (broken)
x 5.0mm.
2. A small cupule slab piece of quartzite was found in XC4(1) at a locus 59cm from
XB5, 59cm from XC5, at a depth of -36cm from XC4 (-142cm from A1 datum). The
cupule surface is smooth and patinated. It was found in the Lower Palaeolithic
level. The dimensions of the cupule slab piece are 70 × 69.4 × 20.7mm, and those
of the cupule are 30.7 × 19.2mm (broken) x 6.4mm.
3. An irregularly broken thick slab was found lying along the slabs of the floor along
the section facing south in XA3(1)/XB3(2) on 28 May 2004. The locus of the slab is
79cm from XB4(2), 110cm from XA4, depth -93cm from surface and -164cm from
A1 datum. The sediment covering it yielded four Lower Palaeolithic artefacts; out
of these three were of quartzite and one of highly patinated chert. When we
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removed this slab we observed two broken cupules on its patinated and slightly
weathered surface. The cupules are smooth and appear to be equally patinated
with a little light-brown encrustation on them. The dimensions of the slab are:
upper surface 13 × 13cm, lower surface 26 × 17cm. It bears two cupules:
cupule 1, 42.5mm × 42.7mm (broken) × 7.8mm, ovoid in shape; cupule 2, 41.7mm
× 30.7mm (broken) × 7.0mm.
Cupules on slabs still lying in the main trench of 2005.
On 19 June 2005 we observed a cupule on a quartzite slab projecting from the
section facing south in XB3(2). The locus of the cupule is 39cm from XA3, 70cm from
XA4, 119cm from A3, depth -129cm from XB4 and -184cm from A1 datum. The
dimensions of the cupule are: 32mm (broken) × 29mm × 6mm. The thickness of the
cupule-bearing slab is 20cm and its visible size is 49 × 45cm. It is still resting on
another slab, thus making the cupule-bearing surface 32cm above bedrock in layer 5
(early phase). So far it represents the earliest cupule from the Daraki-Chattan
excavation (Fig. 8-9). Soil sample No. DC-5 for OSL dating was collected just above
this slab on 9 and 10 December 2004.
Fig. 8. Daraki-Chattan excavations, 2005-06: Cupule
made in situ, lying close to bedrock.
Fig. 9. Close up of the in-situ cupule on cupules lab of
Fig. 8.
Another cupule was observed on a very big and thick fallen slab, slanting NW, in
2004. It is still lying in the trench in A2, A3 and A4 in layer 4. The visible size of the
slab is 118 × 93 × 34cm. The cupule is slightly diagonal, with dimensions 32 (broken)
× 34 × 16mm. It is located just close to the section facing north, at locus 83cm from
A3, 124cm from A4 and at depth -58cm from surface of section facing north and 240cm from A1 datum.
7. Hammerstones
Hammerstones used for the production of cupules were obtained from the
excavation at Daraki-Chattan. A hammerstone fragment of a quartzite river cobble in
XA2 (2) is from a locus 53cm from XA2(3), 28cm from XA2(2), at depth -37cm from
A1. It has a broad striking surface, which has been worn smooth by impact, obtained
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just 5cm below the two major Acheulian artefacts in the same quadrant. It was found
on 8 June 2002. The same kind of smooth crushed surface facet on hammerstones
has been produced in the replication of cupule production.
A big sturdy hammerstone of quartzite from XA1(2) at a locus 50cm from XA1,
50cm from XA2, at depth -63cm from the surface and A1 datum was discovered on
28 May 2003. In the same year, a second hammerstone of quartzite used for cupule
production was found. It had been split after use to produce a secondary artefact,
and occurred in XA1(2), 70cm from XA1, 85cm from XA2, at depth -127cm from A1
(Fig. 10). It was lying just on the bedrock, hence it represents one of the earliest
evidence of cupule production in the cave. It was discovered on 16 June 2003. This
level yielded a rich concentration of Lower Palaeolithic artefacts.
Fig. 10. An early hammerstone obtained from close to bedrock in the eastern part
of the trench in Daraki-Chattan, Lower Palaeolithic.
Five more hammerstones were recovered in 2004. In XA3(1), a pointed
hammerstone of quartzite from the Lower Palaeolithic floor level was left in its
position in the trench for inspection by members of the EIP Commission, and
removed in their presence. It was found 5cm from XA3, 96cm from XA4, at depth 111cm from surface (-164cm from A1 datum). In XA3(4)/XA4(1), a quartzite
hammerstone was obtained from the extended trench at 30cm in line from XA4
towards A4, at depth -107cm from A1 datum. Another specimen was found in
association with large Lower Palaeolithic artefacts of quartzite in XA4(1), at a locus
86cm from A4, 65cm from XB4(2), at depth -42cm from the surface in XB4(2). A long
quartzite hammerstone was excavated in XA3(2), in association with Lower
Palaeolithic quartzite artefacts at 51cm from XA3, 51cm from A3, at depth -145cm
from surface (-190cm from A1 datum). The fifth specimen found in 2004 came from
XA5(1). It was a long hammerstone of quartzite, Lower Palaeolithic, also left in its
position for reference. It was found 60cm from XA5, 85cm from XA6, at depth -67cm
from XA5.
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Finally, three further hammerstones were discovered in the lower strata in 2005.
The first was an example with a good battering facet obtained from XA4(3) at a depth
of -10cm to -20cm from surface, found in loose sediment on 30 May 2005. This was
followed by a hammerstone of a quartzite cobble from XC4(2) at a locus XB4 -42cm,
XC4 -80cm depth, -40cm from surface, found 14cm towards south of the fallen big
rock in the rockshelter and 8cm below it (obtained on 3 June). The most recently
secured hammerstone, also a quartzite cobble, was found in XB4(4) at locus XB4 80cm, XA5 -80cm, on 18 June. It occurred at a depth of -140cm from XB4, where the
sediment changes from lateritic red to brownish red soil. Its dimensions are 97 × 81
× 64mm. It was found along with a Lower Palaeolithic artefact made from a quartzite
cobble, a haematite pigment nodule and another cobble tool. All of these four objects
come from an area measuring 17 × 16cm in XB4(4), at -132 to -140cm depth from
XB4. One more artefact of a quartzite flake, Lower Palaeolithic, comes from nearly
20cm away from the hammerstone. All these artefacts were found surrounded by
decomposed quartzite stone blocks (barbarya bhatas).
8. Engraved grooves on a boulder
In the excavations of Daraki-Chattan a big boulder was found bearing two
engraved lines. It was lying in the lower part of layer 3 (Kumar et al. 2005). It bears
two engraved lines (Fig. 11-12). When this boulder was removed twenty Lower
Palaeolithic artefacts were found from above it and along its sides.
Fig. 11. Quartzite boulder with two linear petroglyphs
found in pseudo-layer 3 but restingon pseudo-layer 4,
Daraki-Chattan.
Fig. 12. Close up of the engraved petroglyph
of Fig. 11, with scars of sample collection for U-Th
dating.
The longer groove one is 293mm long and almost straight. Its width ranges from
14mm to 21mm, but in general it is very consistent at an average of 19mm. The
groove section is U-shaped, and its execution by abrasive process is emphasized by
the tendency of a slight increase in depth and width across the two surface rises
along the groove’s course. The maximum difference between the two rises and the
intervening depression along its course is 7.4mm. The actual depth of the groove
ranges from 2.0mm to 6.9mm, but, as there is extensive ferromanganeous accretion
along the margins and at places inside of the groove where preferential deposition
occurred, these measurements are deceptive. Without removing the accretion, the
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true depth of the groove can only be estimated, but it seems to range up to about
4.5mm at rises, and was close to 2.0mm in the depressions. The second, shorter
groove, 83mm long, is comparatively narrower, which is clearly caused by
accretionary deposit emphasising the margins by preferential deposition. Its present
width is around 14mm, and the original width appears to have been 17mm or 18mm.
The depth ranges from 2 to 3mm.
The execution of these grooves by abrasion required great patience and very long
hours of work. The ferromanganeous accretion deposited on these linear petroglyphs
is being subjected to U/Th dating at Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad.
9. Study and observations
Daraki-Chattan is a Lower Palaeolithic site, yielding Lower Palaeolithic artefacts
from throughout its sediment section. From the top humus and to some extent from
the following brown soil layers we also found recent debris and microliths. These
appear to be intrusions introduced by rainwater and trampling. The major activity
area in front of the cave and in the shelter, as revealed by the concentration of the
Lower Palaeolithic artefacts obtained in the excavations, appears to be the area
covered by squares XD4 and 5; XC4 and 5; XB3, 4 and 5; XA1, 3, 4 and 5; and A1, 4
and 5; in 11.5 m2.
In the early phase of the Lower Palaeolithic, the cave was a tool manufacturing
site. It yielded cobbles used as cores, flakes, unfinished tools (from XB5(4) at depth 161cm from XB4, red lateritic soil), reused artefacts etc. A few artefacts from layer 3
upwards, particularly from the squares in the rockshelter and from the western part of
the main trench were also re-utilised. In the upper part of the stratigraphy, XA4 (4&3)
and XA4(1) yielded a good number of fine Lower Palaeolithic artefacts at depths of 20 to -40cm from the surface. Lower Palaeolithic patinated chert flakes and chert
artefacts also occur right from the base of the excavation to its uppermost horizon.
They also include a patinated chert artefact from XA3(2), 64cm from XA3, 45cm from
A3, at -127cm depth from surface (-180cm from A1); and a utilized and retouched
knife-like artefact of a patinated Acheulian chert flake from XA5(3), 44cm from A6,
75cm from A5, at -10cm from the surface (-166cm from A1).
The excavation at DC has yielded definite evidence of human palaeoart creation
from the Lower Palaeolithic in the form of petroglyphs, both cupules and engraved
lines, and also through the hammerstones used for producing cupules. This is
evident from the discovery of slabs bearing cupules and engraved lines, and of
hammerstones right from the lowest layer onwards. Although many hammerstones
used for the production of the cupules were found, they are not in proportion to the
very numerous cupules present in the cave. Acheulian floors of stone slabs or stone
structures such as that found in pseudo-layer 4 are rare features in the Lower
Palaeolithic.
Detailed study of the excavated material is continuing.
Conclusion
The present preliminary report of the excavations at Daraki-Chattan provides the
unambiguous evidence of petroglyphs, mostly cupules, from archaeological
occupation strata of Lower Palaeolithic age. It endorses the similar evidence from the
Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka. At Daraki-Chattan petroglyphs recovered from the
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excavations consist of a total of 28 cupules exfoliated from the cave wall, and two
linear grooves. The lack of cupules on exfoliation scars on the cave walls implies that
the remaining wall cupules are of ages broadly similar to those in the excavation. The
actual age of the cupules must have been much greater than the time of their
stratigraphic deposition, as they must have been exfoliated much later than the time
of their production on the cave wall. The same relationship has been suggested for
the cupules above ground in Auditorium Cave (Bednarik 1996).
Recent research has shown that our understanding of art origins is rapidly
changing. More than any other evidence presented before, the evidence produced by
the EIP Project, especially from the excavations at Daraki-Chattan, has shown that
we have misjudged the time depth of palaeoart and human cognition, creative ability
and symbolism. The time has come to change our mindset. This evidence is so
significant that it is set to affect not only our concepts of Pleistocene hominin
development in southern Asia, but it will influence the way we view cognitive
evolution generally.
Acknowledgments
For permission for the project and financial support, we thank the Archaeological Survey of India,
the Indian Council of Historical Research and the Australia-India Council, Canberra. Special thanks
are due to Dr R.S. Bisht, Dr Alok Tripathi (ASI), Prof. M.G.K. Narayanan, and Dr R.C. Agrawal (ICHR).
Project mentors: Dr A. Sundara, the late Dr S.P. Gupta, Dr R.K. Sharma, Dr Amarendra Nath,
P.B.S. Sengar, Dr S. Pradhan, K.K. Muhammed, Dr B.L. Bamboria and Dr Ashvini Kumar Sharma.
Logistics: Dr P.K. Bhatt, Dr B.L. Bamboria and friends at Bhanpura.
Visiting scholars: Dr Alan Watchman (dating), Prof. Richard G. Roberts (OSL), Dr Ewan Lawson
(carbon isotope analysis), Dr Carol Patterson (rock art research), Professor V.N. Misra (Pleistocene
archaeology), Dr R.K. Choudhury (nuclear physics), Professor S.N. Behera (nuclear physics),
R.K. Pancholi (rock art research), Dr G.L. Badam (palaeontology), Dr R.K. Ganjoo (geology), S.B. Ota
(archaeology), M.L. Sharma and M.L. Meena (both rock art research).
We also thank Gita Devi and Ram Krishna.
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KUMAR G., VYAS N., BEDNARIK R.G., PRADHAN A. 2012. — Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs and hammerstones obtained
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Typological context of the Lower Palaeolithic lithics
from Daraki-Chattan Cave, India
Robert G. BEDNARIK and Giriraj KUMAR
Abstract
In addition to housing some of the oldest known rock art in the world, Daraki-Chattan is also an
important Palaeolithic site because it is one of the very few Indian locations where Mode 1 (preAcheulian) occupation evidence has been excavated in a stratified context. Overlain by a typical
Acheulian with hand-axes, this deposit has yielded very simple, Oldowan-like stone artefacts made
mostly of the local quartzite. Here we provide a brief description of these tools, including several
hammerstones that are presumed to have been used in the creation of some of the numerous cupules
on the cave walls. We consider not only the typology of this assemblage, but also place it within the
context of the Lower Palaeolithic of India.
The very early cupule site Daraki-Chattan, in the Chambal basin of Madhya
Pradesh, is of particular importance to exploring the Lower Palaeolithic (LP)
industries of southern Asia, because it is one of very few sites of that region where
Mode 1 (Oldowan-like) occupation evidence has been excavated below Mode 2
(Acheulian) remains. Indeed, it shares this characteristic with the only other Indian
site where the existence of LP petroglyphs has so far been demonstrated, Auditorium
Cave at Bhimbetka (Bednarik 1992, 1993). In both quartzite caves, substantial
Acheulian deposits are underlain by pisolithic sediments indicating extensive
laterisation, and by a basal sediment containing typical Mode 1 industries. In
Auditorium Cave, the Acheulian and the pre-Acheulian are separated by a sterile
layer containing pisoliths (Wakankar 1973, 1975), whereas in Daraki-Chattan (Kumar
1996), such a distinctive stratigraphical separation has not been documented
(Bednarik et al. 2005).
Nevertheless, in both cases the Mode 1 technocomplexes comprise heavily
weathered, saprolithic chopping tools, and in both cases the earliest petroglyphs are
attributed to this phase. At Daraki-Chattan, this is demonstrated by the presence of
the lowest exfoliated cupule slabs as well as by the occurrence of some of the
hammerstones used in their manufacture (Fig. 1), and also by the presence of one in
situ cupule among chopping tools. The attribution of the cupules and linear
petroglyphs of both sites to the Mode 1 tool tradition raises the question of the
antiquity of both this cultural phase and the rock art it produced, as well as the
typology of the stone artefacts of the lower occupation of the cave.
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Fig. 1. Freshly excavated hammerstone from the Lower Palaeolithic of Daraki-Chattan Cave;
the bruised area is clearly visible.
The lithics from Daraki-Chattan
The LP stone tool sequence in the Daraki-Chattan sediments commences from
the upper part of the floor deposit, which comprises only a very thin layer of more
recent strata. In places an industry intermediate to Middle and Lower Palaeolithic
typology was visible at the surface before excavations commenced (Kumar 1996).
These intermediate tool types are underlain by a substantial deposit defined as
Acheulian, but poor in typical hand-axes (Fig. 2) and cleavers. Six vague and fairly
arbitrary layers were distinguished in the sediment, becoming progressively more
reddish in Layer 5. The lowest sediment deposit, characterized by its red colour,
contains the cobble tools as well as hammerstones.
The two uppermost, greyish-brown sediment units contain artefacts representing a
transitional phase from LP to Middle Palaeolithic, mostly of purple red quartzite, a few
of patinated chert. Small non-symmetrical bifaces resemble those found in the
Eastern Micoquian of Europe.
Arbitrary layers 3 and 4 contain LP flake artefacts, some made from river cobbles,
but most made of the local purplish quartzite. A few artefacts consist of patinated
cherts. The brown soil becomes increasingly compact with depth. Layer 5 contains
still much the same industry, but increasing iron content has effected more reddish
colour. Both stone tools and clasts show increasing effects of weathering and iron
induration, which on large clasts may take the form of thick mineral crusts of primarily
ferromanganeous composition.
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BEDNARIK R.G. & KUMAR G., Typological context of the Lower Palaeolithic lithics from Daraki-Chattan Cave, India
Fig. 2. Typical Acheulian hand-axe from the Daraki-Chattan excavation.
The basal sediment layer features only very weathered stone tools and clasts.
Tool types from the lower sediments (Fig. 3-12) include cobble tools, discoids, core
choppers, flake scrapers and polyhedrons similar to the so-called Durkadian reported
by Armand (1979, 1983, 1985). A few specimens resemble what have been called
core-scrapers at Mahadeo-Piparia, another central Indian site, whose repertoire has
been called the Mahadevian (Khatri 1963, 1966). These characteristic pieces are
large blocks with a zigzagging edge produced by chunky flakes having been
removed alternatively from each side.
Fig. 3. Chopper on a cobble found close to bedrock, in lateritic soil. One of the earliest artefacts, weathered,
Oldowan/Mode 1 type.
Fig. 4. Chopper on a cobble found close to bedrock, in lateritic soil. One of the earliest artefacts, weathered,
Oldowan/Mode 1 type.
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Fig. 5. Pebble from close to bedrock, weathered up to the core, corroborates the évidence
from Bhimbetka about earliest weathered pebble tools on locally available pebbles and cobbles.
Fig. 6. Chopper on a big cobble from Layer 5.
Fig. 7. Core artefact on exfoliated cobble from Layer 5.
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Fig. 8. Artefact on quartzite flake from Layer 5.
Fig. 9. Small hand-axe from Layer 4.
Fig. 10. Large core artefact on quartzite from lowermost part of Layer 3, dimensions 275 × 245 × 144 mm.
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Fig. 11. Polyhedron on quartzite from lower part of Layer 3.
Fig. 12. Pointed artefact on quartzite flake from close to surface in the associated rockshelter, Daraki-Chattan.
The Lower Palaeolithic in India
Although LP and MP stone tool traditions are widespread in India (Petraglia 1998),
represented in massive quantities and typologically accounted for (Korisettar 2002),
their absolute chronology has remained largely unresolved so far. This is due both to
paucity of excavated sites (most known sites are surface scatters) and a pronounced
lack of well-dated sites. For instance prior to the excavation of three Bhimbetka sites
in the 1970s, only one primary Acheulian site had been excavated in India (Bose
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1940; Bose & Sen 1948). Yet the Indian subcontinent is assumed to have been one
of the most densely occupied regions in the world (Mishra 2006-07) for as long as
hominins existed in Asia — which on present indications appears to be well over two
million years (Verma 1975, 1989; Dennell et al. 1988a, 1988b; Rendell et al. 1987,
1989; Dennell 1998; Zhu et al. 2001; Hurcombe 2004).
It is therefore to be expected that cobble or chopping tools should precede the
bifaces of the Indian Acheulian, as they do in Africa and Europe, but they have
attracted comparatively little attention here. The Acheulian of India and Africa are
thought to be closely related (Corvinus 2004; Petraglia 2006). Mode 1 assemblages
remain remarkably neglected in India, apart from the notable syntheses by Dennell
(1995) and Chauhan (2010b). There appears to be also confusion between ‘primary’
Mode 1 assemblages (i.e. those that precede Mode 2 occurrences chronologically)
and ‘regressive’ Mode 1 features (of essentially much later, perhaps impoverished
pockets of technology, which can be found in many parts of the world and until well
into the Holocene) (cf. Guzder 1980: 79; Corvinus 2002; Gaillard 2006). The former
are recognized by deep weathering, early geological or stratigraphic context, and by
specific features, such as the massive choppers from Daraki-Chattan with their
distinctive bi-marginal trimming (also reported from other sites of the central region,
such as Mahadeo-Piparia; Khatri 1963) and lack of any Levallois features. Vaguely
similar lithics can occur in much more recent traditions, but not in the distinctive
combinations of genuine Mode 1 assemblages (for instance the tiny pebble tools
of Kalpi are quite unrelated to proper Mode 1 types; Tewari et al. 2002; see also
Srivastava et al. 2003; Sinha et al. 2005). While it may be justified to argue that much
of India presents sedimentary facies that are less than perfect for the preservation of
osseous remains, which may partly explain the dearth of skeletal remains, this should
not prevent the preservation of stone tools. Yet undeniably the lengthy first phase of
human presence, so crucial to understanding hominin development in Asia, remains
in effect largely unexplored.
The dominance of Acheulian forms may well be an artefact of collecting activities
that may have favoured the easily recognizable Acheulian types, notably well-made
hand-axes. Several attempts to use the thorium-uranium method, at Didwana,
Yedurwadi and Nevasa (Raghvan et al. 1989; Mishra 1992), placed the Acheulian
beyond the method’s practical range (which ends at about 350 ka BP). But a molar
from Teggihalli did yield such a date (of Bos, 287,731 +27,169/-18,180 230Th/234U
years BP), as did a molar from Sadab (of Elaphus, 290,405 + 20,999/ - 18,186
years BP) (Szabo et al. 1990). However, an Elaphus molar from the Acheulian of
Tegihalli is over 350 ka old. An attempt to estimate the age of a presumed LP cupule
in Auditorium Cave, Bhimbetka, by microerosion analysis remained inconclusive
because the age was also beyond the method’s limit, which is conservatively thought
to be in the order of 100 ka in this particular context (Bednarik 1996).
While the Lower Acheulian remains largely undated, preliminary indications
suggest a late Middle Pleistocene antiquity for the Final Acheulian. Thorium-uranium
dates from three calcareous conglomerates containing Acheulian artefacts suggest
ages in the order of 200 ka (Korisettar 2002). These results are from the sites
Nevasa (Pravara Basin), Yedurwadi (Krishna Basin) and Bori (Bhima Basin). The
most recent date so far for an Indian Acheulian deposit is perhaps the uranium-series
result from a conglomerate travertine in the Hunsgi valley (Karnataka), which seems
to overlie a Late Acheulian deposit (Paddayya 1991). The travertine’s age of about
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150 ka at Kaldevanahalli appears to confirm that the change from the LP to the MP
occurred between 200 and 150 ka ago.
In addition to these very sparse dates from the early periods of Indian history,
there are several presumed ‘relative datings’, but these were always subject to a
variety of qualifications. Early research emphasized the relation of artefacts to
lateritic horizons (but cf. Guzder 1980) and biostratigraphic evidence (de Terra &
Paterson 1939; Zeuner 1950; Badam 1973, 1979; Sankalia 1974), which often
resulted in doubtful attributions. Sahasrabudhe and Rajaguru (1990), for instance,
showed that there were at least two episodes of laterization evident in Maharashtra
and that extensive fluvial reworking occurred. Attempts to overcome these limitations
included the use of fluorine/phosphate ratios (Kshirsagar 1993; Kshirsagar &
Paddayya 1988-89; Kshirsagar & Gogte 1990), the utility of which was affected by
issues of re-deposition of osseous materials (cf. Kshirsagar & Badam 1990; Badam
1995). Similarly, attempts to use weathering states of stone tools as a measure of the
antiquity of lithics (e.g. Rajaguru 1985; Mishra 1982, 1994) are plagued by the
significant taphonomic variables involved in weathering processes (cf. Bednarik
1979). The emergence of anomalous results and inconsistencies established in
recent years illustrates a distinct need for a chronological framework based on a
series of reliable numerical age estimations, especially from undisturbed LP and MP
occupation deposits.
There remains wide disagreement about the antiquity of the Early Acheulian and
the Mode 1 industries, reflecting similar recent debates in southern Europe. Based on
the potassium-argon dating of volcanic ash in the Kukdi valley near Pune to 1.4
million years ago, some favour that magnitude of age for the earliest phase of the
Acheulian (Misra & Rajaguru 1994; Badam & Rajaguru 1994). An age of well over
400 ka seems also assured by thorium-uranium dating (Mishra 1992; Misra &
Rajaguru 1994). Others, especially Acharyya and Basu (1993), reject such a great
antiquity for the Early Acheulian in the subcontinent. Similarly, Chauhan (2010a)
cautions that the ESR date of> 1.2 Ma for Early Acheulian finds at Isampur
(Paddayya et. al. 2002) remains tentative. However, Chauhan et al. (in press) and
Chauhan & Patnaik (2008) have shown that lithics at the Narmada site Dhansi, less
than 3 km south of the hominin site Hathnora, occur in a major formation of the
Matuyama Chron, presumably placing them in the Early Pleistocene.
The earliest phase of human presence in India, of Mode 1 assemblages, consists
of limited but tantalizing references to archaic chopping tools, cores and flake tools,
sometimes compared to those of the Oldowan, sometimes referred to as Soanian.
Most of these occurrences are surface finds (e.g. Salel, Chowke Nullah, Haddi,
Guzder 1980; or Nangwalbibra A, Sharma & Roy 1985; or Pabbi Hills in Pakistan,
Hurcombe 2004); or come from alluvial or colluvial deposits, including conglomerate
horizons (e.g. Durkadi, Armand 1983; or Mahadeo-Piparia, Khatri 1963). At Pabbi
Hills, dates ranging from 2.2 to 1.2 Ma have been acquired by palaeomagnetism. The
few flaked quartzite cobbles from Riwat (Pakistan) appear to be in the order of 2.5
Ma old (Dennell 1998), rather than 1.9 Ma as previously proposed. The claims from
Labli Uttarani near Jammu (Verma 1975, 1989), ranging from 1.6 to 2.8 Ma, are
viewed sceptically (Mohapatra & Singh 1979; Mishra 2006-07). Reliably identified
Mode 1 industries have been excavated from secure stratigraphies in very few cases,
and they were found below Mode 2 strata at two sites. Cobble and flake tools were
recovered well below extensive Acheulian evidence and separated from it by sterile
sediments in Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka (Wakankar 1973, 1975), as well as in
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Daraki-Chattan as noted above (Bednarik et al. 2005). These quartzite tools are
partially decomposed at both sites and they were found in both cases below pisoliths
and heavy ferromanganeous mineral accretions indicating a significant climatic
incursion. In the case of the Bhimbetka finds, the objections (Jayaswal 1978, 1982)
citing Misra’s (1978) results in IIIF-23 are entirely irrelevant: the excavation in Misra’s
Shelter failed to extended below the Acheulian deposits (Bednarik et al. 2005),
whereas that in IIIF-24, Auditorium Cave certainly did, as did the excavation in
Daraki-Chattan.
The only hominin fossil specimens of Asia found between the Levant and
Java/China, the Narmada calvaria and postcranials, were recovered at Hathnora (H.
de Lumley & Sonakia 1985; Sankhyan 1999), about forty kilometres south of
Bhimbetka, where Acheulian petroglyphs were first identified. The partially preserved
cranium was initially described as Homo erectus narmadensis (Sonakia 1984, 1997;
M.-A. de Lumley & Sonakia 1985), but is now considered to be of an archaic Homo
sapiens with pronounced erectoid features (Kennedy et al. 1991; Bednarik 1997). Its
cranial capacity of 1200 to 1400 ml is conspicuously high, especially considering that
this is thought to be a female specimen. A clavicle, however, is from a pygmy-sized
individual, being under two thirds of the size of most modern human specimens. It is
of an individual of a body size similar to Homo floresiensis. Both Hathnora specimens
are among the most challenging hominin finds ever made, yet both remain widely
ignored. The two sub-species co-occur in the Unit I Boulder Conglomerate of the
Narmada valley site (H. de Lumley & Sonakia 1985). The rich accompanying fauna
implies a mid or late Middle Pleistocene age for the hominin finds.
The hominin-bearing sediment at Hathnora has been suggested, without much
tangible evidence, to be in the order of 200,000 years old. The only secure age
information comes from a series of palaeomagnetic determinations, according to
which the entire relevant sediment sequence at Hathnora is of the Brunhes Normal
Chron., hence the human remains must be younger than 730 ka (Agrawal et al.
1988, 1989). On the other hand it is unlikely that they are under 150 ka old. Within
this rather long interval, both tool typology and fauna point to the uppermost time
zone. Having examined the Narmada calvaria, the authors agrees that its most likely
age is in the order of 200 ka, because its essentially modern cranial volume renders
a much greater age unlikely.
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BEDNARIK R.G. & KUMAR G. 2012. — Typological context of the Lower Palaeolithic lithics from Daraki-Chattan Cave,
India. In: CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el
mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010, Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie ».
N° spécial de Préhistoire, Art et Sociétés, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées, LXV-LXVI, 2010-2011,
CD: p. 895-906.
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Physico-psychological approach for understanding
the significance of Lower Palaeolithic cupules
Ram KRISHNAa and Giriraj KUMARb
Abstract
For understanding the significance of cupules many approaches are employed. Most popular among
them is ethno-archaeological study. But the great difference of age, particularly in the study of the
Lower Palaeolithic cupules in Daraki-Chattan, makes this approach unscientific and less reliable.
Hence, we adopted a physico-psychological approach which involves replication of cupules on hard
quarzite rock and the observations made in this process. We have been experimenting on this project
since 2002.
In the process of replication of cupules, particularly in 2008 and 2009, it was revealed that the creation
of cupules requires very hard labour and devotion. The creation of comparatively small and deep
cupules needs besides physical strength, dedication, concentration and a lot of planning and skill.
Hence, cupule creation is not a play work or leisure activity, rather it is related with something which
has deep meaning in life. It is a scientific conclusion and can be tested by anyone who is interested in
the subject.
Fig. 1. Daraki-Chattan Cave (DC) in the quartzite buttresses of Indragarh hill near Bhanpura in the Mandsaur
district, Madhya Pradesh in the Chambal basin.
a Department of Electric Engineering, Arya College of Engineering and Information Technology, Kukas Industrial
Area, Kukas, Jaipur-Delhi Highway, District Jaipur, Rajasthan, India – [email protected]
b Prof in Indian Culture and Rock Art Science – Faculty of Arts, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh,
Agra-282 005, India – [email protected]
Symposium Asie
Daraki-Chattan cave is one of the richest Palaeolithic cupule sites in the world
(Fig. 1). It is situated in the quartzite buttresses of Indragarh hill near Bhanpura,
Mandsaur district, Madhya Pradesh in the Chambal basin (Kumar 1996). It is a small
narrow cave, conical in depth and height and facing west. It is 4.0m wide at the drip
line and 1.4m wide at its mouth. From there it continuously narrows down in width, to
34cm at a depth of 7.4m. It then becomes slightly wider to 40cm and finally closes at
a depth of 8.4m from its mouth. It is 7.75m in height and in its upper half the rock
faces are tilted north.
Because of its size and shape the cave is unsuitable for habitation purposes, still it
bears more than 500 cupules on both its vertical walls (Fig. 2). The number of
cupules must have been much more as the front portions of both faces of the cave
walls show heavy exfoliation scars. The question is what is the significance of these
cupules and why such a small cave was chosen as a center of cupule creation
activity, on such a large scale for a long time? The answer is not so easy.
Fig. 2. Southern wall of Daraki-Chattan (DC) bearing cupules. Exfoliated slab scars
devoid of cupules can be seen in the front.
Daraki-Chattan is a unique Palaeolithic cupule site as it was used to make cupules
right from the Lower Palaeolithic. A simple explanation could be that it might have
been a sacred site and cupule creation might have been some sort of ritual activity.
But what is the scientific basis to prove it?
1. Scientific study of the cupules
1.1. Excavations
For a scientific study and to establish the antiquity of the Daraki-Chattan cupules,
excavations were carried out under the EIP Project (direction of Giriraj Kumar) from
2002 to 2006. The EIP project is a joint venture by RASI and AURA under the aegis
of IFRAO, and has being carried out with the support of ASI, ICR and the AustraliaIndia Council, Canberra since 2001. Kumar and Robert G. Bednarik are the Indian
and Australian Directors of the project. The project is still going on. The excavations
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KRISHNA R. & KUMAR G., Physico-psychological approach for understanding the significance of Lower Palaeolithic cupules
at Daraki-Chattan yielded 28 cupules and 10 hammer stones from Lower Palaeolithic
cultural strata (Kumar et al. 2005; Bednarik et al. 2005).
1.2. Categories of cupules
After a thorough study the archaic cupules in Daraki-Chattan Cave have been
classified broadly into four categories with their sub-categories as follows:
1) Big circular cupules with saucer shaped or deep round depth
a) Big circular cupules more than 50mm in diameter, smooth saucer shaped
at a depth of more than 5mm
b) Big and deep cupules about 30 to 50mm in diameter and with a 7 to 12mm
smooth and round depth. Sometimes the depth is more than 12mm
2) Cupules with conical depth
a) Circular cupules about 30 to 40mm in diameter and with a conical depth of
more than 5mm
b) Oval or elongated cupules with an oblique and conical-receding depth,
deep side always downwards (Fig. 3-4)
Fig. 3. An oval shaped cupule on the northern wall
in DC.
Fig. 4. A small cupule with oblique depth on the
southern wall in DC.
3) Small cupules with a smooth depth
a) Small circular cupules with a shallow smooth depth. These appear to be
unfinished left over cupules
b) Small circular cupules with a deep smooth depth
On the northern wall (rock)
– NR In the lower side before Group 1a: 18.3 x 17.6 x 5.7mm
– NR No. 144; 24.65 x 27.0 x 11.35mm., deep conical cupule
– NR No. 162. 24.5 x 23.8 x 8.83mm
On the southern wall (rock)
– SR No. 195b. 32.3 x 24.6 x 8.4mm
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4) Small cupules with an angular periphery and deep angular depth
There are only two examples
a) NR In the lower side before Group 1a: 18.3 x 17.6 x 5.7mm is with a
roughly triangular periphery and angular depth
b) SR No. 23: 27.3 x24.6 x 8.4mm, with avtriangular periphery and triangular
depth (Fig. 5). It is the only case of its kind and appears to be a marvel of
technological achievement in archaic cupule production.
Category 1 and category 2 form the major bulk of the cupules in Daraki-Chattan
Cave. Category 3 forms only a small part, while cupules of category 4 are rare (only
two in the cave). Cupules of category 2 have been found from the excavations at
Daraki-Chattan.
Fig. 5. Replicated cupules on the quartzite vertical rock-face in a small rock shelter
on the left side (south) and close to Daraki-Chattan.
1.3. Replication of cupules
Our study of early cupules on hard quartzite rock is a pioneering research. In the
global literature on rock art (Bednarik 1998:23-35), we do not have any reference for
replication work that could have helped us in understanding the techniques used,
intelligence and skill required and the complexities involved to produce such archaic
on hard quartzite rock. Hence, in order to understand the creation of cupules and
their significance in Daraki-Chattan we have been experimenting on the replication of
cupules on a vertical experimental wall in a rock shelter close by, to the left (south) of
Daraki-Chattan (Fig. 5), a continuation of the same quartzite bedrock. The
experimental rock faces west. It runs 210cm from north to south, then turns to the
southeast over an additional 140cm. It is 200cm high.
We really need to show how hard and intelligent it is to make the above mentioned
different types of cupules. Secondly, we also need to understand and justify the
nature and types of hammer stones discovered in the excavations at Daraki-Chattan
and correlate them with the cupules in the cave.
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Experiment with replicating cupules was started by Giriraj Kumar in 2002, the year
when the Daraki-Chattan excavation began. Ram Krishna joined the project in 2004.
It is still continuing.
The details of the technique and selection of hammer stones, the nature of the
experimental rock, etc. were given in another paper on cupule replication (Krishna &
Kumar 2010). Here we are presenting a summary of it.
2. Discussion
So far we replicated nine cupules on this experimental rock from 2002 to 2009
(Fig. 6).
Fig. 6. Ram Krishna on work of cupule replication in June 2009.
2.1. Creation of big cupules
In 2002 and 2004 we were able to produce cupules of category 1a (Big circular
cupules more than 50mm in diameter and more than 5mm smooth saucer shaped
depth) and recorded the details of the process. Initial results and observations were
presented at the First International Cupule Conference in Cochabamba in Bolivia in
2007 (Kumar 2007). A brief summary of it is being presented here.
Janaki Lal Gujjar created Replication Cupule RC-2. It is a big and deep cupule
with a smooth surface and measures 55.7 x 55.0 x 9mm. It was produced in
16,800 strokes, in 132 minutes of actual work in two days on 12 and 13 June 2002.
Janaki Lal started striking at a rate of 135 strokes/mt. After 30 minutes the speed
of his striking reduced to 120 strokes/mt. He used two Cobbles No.3 and 2 as
hammer stones. Cobble No. 3 was comparatively big and round, flaked off at one
portion, hence a triangular stout point without cortex was available to use as a
striking head. It proved to be the most suitable hammer stone. Being left-handed he
did most of his work with his left hand, but sometimes he also used his right hand
when feeling tired. The resultant dimensions of the triangular striking end of the first
hammer stone (Cobble No. 2) are 40 x 63mm. Tool wear occurred along the margin
of the struck surface. Powerful strokes by big hammer stones produced a big and
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deep cupule with a smooth surface, compared to soft strokes by small hammer
stones (being used by another shepherd boy Hira Lal Gujjar working on RC-1). Hir
Lal produced a comparatively small and shallow cupule measuring 42.0 x 36.6
x 1.9mm in dimension, in 8,490 soft strokes in actual work for 72 minutes in one day
on June 12, 2002.
Table 1. Comparative summary of the cupule replication experiment.
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Fig. 7. Replicated broad cupule, RC-2 executed in 2002.
Fig. 8. One of the hammer stones with broad striking
head used in replication of replicated cupule RC-2.
Fig. 9. A quartzite hammer stone with broad striking
head obtained from layer 6 in the excavations at DC.
2.2. Creation of small cupules
Ram Krishna created RC-6 by comparatively soft 21,661 strokes, in actual work of
172-minutes in three days. For most of the time he used a direct percussion
technique except for 3,322 strokes in 22 minutes of indirect percussion. So he
created RC-6 with a conical depth and measuring 33.5 x 32.5 x 9.0mm. To produce it
we maintained a time of striking phases mostly of 2 minutest duration except phase
No. 55, 56 and 17 of 15 minutes each and phase 61 of 12 minutes. We properly
recorded the process. Ram Krishna used pebbles of different sizes as hammer
stones, generally collected from Patasighati and that had a highly metamorphosed
hard, purple-red colour core and a thin weathering rind around them. They also had a
stout point and a broad base, suitable for holding with a firm grip while using them as
hammer stones. He used 12 hammer stones to produce it: pebble of HS-4 was used
three times as HS-4, 5 and 6, and that of HS-7 and HS-10 for two times as HS-7
and 8 and HS-10 and 12 respectively, as the quality of hardness of their stone was
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superior. To obtain a stout point on the used striking-head we had to modify it by
taking out some flakes from it.
Dinesh Kumar created RC-7 in actual work of 255 minutes in two days. It is 49.0
x 32.5 x 6.5mm and looks like a deep saucer. To create this cupule in comparatively
short period we did not count strokes, and each phase of striking lasted for
15 minutes instead of 2 minutes with Ram Krishna.
Dinesh used eight hammer stones to produce it, out of which cobble HS-5 was
used four times as were HS-5 and 6, 7 and 8 by using it at different points and
modifying it again and again. As hammer stones, he generally used quartzite cobbles
of different sizes from Patasighati. They had at least one or more stout point and
were suitable for holding with a firm grip while using them as hammer stones.
While replicating RC-6, Ram Krishna also used indirect percussion technique,
though for 3,322 strokes in 22 minutes only. Actually we should have not used
indirect percussion technique at any time. Hence we returned to the site in June
2009. This time Ram Krishna succeeded in creating RC-9 by using soft strokes and
direct percussion technique only. In the light of experience we gained while creating
RC-6 and RC-7, we mostly used small pebbles with angular heads as hammer
stones. We succeeded in producing a small cupule with conical depth (RC-9),
measuring 32.0 x 31.5mm in diameter and 9mm in depth (Fig. 10). It was created in
28,327 strokes in 372 minutes in two days. Seventeen striking heads on ten hammer
stones of hard quartzite were used for this purpose (Fig. 11).
Fig. 10. Replicated conical cupule, RC-9 executed
in 2009.
Fig. 11. Close up of the pointed striking head of one of
the quartzite hammer stones used in the replication of
cupule RC-9.
RC-9 is the smallest cupule with conical depth we have produced. The
comparatively longer duration and greater number of strokes were obvious. In order
to go deep into the cupule while keeping its diameter under control we had to
maintain the striking end of the hammer stone at a right angle to the striking surface.
It required a great concentration and a change of the striking head/hammer stone at
the proper time.
The creation of cupule RC-6 was relatively brief, compared to RC-9 because in the
latter, out of 21,661 strokes, 8,600 were made by indirect percussion in 57 minutes.
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3. Observation
1. Cupule creation on a hard quartzite vertical rock is a tough job. It requires
involvement, commitment, great patience, consistency, strength, concentration
and dedication. Small cupules with an average diameter of 25 to 28mm and a
depth of 6 to 8.4mm are the work of immense skill and great patience with steady
and consistent strokes executed with precision.
2. Most of the cupules in Daraki-Chattan Cave are perfect in terms of regular form,
design and execution. Hence, they appear to have been produced with controlled
and perfect strokes. Not a single stroke has gone outside. Sometimes, when two
or more cupules were made side by side, their edges are perfect and not mixed
up with each other. It means strokes were very precise and executed with a
sharp focus and total concentration.
3. Our experience shows that even if we work with total concentration, it is not
possible to keep it for a long time. During the process some moments come
when for a fraction of a second we loose the concentration and our stroke
becomes uncontrolled. Such uncontrolled strokes result in the increase in
diameter, specially when we are working on a small cupule. It means perfect
small cupules were not made in a short duration. Rather, they appear to be the
result of a long process of work in many phases of short duration.
4. Only an expert with regular practice can bear the rebound power and pain of the
strokes to strike properly. An inexperienced person, without enough exercise and
practice on cupule creation, after a short time (within one or two hours) will feel
his hand shaking with pain. Eyes start becoming stiff because of constant focus.
At that moment even the movement of eyelids interrupts focus.
5. In the process of cupule replication more lifting of the hand for striking means
powerful but less controlled strokes. It happens when we use large size hammer
stones. Lowering the hand means strokes with comparatively less power, but an
increased control, hence more precision. This is possible with comparatively
small size hammer stones. This observation indicates that big cupules were
produced by robust striking, using big hammer stones, with involvement and
dedication, but not much use of mind. Reduction in size with an increased depth
of the cupule means proper planning, great involvement, dedication,
concentration and patience. It means that comparatively higher intelligence and
skill are essential for producing small-deep cupules.
6. Our experiment shows that after achieving a certain diameter of the cupule by
initial striking, it becomes possible to strike in its center. Thus, if we are using a
hammer stone with a stout head and broad base, in the process of striking depth
goes on increasing in the center. But, after a certain point it starts cutting the
upper side of the cupule because of the broad base of the striking head. Hence,
we get an almost conical depth of the cupule.
7. It is essential to keep the base of the striking head stout so that it can bear the
force of direct percussion, otherwise it breaks.
8. That is why if we want to keep the diameter of the cupule as small as possible
while going deep into it, we have to keep either changing the hammer stones or
modifying the used striking head from time to time to make a stout point (Fig. 11).
We discovered such a hammer stone with an used stout head and broad base
from layer 4 in the excavation of Daraki-Chattan (Fig. 12). This provides a solid
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ground to correlate some of the conical cupules in the Cave to the Acheulian
culture of layer 4.
Fig. 12. A quartzite hammer stone with a pointed striking head
and broad base obtained from layer 4 in the excavations at DC.
9. Strokes produce a high-pitched sound, hence continuous striking makes the ears
dumb for some time.
10. Cupule creation is definitely neither a leisure nor a play work. It might be
associated with something specific, deeply related with life. It is also possible that
cupule creation might be associated with rhythm of some sort of music and
singing. This is apparent from our observation while replicating the cupules. On
the second day (26 December 2008), Ram Krishna resumed working on RC-6.
GK also put Dinesh to work on RC-7, close to Ram Krishna. Soon Ram Krishna
started loosing concentration by the sound produced by the arrhythmic strokes of
Dinesh. But, after some time, the strokes of Ram Krihsna automatically got
synchronized with those of Dinesh. It means that the Daraki-Chattan cupules
may have been produced either one after the other individually in a peaceful
environment, or on the rhythm of some music. The latter possibility appears
strong.
11. Cupule replication should be made at a suitable height for convenient striking. If
RC-6 had been 20cm down, it might have made a difference for better
performance. In this regard when we observe the cupules close to the bedrock
on the floor of the cave, the task of their production appears very tough.
12. Oval and elongated cupules with an angular depth and also small and deep
cupules with an angular depth of category 4 cannot be produced by simple
striking. These must have been the product of some refined technology and
special skill. We will try to replicate them next time.
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Conclusion
1. In Daraki-Chattan, Cupules of Category 1a (big circular cupules more than 50mm
in diameter and more than 5mm in a smooth saucer shaped depth) appear to be a
work more of strength and commitment and less of mind. They were produced by
using a very simple and primitive technology of direct percussion. They appear to
represent the earliest stage of cupule production. Our cupule replication
experiment indicates that producing cupules of Category 1a needs two to
six hammer stones on cobbles or pebbles to produce such cupules depending on
the quality of the stone used and the strength of the person at work. It is a tough
and tedious task to produce a cupule on hard quartzite rock. It requires motivation,
commitment, strength, endurance and patience for their production. Cupules of
Category 1b can be produced similarly by using hammer stones with stout and
sturdy striking heads. It needs a longer duration of work and high concentration
besides all the above-mentioned qualities. At the same time it requires the use of
multiple hammer stones to achieve a deep round and smooth depth.
2. Cupules of Category 2 are comparatively small with a conical depth, particularly for
Categry-2a. We successfully replicated the latter in December 2008 and June
2009. They appear to be the work of a modified technology of direct percussion
with small hammer stones of a proper shape and size. It requires planning,
immense skill and great precision and patience to produce such cupules. The
person at work on cupule production cannot afford a wrong stroke, even in a
thousand, as it would increase the diameter of the cupule by one millimeter.
3. We have been replicating cupule creation to understand the technique and process
of their production. In this process we also came to know their significance. It
became very clear that creation of cupule is definitely not a leisure work nor a play
work. It is a very tough job and appears to be closely associated with something
special and deeply related to life.
Acknowledgements
– Rock Art Society of India.
– Dr P.K. Bhatt, Dinesh Kumar, Janaki Lal Gujjar, Bhanpura.
– Geeta Devi, Agra.
– Robert G. Bednarik, AURA and IFRAO, Australia.
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report. Purakala, 13 (1-2), p. 5-20.
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Quote this article
KRISHNA R. & KUMAR G. 2012. — Physico-psychological approach for understanding the significance of Lower Palaeolithic
cupules. In: CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el
mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010, Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie ».
N° spécial de Préhistoire, Art et Sociétés, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées, LXV-LXVI, 2010-2011,
CD: p. 907-918.
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Late Pleistocene art of India
Giriraj KUMARa and Ragini ROYb
Abstract
India has produced sufficient evidence of late late-Pleistocene art, mostly in the form of mobiliary art
objects. Archaeologically they are associated with an Upper Palaeolithic industry. Besides, there are
some simple forms of petroglyphs and early form of dynamic dancers and animals in rock paintings.
These, on the basis of circumstantial evidence, can also be assigned to that period. Thus, the late
late-Pleistocene art of India presents the beginning of motif development, creation of design and
ultimately that of animal and human forms. Ultimately it laid the foundation for the rich and varied
tradition of Indian rock paintings in the following period. The tentative time span of Upper Palaeolithic
in India is 40,000 to 10,000 yrs BP.
In India iconic art is preceded by non-iconic art, thus it follows the global
phenomenon in the evolution of rock art. The present evidence indicates that
transition from no-iconic to iconic art in India happened in the late late-Pleistocene
period. The evidence is mostly in the form of mobiliary art and is culturally associated
with Upper Palaeolithic industries However, when considered along with early motifs,
engraved designs and animals and humans discovered in the form of early
petroglyphs and rock paintings, a picture of motif development, beginning of the
creation of designs and animal and human forms for the first time in Indian art
becomes very clear in the late late-Pleistocene period. Ultimately it laid the
foundation for the rich and varied tradition of Indian rock paintings in the following
period.
The tentative time span of Upper Palaeolithic in India is 40,000 to 10,000 yrs BP. It
is being discussed here.
a Professor in Indian Culture and Rock Art Science, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, Agra-282005,
India – [email protected]
b Professor and Head, Department of Drawing and Painting, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Dayalbagh, Agra282005, India – [email protected]
Symposium Asie
1. Designs
The available evidence presents the development in conceiving a simple to an
intricate design by hominins in the late late-Pleistocene Period, and also the skill and
efficiency required to execute them in different media by different techniques.
1.1. Simple designs
Simple designs engraved on ostrich eggshell pieces were discovered from Patne
in Maharashtra and Ravishankar nagar, Bhopal.
1.1.1. Evidence from Patne
Fig. 1. Ostrich eggshell piece with a simple engraved
design from Patne in Maharashtra. Upper Palaeolithic.
Ostrich eggshell pieces were discovered in association with an Upper Palaeolithic
industry in the excavations at Patne by S.A. Sali (1978). One of the ostrich eggshell
pieces bears a simple engraved design. It is in the form of two sets of almost parallel
lines with cross-hatchings in between them. The strokes of cross-hatchings are
uncontrolled and come out of the parallel lines. It indicates that the artist could
conceive a simple design, but was unable to execute controlled strokes to create it
perfectly. The margins of the engravings show fracture marks developed because of
the force of engraving. The engraved groove bears encrustation inside it (Fig. 1). It
has been dated to 25,000±200 BP.
1.1.2. Evidence from Ravishankar nagar, Bhopal
Another small piece of ostrich eggshell bearing an engraved design was
discovered along with an Upper Palaeolithic industry during the exploration at
Ravishankarnagar, Bhopal by V.S. Wakankar (1978). It bears seven scars arranged
in a pseudo oval form. The scars are deep and angular in shape. A special skill
appears to have been used to execute such oblique scars on the ostrich eggshell.
1.2. Advance form of design
A fluted chalcedony core with a design engraved on its patinated cortex from
Chandravati in Rajasthan is another example of Indian mobiliary art. It was
discovered by V.H. Sonawane in association with a microlithic industry (Sonawane
1997). The design consists of a pair of parallel lines moving clockwise from the
center forming two intertwining spiral arms. One of these arms bears a series of short
diagonal lines whereas the other one has been left plain to render a foreground and
background effect to enhance the visual effect of the design (Fig. 2-3). It presents an
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KUMAR G. & ROY R., Late Pleistocene art of India
advanced sense and skill of designing. The design has been damaged because the
nodule was used later on in Mesolithic times as a core to bring out blades from it.
Hence the design appears to be pre-Mesolithic or Upper Palaeolithic.
Fig. 2. (left) Advanced form of design engraved
on the cortex of the fluted core from Chandravati,
Rajsthan. Upper Palaeolithic.
Fig. 3. (below) Close up of the design of Fig. 2.
1.3. Simple motifs
Petroglyphs discovered at Chattaneshwar and Raisen in central India present the
appearance of simple motifs for the first time in Indian rock art (Kumar 1995).
1.3.1. Chattaneshwar motif
Fig. 4. Simple oval motif with a cross inside it
created with cupules on the quartzite bedrock
of a rock shelter at Chattaneshwar,
Rajasthan.
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Nearly 70 small cupules were executed on the quartzite bedrock of a rock shelter
under a big overhang at Chattaneshwar-III on the Alania river in the Chambal valley
in the Kota district of Rajasthan. They are arranged in two motifs: 1. An oval form (35
x 30 cm) with a cross inside, and 2. A 'U' form with its arms curving rightward and
having a small line inside at its bottom (Fig. 4). The diameter of cupules varies from
21 x 20 mm to 25.5 x 25.5 mm and their depth from 2.0 to 2.5 mm. They bear a lightbrown patination.
1.3.2. Raisen motif
Fig. 5. Simple motif created with engraved petroglyphs
on the quartzite bedrock of a rock shelter at Raisen,
Madhya Pradesh.
Another simple geometric motif was discovered by Robert G. Bednarik, G. Kumar
and G.S. Tyagi at Raisen while on a study tour in 1990 (Bednarik et al. 1991: 24-27).
The motif was created on the quartzite bedrock of a rock shelter by engraving a circle
and adding two radiating lines and two (visible) cupules to it (Fig. 5). The petroglyphs
of the motif are highly patinated and smooth and appear to be one of the archaic
forms of motifs in India.
1.4. Appearance of simple iconic forms
V.S. Wakankar and others, while exploring the painted rockshelters at Bhimbetka,
Jaora, Kathotia, Firangi, Mahadeo, Kharwai, Bhopal, Pengawan, Chiklod, Amargarh,
Raisen, Narwar, Mohammadpur etc. in the Vindhyas in Central India observed that
the earliest paintings were invariably painted in a green colour, occasionally
associated with a mauve red, ochre colour (Wakankar 1978; Neumayer 1983: 12-13).
Both colours, particularly green, come from habitation layers yielding a Upper
Palaeolithic industry represented by blades, burins, scrapers, points, obliquely fluted
cores, etc. (Wakankar 1978: 5-11). These early paintings only depict human figures
in the dynamic action of dancing and hunting of bovids (Fig. 6). Animals were done
naturalistically, while humans are more abstract, with the confidant flow of single
lines.
These early figures are generally covered with a thin layer of white encrustation on
which sometimes paintings of succeeding phases of the Stone Age are also found.
Therefore, Wakankar concluded that these early paintings appear to have been done
in the drier phase of the Upper Palaeolithic, the terminal phase of the Pleistocene
period, when ostrich still existed in India (Wakankar 1978: 5-11).
Subsequently G.S. Tyagi observed that the early dynamic dancers in green are
preceded by intriguing intricate designs, a non-iconic form of rock art in Central India,
particularly at Jaora (Tyagi 1992: 303-318).
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Fig. 6. Dancers in a dynamic action of dance executed in simple ‘S’ twist forms in a green colour, superimposing
an intricate design. Jaora, Madhya Pradesh.
2. Beads
Ostrich eggshell beads were discovered in Upper Palaeolithic cultural deposits at
Patne in Maharashtra and Bhimbetka and Khaparkheda in Madhya Pradesh.
The excavations at Patne yielded both finished and unfinished ostrich eggshell
beads. For manufacturing these beads ostrich eggshell pieces were chipped off to
give them a rough circular shape. They were perforated from both sides by stone
borers and their margins appear to have been smoothened by piercing them in a
string and rotating them on a stone and afterwards on some soft material. The
Bushmen in the Kalahari basin are still using this practice for smoothening ostrich
eggshell beads (Bednarik 1990, in personal discussion).
Two finished ostrich eggshell beads were also discovered by V.S. Wakankar in the
excavations at Bhimbetka from rockshelter BHIM IIIA 20 (Fig. 7). They were obtained
from the neck of a human skull found in Upper Palaeolithic sediments. They are
small disc beads with a smooth periphery, again perforated from both sides.
Wakankar was of the opinion that the deceased person was wearing a necklace
made of perishable material and that these two beads were precious items of the
necklace (Wakankar 1978).
Recently an Upper Palaeolithic ostrich eggshell bead manufacturing factory site
was discovered at Khaparkheda in the Narmada valley. The site was discovered and
excavated by Shiela Mishra and S.B. Ota (2004). The beads represent different
stages of their manufacturing. They are in the form of finished, half finished,
unfinished beads and also those in the process of preparation (Fig. 8-9). They were
discovered along with debitage and an Upper Palaeolithic industry on chert and
chalcedony.
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Fig. 7. Finished ostrich eggshell beads from Bhimbetka, Madhya Pradesh.
Upper Palaeolithic.
The 14C date obtained for the archaeological horizon yielding ostrich eggshell
beads is as follows:
– Lab No. A 9446, material charcoal, date 15,680 +440/-415, calibrated date
18,723 (Mishra et al. 2004).
A broken big circular disc of ostrich eggshell was also found from Nagda in the
Chambal valley by Giriraj Kumar in the 1970s (Kumar et al. 1992). Besides, other
beads prepared on shells of the same age were also discovered at Patne.
Fig. 8. Finished and unfinished ostrich eggshell beads from
Khaparkheda, Narmada valley, Madhya Pradesh. Upper
Palaeolithic. (Courtesy S.B. Ota.)
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Fig. 9. Stone drills and unfinished
ostrich eggshell beads from Khaparkheda.
(Courtesy S.B. Ota.)
3. Discussion
The motifs developed from cupules and engraved lines at Chattaneshwar and
Raisen represent a pioneering effort and an advanced stage of creative sense and
cognitive development. A rare sense of creativity was required to develop a
geometrical motif with the help of cupules and engraved lines for the first time. To
reach up to this stage of creativity hominins had to undergo a long journey from
creating a simple deep cupule and an engraved meandering line in the Lower
Palaeolithic, through random cupule pattern, and bilinear and multilinear patterns of
cupules in due course of evolution in the Pleistocene period (Kumar 2000-01; Kumar
et al. 2005; Kumar et al. 2006).
Simple designs on ostrich eggshell pieces appear to represent the next stage in
the evolution and development of designing sense and skill achieved by hominins. It
was followed by a rhomboid design engraved on the cortex of a chalcedony nodule
and intricate designs in rock paintings. These designs are complex and need an
advanced sense of designing. The intricate designs are lowermost in the strata of
Indian rock paintings in the Vindhya region (Tyagi 1992: 303-318) and represent the
earliest form of rock paintings in India.
Further, from an artistic point of view, Ragini Roy thinks that the original concept of
art and design developed in the late Pleistocene period continues in the present time
in a modified form. Cupules appear to represent a pre-formative idea of the subject of
sculpture, which is one of the most important streams of visual art in the modern age
(Raman 1988, Plate 13-14). The cross-hatchings used in the engraved design on the
patinated cortex of a chalcedony nodule from Chandravati can be compared with that
of a picture of Madhubani folk art in present day Bihar (Anand 1984: 41) (Fig. 10).
The composition of three early dynamic dancers superimposing the intricate designs
from Jaora presents a nice example of having many pictorial elements used by
modern artists to create an effective piece of art, such as that created by Krishna
Hebbar (Amberkar 1960, Plate 13) (Fig. 11). What is more significant is that these
works appear as spontaneous creations, coming right from the heart without any
intellectual burden and impositions.
The study of 31 radiometric dates published by V.N. Misra (1989: 17-64) and
Sheila Mishra (1995: 11-16) suggests that the Upper Palaeolithic in India begins
sometimes around 40,000 years BP and continued up to 10,000 yrs BP. The lower
limit is also corroborated by the dates of Mesolithic cultures, most of which fall within
the Holocene (Misra 1989: 1-64). Some of the dates obtained on ostrich eggshells
from Patne and two different levels of an early phase of Upper Palaeolithic from
Chandresal are given here as they are relevant to this paper. They were obtained by
the Laboratorium voor Algemene Naturkunbde Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen,
Netherlands. The dates for these samples are as follows:
– Grn 7200, Patne, 25,000±200 BP (Sali 1978: 26-27)
– Grn 10638, Chandresal (Lower level), 38,000±700 BP
– Grn 10639, Chandresal (Upper level), 36,550±600
communication to V.S. Wakankar, 6 Sept. 1982).
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BP (Mook,
pers.
Symposium Asie
Fig. 10. Madhubani folk art of present day Mithila, Bihar.
Fig. 11. Artistic composition by Krishna Hebbar
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Conclusion
While working on the EIP Project we have studied the early petroglyphs in central
India that go in antiquity even to the Lower Palaeolithc. In this study we observed that
the petroglyphs from Chattaneshwar and Raisen represent the beginning of motif
development in Indian rock art, and represent the pre-iconic phase in Indian rock art
that precedes the earliest iconic form of rock paintings. Thus, on the basis of
circumstantial evidence we have put them in the late late-Pleistocene period (Kumar
2000-01). Definitely, this needs to be tested by further scientific research.
When we consider late late-Pleistocene mobiliary art objects along with
petroglyphs of the same period (based on circumstantial evidence), it becomes
evident that motif development was a pioneering step of hominins, which later
opened a new world for the manifestation of human creativity in the form of simple
and complex designs, animal and human forms. A picture of the dawn of Indian art
starts emerging. The pioneering efforts of motif development from cupules and
engraved lines were followed by simple ostrich eggshell designs and an advanced
form of rhomboid design on the patinated cortex of a chalcedony nodule. The
intricate designs, which are earliest in the stratigraphy of rock art in India, represent a
very advanced stage of designing sense and skill of execution. Creating simple
animal and human forms was the hallmark of human creativity achieved in the
following stage. The dynamic green dancers and bovid hunters in the rock art of
central India are the earliest such examples of early human creativity in the late latePleistocene period. Once it was achieved, the artists observed no limit for creating a
new world of their perception of reality and imagination in a variety of forms, styles
and themes in the following Holocene period.
The early rock paintings in the form of intricate designs and compositions of
dynamic dancers superimposing them have many elements used by modern artists.
What is more significant is that these works appear as spontaneous creations,
coming right from the heart without any intellectual burden and impositions.
Besides, late late-Pleistocene hominins also developed an interest in decorating
themselves by using ornaments made of beads, and also the skill and efficiency to
produce small and smooth beads on ostrich eggshells.
The evidence of late late-Pleistocene art discussed here is associated with Upper
Palaeolithic industries which range tentatively from 40,000 to 10,000 yrs BP.
Acknowledgement
Shri S.B. Ota, Director, Archaeologoical Survey of India, Bhopal.
Shri G.S. Tyagi, Gandhinagar.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
AMBERKAR V.R. 1984. — Hebbar: Contemporary Indian Art Series. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Academi.
ANAND M.R. 1984. — Madhubani Painting. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India.
BEDNARIK R.G. & KUMAR G. 1991. — Petroglyphs from Central India. Purakala, 2 (1-2), p. 24-27.
KUMAR G. 1995. — Petroglyphs in the rock art of Chambal valley and Aravalli hills: A new phenomenon. Paper presented in
Symposium 14D, News of the World, News 95 International Rock Art Conference, Torino, Italy, 30 Aug. to 6 Sept.
organized by CeSMAP, Pinerrolo.
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KUMAR G. 2000-01. — Chronology of Indian rock art: A fresh attempt. Purakala, 11 & 12, p. 5-36.
KUMAR G., NARVARE G., PANCHOLI R. 1992. — Ostrich eggshell objects and engraved pieces: New evidence of Upper
Palaeolithic art and ornaments in India. In: LORBLANCHET M. (ed.), Rock Art in the Old World, p. 193-202. New Delhi:
Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts.
KUMAR G, BEDNARIK R.G., WATCHMAN A., ROBERTS R.G. 2005. — The EIP Project in 2005. A progress report.
Purakala, 14-15, p. 13-68.
KUMAR G., BHATT P.K., PRADHAN A., KRISHNA R. 2006. — Discovery of early petroglyph sites in Chambal valley,
MISHRA S. 1995. — Chronology of Indian Stone Age: The impact of recent absolute and relative dating attempts. Man and
Environment, 20 (2), p. 11-16.
MISHRA S., OTA S.B., NAIK S. 2004. — A late Pleistocene ostrich eggshell bead manufacture at Khaparkheda, district
Dhar, Madhya Pradeshe. Paper presented in the Symposium D, Rock art: New discoveries, in the tenth Congress of the
International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (Ifrao), Agra, India, 28 Nov. to 02 Dec. 2004.
MISRA V.N. 1989. — Stone Age India: An ecological perspective. Man and Environment, 14 (1), p. 17-64.
NEUMAYER E. 1983. — Prehistoric Indian rock paintings. Delhi: Oxford University Press, p. 12-13.
RAMAN A.S. 1988. — K.S. Kulkarni: Contemporary Indian Art Series. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Academi.
SALI S.A. 1978. — The Upper Palaeolithic culture at Patne, district Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Paper presented at IPPA
Archaeology Conference, Pune.
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RASI Congress, Kotputali, Rajasthan.
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TYAGI G.S. 1992. — Decorative intricate patterns in Indian rock art. In: LORBLANCHET M. (ed.), Rock Art in the Old World,
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Quote this article
KUMAR G. & ROY R. 2012. — Late Pleistocene art of India. In: CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le monde /
Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre
2010, Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie ». N° spécial de Préhistoire, Art et Sociétés, Bulletin de la Société
Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées, LXV-LXVI, 2010-2011, CD: p. 919-928.
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Pleistocene art in Azerbaijan
Malahat FARAJOVA
At present, four sites with rock carvings are known on the territory of Azerbaijan
(Fig. 1):
– Big Gobustan, covering the territory of the Beyukdash, Kichikdash, Jingirdag,
Shaxgaya and Shongar mountains.
– Absheron peninsula;
– Gemigaya Mountain, the highest point of the Small Caucasus – Kapyjyk
(Nakhchevan) alpine summer pastures;
– The footof the Delidag Mountain of Kelbajar, south-eastern slope of the Small
Caucasus.
Fig. 1. Area of dissemination of Azerbaijan petroglyphs.
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The Pleistocene Art of Azerbaijan is represented only in Gobustan on the
Beyukdash and Kichikdash mountains in the Gayaarasi, Jeyranla, Kaniza, Ana-zaga
and Okuzler sites. Images of women in profile, early hunters and Upper Pleistocene
fauna (aurochs, gazelles and wild horses) are represented on the walls of the caves.
At the period of the first settlement of Gobustan, the present scorched semi
desert, was occupied by drought-resisting open woodland with pistachio trees,
hawthorn, willow pear, juniper and pomegranate. Natural conditions in the Upper
Pleistocene were closer to forests of the tugai type in a damper climate (gallery
forests). Analyses of fossilized pollen sampled from the remains of a hearth in the
Ana-zaga cave of the Beyukdash Mountain in Gobustan showed that oak and pine
trees were once growing there (Rustamov 1994). This lets us suppose the existence
of areas with oak-pine woods in the nearest vicinities of Gobustan and in the coastal
strip of the Caspian Sea. Pine trees are still growing on the Kichikdash Mountain
near the Garaatli sanctuary (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Gobustan, Kichikdash Mountain: Pine tree.
In the Upper Pleistocene Binagadi bituminous deposits, remains of arborescent
juniper (Juniperus polycarpos) were found, which indicates widespread juniper
woods at that time. Willow pear (Pirus salisifolia), shrub cherry (Prunus microcarpa),
pomegranate (Prunus microcarpa), honeysuckle (Lonicera), elm tree, vine, found in
the Binagadi deposits, have recently grown in Gobustan and some of these types
can be seen there even today.
In the Upper Pleistocene a savannah landscape developed. The thick piece of
wild vine (Vitis сonf. silvestris) in Binagadi presupposes the existence of a riparian
forest (Petrov 1939).
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FARAJOVA M., Pleistocene art in Azerbaijan
In the upper Quaternary, the boundaries of the freshwater Khvalin (now Caspian)
Sea transgression reached the Mingachevir water storage. Sediments of the sea with
freshwater fauna of mollusks were found even near the Urals and Kazan (Vereshagin
1959).
On the slopes of the Gobustan foothills a grass vegetation of Graminae type
(Gromov 1952) predominated and today it can be found in some places with a higher
degree of dampness in Gobustan. On the Kichikdash Mountain in the Gayaarasi site,
even nut trees used to grow until recently. However, a number of deer rock carvings
indicate the existence of well-developed tugai woods that were probably later
destroyed by man (Vereshagin 1959). On the basis of remains of arborous
vegetation in the Upper Pleistocene in its mountainous part, a savannah landscape
developed but it was formed in a different way from contemporary African
savannahs. These north savannahs represented lightwoods, formed by the trees with
winter defoliation (Petrov 1939).
Such was a common picture of Upper Pleistocene landscape-geographical flora in
Gobustan. General desertification of open landscapes in connection with glacier
regression caused the degradation of landscapes of north savannah, the
development of semi-steppe and semi-desert plants in its place and the increase of
salinity.
Azerbaijan rock art lacks view and volumes. Images are silhouettes, continuous
or contour images. Animals and birds are always depicted laterally (Beyukdash
Mountain, Ana-zaga cave). The correlation of figures to one another produces a
conventional impression - sometimes animals and birds are represented with a
reverse orientation to each other: with the head up or down, etc. Characteristic
features of animals are vividly expressed. These flat and realistic images sometimes
seem to be closer to Aurignacian images, although some coarseness is felt in them
(Stones N° 64, 65 upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain) (Otte 2004, 2006).
Beyukdash Mountain, Kaniza site
Images of aurochs heads, early hunters and aurochs. It should be noted that
there are separate stones with petroglyphs. Besides, a great number of artifacts
made of bone were found there (Fig. 3).
Beyukdash Mountain, Ana-zaga site
Images of aurochs, women and early hunters predominate (Fig. 4).
Beyukdash Mountain, Okuzler site
Mating themes chiefly predominate: two aurochs, men and woman holding each
other by hands, images of two goats (Fig. 5).
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Fig. 3. Gobustan, Kaniza site: bone artifact.
Fig. 4. Gobustan, Beyukdash Mountain, Ana-zaga site.
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Fig. 5. Gobustan, Beyukdash Mountain, Okuzler site.
Fig. 6. Kichikdash Mountain, stone 5.
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Kichikdash Mountain, Gayaarasi site
Of special interest is the image of a big fish, 4m. long and 23cm. wide, on stone
N° 5 of the Kichikdash Mountain (Fig. 6). Judging from approximate data this is an
image of a dolphin, an extinct animal in that region. The existence of dolphins in the
Caspian Sea is dated to the Upper Quaternary period. That depiction of a dolphin in
its turn is crossed with depictions of oxen. In confirmation of what was said above,
this picture was executed on the wall of an early hunters’ cave, at the foot of which a
cultural layer with Upper Paleolithic industry was revealed. From that cultural layer
nucleuses, trapezes, denticulate bladelets and bone borers of an Upper Paleolithic
style were found. In this site approximately 3,5m. deep, a separate stone with
claviform images of women in profile was found (Fig. 7). So, the picture can be
attributed to the end of the Upper Pleistocene, when the last big transgression of the
Caspian basin-Khvalin Sea took place. At that period the waters of the Mediterranean
Sea reached the Caspian Sea through the Black Sea, i.e. via the Manych Strait.
Fig. 7. Gobustan, Kichikdash Mountain, Gayaarasi site: images of pregnant women in profile.
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Kichikdash Mountain, Jeyranlar site
Various themes are represented on the walls of this site: images of gazelles,
aurochs and women (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8. Kichikdash Mountain, Jeyranlar site: Images of gazelles.
These data, based on further research and excavations in rock caves and at the
foot of some complex painted rocks, allow us to reconsider the chronology of
Gobustan. Until recently, the question about the more ancient origin of the early
monuments of Gobustan had been mainly a side, and not a principal issue.
Preliminary publication on problems of chronology had already been made, but
now the problem is more carefully studied. As a result, totally new data on the dating
of images were obtained. Today we possess some opportunities to give a full and
rather concrete answer to the question of dating Azerbaijan rock art.
The first work on the periodization of Azerbaijan rock carvings was carried out by
archaeologist I. Jafarzadeh in the 70s of the last century (Jafarzadeh 1999: 133-137).
Gobustan petroglyphs, investigated by him according to their style, content and
dating, were divided into 6 historical-chronological groups, since the most ancient
times until the Middle Ages:
1. The most ancient, early period is the Neolithic period (VIII millennia BC) –
Silhouette figures of men and women full face and in profile with a bow on their
shoulders are represented in this period.
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2. Late Neolithic period (VII-IV millenina BC) – Images of aurochs, boats and small
images of archers.
3. Later, Eneolithic period (IV-III millenina BC) – Big figures of deer, goats and lions
in profile.
4. Bronze Age period (III-II millenina BC) – Images of gazelles, horses, pigs, dogs
and wild animals.
5. Iron Age period (II-I millenina BC) – Images of man, goats and deer, small sized,
and a Roman inscription.
6. The Middle Ages (VIII-IX centuries and later) – Images of caravans of camels,
riders armed with spears. Signs, symbols, engraved inscriptions in Arabic and
Farsi alphabets.
His follower Dj. Rustamov (Rustamov 2006: 86-87) later published that the first
settlers–early hunters appeared in Gobustan 15,000-20,000 years before and the
most ancient petroglyphs are dated to the end of the Upper Paleolithic period–
beginning of the Mesolithic period.
However, new data on the dating of petroglyphs, recently obtained, require some
specification and modification in the chronology and periodization made by
I. Jafarzadeh.
An archaeological inventory of the Gobustan sites and caves is valuable to solve
some of the problems in dating petroglyphs. Let us consider one of them, based on
the division between western and Russian historians.
Ana-zaga cave
The Ana-zaga cave is situated on the upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain in
Gobustan. Since 1966, archaeological excavations have been carried out there. With
the aim of establishing the absolute dating of Gobustan monuments, samples from
the cultural layer at a depth of 1.85m. were taken for radiocarbon dating. From that
layer, archaeologists J. Rustamov and F. Muradova recovered choppers, coneshaped, pencil-shaped and cylindric nucleuses in 1977. The inventory of the site also
consists of chisels, micro-edges, knifelike plaits, segments, flint trapeziums, microplates, percussion tools made out of pebbles and weight stones. Fragments of
separate stones with anthropomorphic images were also found (Fig. 9).
As we see petroglyphs are to a lesser or greater degree connected with
archaeological layers. In such cases the establishment of age must be absolutely
precise. Consequently, these petroglyphs are older or of the same age as the
formation of the layer. The petroglyphs on the walls of the Ana-zaga cave (stones
N° 29, 32, 39) are fully identical both in their style and techniques of execution with
separate stones with images, revealed from the archaeological layer.
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Fig. 9. Gobustan, Beyukdash Mountain: separate slab, Ana zaga site.
In 2009 the research we led allowed us to reconsider the question of dating
Gobustan petrolyphs.
The cultural layer in the cave is roughly 4m deep.
Samples taken from the bones and soil with ash at a depth of 1.85m were AMS
dated in New Zealand. If the petroglyphs on separate stones had earlier been dated
by archaeologists back to the VIII-VII mill. BC, primary calibrated data showed
9029 BC. It should be noted that lower than the dated level there are cultural layers
15cm, 95cm, 1.60-1.65m, 1.75m, 2.15m. This, in its turn, led us to date the lowest
level of the site of to the end of Upper Paleolithic or the early stage of the Mesolithic.
Consequently, petroglyphs with analogous style and techniques of execution on
separate stones may be dated back to that age (Fig. 10-11).
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Fig. 10. Gobustan: separate stone with anthropomorphic image.
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Fig. 11. Gobustan, Beyukdash Mountain, Ana-zaga cave: sample taken from the cultural layer
at the depth of 1.85m.
Fig. 12. Gobustan, Beyukdash Mountain: the small engraved river stones from Ana-zaga cave,
from the level of 2.85-3m.
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A subject of special interest is small pebbless with engraved zigzags, at 2.85-3m
(Fig. 12).The Ana-zaga cave is not the only place where archaeological excavations
have taken place. In Gobustan archaeologists studied such ancient sites as Firuz-1,
Gayaarasi-1, Gayaarasi-2, Kaniza and so on. In Kaniza, the thickness of the cultural
layer reached 5m. Work on testing and dating these cultural layers has been going
on.
Conclusion
The results of the research on the chronology of Upper Paleolithic rock carvings
allow us to consider it in a little different way. On the whole, it looks like this: the
most ancient, early stage is the period of the Late Pleistocene and early
Holocene: the period of aurochs.
This period, in its turn, is subdivided into four style groups:
– I style: image of an ox head, an ox in natural size and combination of the image of
ox with the images of women in profile without head at the Gayaarasi site of the
Kichikdash Mountain, and also the image of the ox head on separate stones at
Okuzler-2, Kaniza sites of the upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain, stone
N° 33 (45) of the upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain.
– II style: Images of oxen in full size, reverse bas-relief images of women (stone
N° 65, 29 of the upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain).
– III style: Images of oxen with short legs and stretched bodies, claviform signs, such
as on the upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain, stones N° 29, 65.
– IV style (X-VIII mln. BC): 1) Reverse bas-relief images of men –hunters and
images of hunters with bows and arrows; 2) images on separate stones that were
found from cultural layers of such settlements, as Okuzler-2 and Kaniza on the
upper terrace of the Beyukdash Mountain, the Gayaarasi site of the Kichikdash and
Shongar Mountains. Here, mainly, petroglyphs of hunters, women, oxen and boats
are represented.
So, for the first time Gobustan petroglyphs are dated on the basis of dated
archaeological material. These findings characterize stages at the end of the Upper
Paleolithic of Gobustan. They give us some notions about the development of culture
in the ancient Stone Age in the course of several millennia. If previously artifacts of
the cultural layer in Ana-zaga cave (found 1.85m deep) had been dated to the VIIIVII mln. BC, now with the help of AMS dating, new results were obtained: 9029 BC.
This also offers more ancient dating for the earliest rock carvings of Gobustan. It
should be especially noted that from that cultural layer separate stones with images
of hunters with bows and arrows were found but not images of oxen.
Of great interest is the Gayaarasi site-shelter (Fig. 7). There, the image of an ox
was discovered on the wall covered with a cultural layer. The lowest part of the
image is 1.50m deep. So, one can come to the following conclusion: the given image
was executed far earlier than the cultural layer. And if we imagine that an ancient
artist executed the image standing and if we subtract an average human stature (at
least 1.50m), we conclude that the image of the ox relates to the cultural layer at a
depth of 1.85-2m. Another important fact is that a separate stone, seen in the cultural
layer at 3.5m, served as a floor for the cultural layer of 1.85-2m and images of
anthropomorphic figures were carved on it, particularly, claviform images of pregnant
women in profile. So, one can approximately date the images of oxen in the
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Gayaarasi site to the end of the Upper Paleolithic, but the claviform images on a
separate stone are accordingly dated to an earlier period (Fig. 13).
Fig. 13. Gobustan, Kichikdash Mountain, Gayaarasi shelter.
Studied materials are also helpful in estimating the place of Paleolithic art in the
context of the history of Central Europe and Asia in a new way and reveal its
importance. Though difficulties are met in research and an incomplete study and
publication of the obtained material leave a number of considerable gaps, yet
Gobustan is not only the most ancient centre of rock art but also sui generis, a single
monument in Azerbaijan and in the whole Caucasus. In its turn, some datings require
additional substantiation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GROMOV I.M. 1952. — Fauna grizunov binagadinskogo pleistocena I yego priroda. In: Binagadinskoye mestonahojdeniye
chetvertichnoy fauni I flori AN Azerb.SSR, p. 203-349. Baku: Izd-vo AN Az.SSR. / Громов И.М.Фауна грызунов
бинагадинского плейстоцена и его природа / Бинагадинское местонахождение четвертичной фауны
и флоры.АН Азерб.ССР. Естественно-историч.музей им Г.Зардаби. Изд-во АН Аз.ССР,Б.,1952, с.203349.
JAFARZADE I. 1999. — Gobustan. Baku, 257 p. / Джафарзаде И. Гобустан. - Баку,1999, 257 стр.
OTTE M. 2004. — The Aurignacian in Asia. In: BRANTINGHAM P.J., KUHN S.L., KERRY C.W. (eds), The Early Upper
Paleolithic beyond Western Europe. Los Angeles-London: University of California Press, Berkeley, 295 p.
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OTTE M. 2006. — The Aurignacian of the Caucasus. In: Towards a definition of the Aurignacian. Proceedings of the
symposium held in Lisbon, Portugal, June 25-30 2002. Lisbon, 377 p.
PETROV V.A. 1939. — Rastitelnie ostatki zakirovannogo sloya Binagadov. Izv. AZFAN, vol. 6, p. 100-107. / Петров
В.А.Растительные остатки закированного слоя Бинагадов // Изв.АЗФАН, т.6,1939, с.100-107.стр 100-107.
RUSTAMOV Dj. 1994. — Gobustan dunyasi. Baku, Azernashr, 173 p. / Рцстямов Ъ. Гобустан дцнйасы. – Бакы:
Азярняшр, 1994, с.173.,стр 14
RUSTAMOV J. 2006. — Gobustan-the ancient centre of Azerbaijan culture. Baku, 93 p.
VERESHAGIN N.K. 1959. — Mlekopitayushie Kavkaza. Leningrad: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 703 p. / Верещагин Н.К.
Млекопитающие Кавказа. Изд-во АН СССР, Ленинград, 1959г., с.703, стр 80.
Quote this article
FARAJOVA M. 2012. — Pleistocene art in Azerbaijan. In: CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene
art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010,
Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie ». N° spécial de Préhistoire, Art et Sociétés, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique
Ariège-Pyrénées, LXV-LXVI, 2010-2011, CD: p. 929-942.
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An overview of Asian palaeoart of the Pleistocene
Robert G. BEDNARIK
Abstract
This critical assessment of the present state of secure knowledge of Pleistocene palaeoart in the
continent of Asia considers both the proven occurrences from five countries, and proposed further
finds that are of questionable status. The nature and diversity of the available pan-continental
evidence is discussed. This survey indicates firstly that, in comparison especially to Europe, this
subject has been severely neglected; and secondly, that the known geographical distribution and the
paucity of credible instances are the result of such factors as the intensity of research activities and
taphonomic factors. The only reasonably informative data derives from a very few areas where
research has been focused, and the nature of the Pleistocene finds illustrates significant taphonomic
bias –as is also the case in the other continents.
In the subject of Pleistocene art, the tail has been wagging the dog for over a
century –ever since the concept of a Diluvian rock art was grudgingly accepted after
decades of resistance to it. The non-European corpus of such rock art is far greater
than that of Europe, which is not surprising: Europe is merely a relatively small
appendage of Asia. But while there have been more books, academic and nonacademic articles about the Pleistocene art of Europe than there are actually rock art
motifs and portable art objects known from this area, there has been so far only one
single paper on the subject of pan-continental early palaeoart of Asia (Bednarik
1994). This demonstrates not only an incredible imbalance in the coverage of the
topic, that same imbalance is manifestly evident also in Africa and Australia. All three
continents should be expected to contain significant occurrences of Ice Age
palaeoart, yet there is not a single publication summarizing such material from Africa,
and the only papers attempting this for both Asia and Australia are by one author.
This is an incredible scenario, which is responsible for the massive misinformation
that exists about the generic subject, over a century after the existence of
Pleistocene art was generally accepted.
Any review of the known corpus of rock art and mobiliary art from Asia that can
credibly be attributed to the Pleistocene reflects this neglect. The quantity of this
material currently available resembles the extremely poor resolution of the
continent’s palaeoanthropological record. Since the rise of African palaeoanthropology –which had itself been severely neglected in favour of Europe, and as a
result of the Piltdown fraud– in the middle of the 20th century, that of Asia has been
consistently neglected, and today finds such as the Flores specimens demonstrate
vividly how inadequate our understanding of hominin evolution in Asia is. Precisely
the same applies in palaeoart, and for much the same reason. But while
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palaeoanthropology has to some extent managed to escape the gravitational pull of
Europe, that revolution has yet to occur in palaeoart research, a field that as a
consequence still remains in its infancy.
The report of the world’s earliest known rock art from two central Indian sites
(Bednarik et al. 2005) does not indicate that this is where this form of symbolic
expression began. It merely illustrates that our knowledge of the subject still
comprises mainly lacunae, and that any interpretations based on the available record
must necessarily be premature. The wide distribution of the few reported occurrences
across this vast continent confirms the precarious state of our knowledge. Clearly
palaeoart has been created in Asia since Lower Palaeolithic times, but even its
Upper Palaeolithic component is entirely inadequate to draw any justified
conclusions. Apart from the Siberian corpus of mobiliary palaeoart, we have at
present almost no other representatives even from the final part of the Pleistocene.
This stands in stark contrast to both Europe and Australia, although in the latter
continent it also remains almost entirely ignored.
Siberia
The reason for the ready acceptance of a series of portable palaeoart from central
Siberia is almost certainly the fact that it comprises materials that are readily
relatable to the central and western European body of the Final Pleistocene, such as
anthropomorphous and zoomorphic sculptures and engraved plaques. The bestknown are the thirty-three human-like figurines from Mal’ta and Buret’ (Fig. 1), mostly
because they are often considered to be related to the female figurines especially of
the Gravettian, reported from western and central Europe as well as from Russia and
Ukraine.
Fig. 1. Figurines from Mal’ta, central Siberia.
However, the Siberian figurines differ in many aspects from those in Europe: few
provide adequate indications of gender to define them as female; close to half show
facial details (typically lacking in the European sample); some appear to be clothed,
which is not the case with the European figurines; they are on average significantly
smaller than the typical western examples; and the majority show indications of
having been worn suspended on a string, whereas most of those from Europe would
be too large to have been pendants. Moreover, the Siberian sample is considerably
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BEDNARIK R.G., An overview of Asian palaeoart of the Pleistocene
younger, the main corpus, from Mal’ta, being in the order of 15,000 years old. Apart
from Buret’ N° 5 (steatite) and a clay figurine from Maininskaya, the entire Siberian
sample is of mammoth ivory. It is questionable that these pendants are of a tradition
that had some cultural connections with the so-called Venus figurines of
Russia/Ukraine, central and western Europe.
The same applies to all other forms of mobiliary palaeoart from these sites. Few if
any have recognisable counterparts in Europe. The thirteen flying-bird pendants from
Mal’ta plus one specimen from Buret’ are absent in European Palaeolithic art, as are
the other three bird pendants, and the five nail-shaped pins or various further,
apparently decorative items. Four sites have provided perforated disc beads
(Afontova Gora II, Krasnyi Yar, Buret’ and Mal’ta) and perforated animal teeth,
presumably also used as beads, have been reported from Verkholenskaya Gora and
Afontova Gora II. Incised engravings on portable objects are usually geometric, as on
the centrally perforated Mal’ta ivory plaque (Fig. 2), on the Oshurkovo pendant and
incised bone, two of the circular discs from Afontova Gora II, another circular disc
from Afontova Gora III (Fig. 3), and four intricately decorated objects from the Irkutsk
Hospital or Voennyi site.
Fig. 2. The Buret’ figurines Nos 3 and 4, central Siberia.
Fig. 3. The engraved circular disc from Afontova Gora III, Siberia.
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Altogether, more than one hundred palaeoart or art-like finds have been reported
from Siberia, including from five sites on the Angara / Belaya river (Buret', Krasnyi
Yar, Ust'-Kova and Verkholenskaya Gora), eight on the upper Yenisey (Afontova
Gora II, Afontova Gora III, Maininskaya, Dvouglazka Cave, Tachtik, Kokorevo,
Novosselovo and Atchinskaya), two sites on the upper Ob river (Ust'-Kanskaya and
Denissova Cave), two from south of Lake Baikal (Oshurkovo and Tolbaga), one on
the Irtysh River (Cherno-Ozer'e), and another from the mouth of the Indigirka river
(Berelekh). Of particular interest is the animal head carved on a projection of a
second vertebra of a woolly rhinoceros from Tolbaga (Fig. 4). If Abramova (1990) is
right that it relates to the older of the two dates secured from the site, 34,860
± 2100 BP, it would be one of the oldest naturalistic sculptures known in the world,
exceeded in age perhaps only by the recently found Hohle Fels female figurine
(Conard 2009) and the Lower Paleolithic “proto-figurines”. Only two apparently
figurative two-dimensional images are known from the Pleistocene of all Asia: the
“mammoth” engravings found on a juvenile mammoth tusk from Berelekh and on a
perforated ivory plaque from Mal’ta (Fig. 5). Of interest are also the stone and bone
beads from Strashnaya Cave (Tolbor) and the perforated ostrich eggshell from
Podzvonkaya, noting the finds of eggshell beads elsewhere in Asia (Mongolia and
India). Some of these Siberian palaeoart finds are thought to be up to 40 ka old,
bearing in mind that MP and UP traditions co-existed in parts of Siberia for a long
time (43-27 ka BP), as did robust and gracile Homo sapiens forms. The decorated
stone pendants from Khotyk are considered younger, between 25 and 30 ka (Volkov
& Lbova 2009).
Fig. 4. Animal head carved on a woolly rhinoceros vertebra, Tolbaga,
south of Lake Baikal.
Fig. 5. Presumed mammoth depictions from Siberia: a. Mal’ta; b. Berelekh.
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There have been a few claims for Pleistocene rock art from Siberia, particularly
those by Okladnikov and colleagues (Okladnikov 1959, 1977: Fig 56-57; Okladnikov
& Saporoshskaya 1959) concerning the sites Shishkino and Tal’ma. I have
investigated these claims and the few painted zoomorphs in question are
undoubtedly of the late Holocene (Bednarik & Devlet 1992). Many of the
accompanying engraved figures were made with metal tools, and the painted motifs,
fully exposed to precipitation on rapidly eroding sandstone, would not survive beyond
a few millennia at the most. Even the claimed Pleistocene age of the paintings of two
caves, Kapova and Ignatiev Caves, in the Ural Mountains –the watershed between
Asia and Europe– needs to be reconsidered, now that one of the latter has been
dated to the early Holocene (Bednarik 1993a; Steelman et al. 2002).
China
Only one specimen of intricately produced palaeoart has so far been reported from
China, the engraved deer antler fragment from Longgu Cave, Hebei Province
(Bednarik 1992). It is directly dated to 13,065 ± 270 years BP by AMS, which
confirms a similar date obtained from charcoal found in the same layer. The object
bears three discrete geometric patterns, very competently engraved (Fig. 6): one
forms a multiple guilloche within a figure-eight enclosure; the other comprises four
sets of six parallel wave lines; while the third consists of parallel and zigzag lines
enclosing two elongate panels of oblique cross hatching. The object was thickly
coated with a brilliant red pigment, presumably haematite.
Fig. 6. Three views of the engraved deer antler from Longgu Cave, China.
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There are simpler examples of palaeoart known from China. They include over
120 perforated objects from the Upper Palaeolithic of the Zhoukoudian Upper Cave.
These consist of deer and fox teeth, shells, fish vertebrae, perforated pebbles, and
five polished tubular sections made from long bones of a large bird species, with
engraved parallel cut marks numbering from one to five. The latter may have been
worn as bracelets. Minor traces of haematite occur on some of these objects, and the
site has yielded numerous haematite or ochre fragments as well as human
interments, all dating from the last ten millennia of the Pleistocene (Bednarik & You
1991). Disc beads made from ostrich eggshell found in the Gobi Desert are attributed
to the final Pleistocene industry exemplified at Shabarak-usu.
Significantly earlier is a 6-cm fragment of a stone disc with central perforation that
has broken in half, from the Shiyu site in Shanxi Province. It is from a technocomplex
combining Middle and Upper Palaeolithic elements, ranging from 32,000 to
28,000 years BP (Bednarik & You 1991). The same site has also yielded about
600 bone fragments with extensive marking, claimed to be engraved. However,
examination of this collection attributed all markings to taphonomic factors of four
types. Similarly, none the many claims for Pleistocene rock art made in China (and in
one case even for Tertiary rock art!) has so far been verified, but those that have
been checked have been rejected. A similar claim made in South Korea, of both rock
art and portable art of the Pleistocene (Sohn Pow-Key 1974, 1981) probably falls into
the same category, but has not been checked.
Japan
Early palaeoart remains very scarce in Japan, and credible finds remain limited to
the very final Pleistocene and to stone materials. The only examples are a drilled
stone disc from the Debari site, Mie Prefecture; a polished triangular stone object
from the Deguchi Kane-zuka site, Chiba Prefecture (Okamura 1992); and the
engraved pebbles from Kamikuroiwa rock shelter, Ehime Prefecture. The latter,
called kokeshi, are natural pebbles with engraved patterns interpreted as depicting
breasts and skirts (Fig. 7). They are from the Incipient Jomon tradition and over
12,000 years old (Aikens & Higuchi 1982).
Fig. 7. Two engraved pebbles from Kamikuroiwa rock shelter, Japan.
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India
The search for Palaeolithic art has also been guided in India by the western
European paradigm of how such evidence should be manifested. For instance
researchers such as V.S. Wakankar sought to find it in “dynamic” human figures and
zoomorphs, and an Upper Palaeolithic bone object from Lohanda Nala was
described as a female figurine or “mother goddess” (Misra 1977). My examination of
this object revealed a damaged bone harpoon, i.e. a utilitarian rather than symbolic
artefact. With such preoccupations, guided by the European model, it is not
surprising that Pleistocene rock art remained elusive until I proposed a Lower
Palaeolithic antiquity for eleven petroglyphs in Auditorium Cave, the central site of
the vast Bhimbetka rock art complex (Bednarik 1993b). Two of them, a cupule and a
pecked meandering line, had been excavated from the upper part of an Acheulian
deposit.
My proposal was highly audacious at that time, bearing in mind that the
replacement or “African Eve” hypothesis was in rapid ascent then and contemplation
of any pre-Upper Palaeolithic evidence of symboling ability was virtually
unacceptable. There can be little doubt that my claim would have been at best
ignored, at worst ridiculed, but it soon prompted a similar proposition concerning the
large cupule site of Daraki-Chattan cave, also in central India (Kumar 1996). At that
site, another quartzite cave in extremely hard rock, it became obvious that the
entrance parts of the cupule panels had become exfoliated through insolation, and
that the detached tabular slabs should lie buried in the floor sediments. G. Kumar
commenced an excavation and soon began to detect in the strata slab fragments
bearing cupules. In view of the contentious claims being made, an international
committee was formed to supervise the EIP (Early Indian Petroglyphs) Project, and
the excavation was conducted under its control and that of the Archaeological Survey
of India. In all, 29 exfoliated cupules were excavated at the cave entrance, as well as
one in situ cupule and a block with two linear petroglyphs. These remains extended
down to the lowest sediment layer, which even contained many of the hammer
stones that had been used to create some of the cupules. But this evidence, of the
same antiquity as the rock art, came from the pre-Acheulian, Mode 1 occupation
deposit, comprising an Oldowan-like cobble-tool technocomplex. That layer was
overlain by substantial Acheulian deposits, mirroring the stratigraphy in Auditorium
Cave. The petroglyphs at both sites therefore are attributable to the earliest stone
tool tradition known in India (Fig. 8).
The Indian Upper Palaeolithic has yielded an engraved ostrich eggshell fragment
from Patne, about 25,000 years old (Fig. 9), and three beads of the same material,
from Bhimbetka and Patne. The grooves found on several animal teeth from Billa
Surgam III, one of the Kurnool Caves, seem to have been intended to facilitate their
attachment to strings. Attempts to attribute Indian rock paintings to the Pleistocene
are, however, universally rejected today. In Afghanistan, at the site Aq Kupruk, two
pre-Neolithic decorated stone objects have been suggested to be in the order of
10,000 years old (Marshack 1972), and a fossil shark tooth from the Levallois
Mousterian of Darra-i-kur has been reported to be modified (Dupree 1972).
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Fig. 8. Lower Palaeolithic cupules at Daraki-Chattan Cave, central India.
Fig. 9. Engraved ostrich eggshell fragment from Patne, India.
Levant
This region has produced one of the two oldest known protofigurines, the naturally
shaped but extensively modified scoria pebble from the Acheulian of Berekhat Ram
in Israel (Goren-Inbar 1986). It is of the Middle Pleistocene and more than
233,000 years old (Fig. 10). Goren-Inbar (1990) has also reported a chert artefact
from the Mousterian of Quneitra with apparent markings, and probable disc beads of
the Acheulian of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (Goren-Inbar et al. 1991). The incised bones
of Kebara Cave are also of the Mousterian (Davis 1974). The Upper Palaeolithic of
the region has provided several palaeoart finds, even some linear engravings in
caves of Mount Carmel have been suggested to be of such age (Ronen & Barton
1981). More reliable evidence are portable finds, such as those excavated in
Hayonim Cave. They comprise an engraved bone fragment, perforated animal teeth,
and a limestone slab that is engraved on both sides (Belfer-Cohen & Bar-Yosef
1981). Another limestone cobble, from Urkan-e-Rub and dated to between c. 19,000
and 14,500 BP, bears complex geometric arrangements of engraved lines (Fig. 11).
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The number of palaeoart objects from the region increases towards the end of the
Pleistocene, particularly with the Natufian tradition. It has yielded figurines, beads,
pendants and decorated sickle hafts from one of the Mt Carmel sites, the El-Wad
Cave (Garrod & Bate 1937; Weinstein-Evron & Belfer-Cohen 1993). Other Natufian
finds include pestles of presumed phallic shapes from some sites, including Kebara
Cave (Turville-Petre 1932), which also produced an engraved limestone slab; a
presumed sculpture from Ain Sakhri Cave (Neuville 1951); another stone figurine
from Wadi Hammeh (Edwards 1991); and a long bone object decorated on both ends
from Nahal Oren (Noy 1991).
Fig. 10. Engraved scoria pebble of the Acheulian, Berekhat Ram, Israel.
Fig. 11. Engraved limestone cobble, Urkan-e-Rub, Israel.
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Summary
This survey of the known Pleistocene palaeoart of a continent that is well over four
times the size of Europe illustrates the extreme paucity of such evidence. China, for
instance, is about the same size as Europe and has been extensively occupied by
hominins for at least two million years, yet its known early palaeoart is limited to one
engraved object and some beads and pendants. We need to explain the incredible
contrast with the thousands of rock art motifs and portable finds we have from
Europe. Taphonomy alone is hardly an adequate explanation, research priorities and
expectations are much more credible interpretations. The map showing the
distribution of the known occurrences across Asia (Fig. 12) suggests that the two
minor concentrations, in central Siberia and the Levant, coincide with regions that
have witnessed concerted archaeological efforts, but this alone cannot account for
the enormous disparity observed. The main limitation was perhaps imposed by the
expectation that Ice Age art had to be of the kind reported from south-western
Europe.
Fig. 12. Distribution of Pleistocene palaeoart finds in Asia.
This burdened researchers with an anticipation they found impossible to fulfill,
because, very simply, the Franco-Cantabrian palaeoart body is not typical or
representative: within the global corpus, it is exceptional; it is exotic. Judging from the
evidence we have currently, that corpus is surprisingly uniform across the world,
especially in its earliest expressions. The Asian material shows several distinctive
similarities with that from Africa, and even with the Australian corpus. It is the cave
art of France at Spain that is the oddity, the anomaly (Bednarik 1993a).
Consequently the search for parallels was in all other continents doomed from the
outset. It has also obscured the nature of the real body of global evidence until now.
In most parts of the world, the search for Pleistocene art has therefore not even
begun in earnest as yet. That is the only logical explanation for the evidence as it
stands.
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This is supported by the fact that, in the few regions where an informed search has
been launched, such as certain parts of southern Africa and India, but especially in
Australia, the quantity of surviving Pleistocene material is rather substantial. Perhaps
it is time to completely refocus this search on the basis of realistic concepts of how
the surviving global Pleistocene palaeoart presents itself. In the case of rock art, the
criteria are simple. Such early rock art occurs in two forms: either in especially
sheltered locations, such as limestone caves; or as deep petroglyphs on particularly
weathering-resistant rock types. The oldest known examples are in places combining
both variables: caves in very hard quartzite rock. Any rock art that does not meet one
of these two characteristics is unlikely to be of the Ice Age.
In the case of mobiliary palaeoart, the preservational environment also determines
the probability of such long survival. Objects of such materials as carbonate, bone,
ivory or eggshell do not survive well in low-pH sediments, whereas haematite,
steatite or ceramics may. Therefore most portable palaeoart finds come from loesses
(Bednarik 2008) and limestone cave sediments. In short, taphonomy determines
what can be found of the symbolic production of the Pleistocene.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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(Monograph; 31).
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Benot Ya'aqov, Israel. Rock Art Research, 8, p. 83-87.
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MARSHACK A. 1972. — Aq Kupruk: art and symbol. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 62 (4), p. 66-72,
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Quote this article
BEDNARIK R.G. 2012. — An overview of Asian palaeoart of the Pleistocene. In: CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le
monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo, Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège,
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L’art rupestre de Bornéo :
présentation et nouvelles observations
sur quelques mains peu communes
Luc-Henri FAGE*
Fig. 1. Le « Bouquet de Mains », Ilas Kenceng. Une composition exceptionnelle, qui utilise la main négative
comme élément graphique basique.
The "Bouquet of Hands" of Ilas Kenceng. An exceptional composition, using the stencilled hand as a basic
graphic element.
*
Le Kalimanthrope, Le Jonty, 82160 Caylus, France – [email protected] / www.kalimanthrope.com
Symposium Asie
Résumé
L’art rupestre de Bornéo est de découverte récente, au fil de nombreuses expéditions aventureuses
menées dans la jungle et les grottes par Luc-Henri Fage à partir de 1988, puis avec Jean-Michel
Chazine dès 1992, rejoints en 1995 par Pindi Setiawan. Dans les replis calcaires des karsts de
Sangkulirang (Kalimantan Est), 35 grottes ornées ont été découvertes, recensées et étudiées. Cette
expression rupestre, qui remonte au Pléistocène, fait la part belle aux mains négatives, mais cela ne
doit pas faire oublier les 410 autres peintures, notamment des anthropomorphes. La main négative
trouve ici une déclinaison graphique originale. Les mains, toujours négatives, peuvent être combinées
dans de vastes ensembles organisés, reliées par des liens végétaux ou surchargées de motifs
symboliques, et parfois les trois combinés. Des observations fines viennent récemment de montrer
quelques mains exceptionnelles, celles aux doigts épointés, évoquant des pattes animales, et celles
montrant que les ongles ont pu être proéminents, au point d’avoir laissé leur « ombre » sur le profil du
contour de la main. Avec les informations ethnographiques fournies par les anthropomorphes, ces
hommes de la préhistoire de Bornéo se dévoilent lentement.
Abstract – The rock art of Borneo. Presentation
and new observations on some exceptional hand stencils
The rock Art of Borneo is newly discovered, over many adventurous expeditions conducted in the
jungle and caves by Jean-Michel Chazine and Luc-Henri Fage from 1992 onwards, joined in 1995 by
Pindi Setiawan. In the folds of limestone karsts of Sangkulirang (East Kalimantan), 35 painted caves
were discovered, surveyed and studied. This rock expression, dating back to the Pleistocene, is
heavily loaded with hand stencilss, but this should not overshadow the 410 other paintings, especially
anthropomorphs. The stencilled hand found here an original graphical variation. Hands, always
negatives, may be combined in large units organized, connected by vegetable links or overpainted
with symbolic designs, and sometimes all three combined. Fine new observations come to show some
exceptional hands, like those with pointed fingers, evoking some animal paws, and those showing that
the nails have been prominent at the point of letting their “shadow” on the outline of the hand. With
ethnographic information provided by the anthropomorphs, these men of prehistory of Borneo are
revealed slowly.
L’art rupestre de Bornéo est une découverte récente, que nous avons contribué à
révéler à partir de 1988, au cours d’une quinzaine de missions de prospection
spéléo-archéologiques dans les jungles et les grottes de la partie sud-est de
Kalimantan. Il s’est développé dans des cavités très difficiles d’accès, situées parfois
plusieurs centaines de mètres au-dessus des rivières et des plaines, au sein de
falaises calcaires qui présentent le profil type du karst à cônes tropical résultant de
l’intense dissolution du calcaire par des précipitations massives (fig. 2).
Cette situation exceptionnelle, dans des repaires quasiment inaccessibles,
explique probablement pourquoi il n’a été découvert que tardivement. D’une certaine
façon, elle le protège contre des passages de visiteurs non contrôlés qui pourraient
être tentés d’y faire des dégradations.
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FAGE L.-H., L’art rupestre de Bornéo : présentation et nouvelles observations sur quelques mains peu communes
Fig. 2. Impressionnant paysage karstique des monts Marang vu d’hélicoptère.
Awesome karst Marang mountains seen from a helicopter.
Mais cette situation complique singulièrement la tache du chercheur, d’autant plus
que les peintures ont très souvent été apposées sur des parois ou des plafonds à
plusieurs mètres de hauteur dans la grotte. Compte tenu des difficultés de la
logistique imposée par ces terrains difficiles, nous n’avons pu rester que quelques
heures dans certaines grottes ornées… Il nous a fallu mettre au point des techniques
de relevés rapides, combinant croquis à main levée, prises de vues photographiques
et relevés sommaires. À l’avènement des appareils numériques s’est rajoutée l’aide
précieuse de l’ordinateur et d’une imprimante portables. Mais, bien souvent, c’est de
retour dans la « civilisation » que nous avons pu approcher véritablement les
peintures situées dans les endroits les plus difficiles d’accès. L’émotion n’en est pas
moins grande quand l’on parvient ainsi à « faire parler » les peintures…
C’est ainsi que, entreprenant l’inventaire exhaustif des peintures de Bornéo pour
préparer l’édition d’un ouvrage établissant un premier inventaire de notre travail
(Fage & Chazine 2009), nous avons pu réaliser des observations nouvelles qui nous
avaient échappées sur place.
La mise en scène de la main négative
L’art rupestre de Bornéo s’intègre dans l’universalité de l’art rupestre mondial,
mais il possède sa propre singularité, due à la part très importante accordée à la
main négative. Il remonte au Pléistocène, comme l’a prouvé une datation combinée
U/Th et 14C d’une coulée de calcite déposée sur une main négative d’Ilas Kenceng,
estimée à 9872 ± 60 BP (Plagnes 2003), ce qui est un âge peu fréquent pour un art
rupestre d’Asie du Sud-Est.
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Cette part donnée aux mains négatives se confirme sur le plan numéraire : dans
les 35 grottes ornées que nous avons découvertes de 1994 à 2006, nous avons
inventorié 1 907 mains négatives, pour seulement, si je puis dire, 410 peintures au
sens strict (dont 167 anthropomorphes, 83 représentations de mammifères,
14 reptiles, 9 « végétaux », 112 signes et symboles, etc.).
Si l’on trouve, comme cela s’observe dans les autres sites d’art pariétal connus
dans le monde, des mains négatives intégrées dans des ensembles mixtes associant
anthropomorphes, animaux et signes symboliques, quelques grottes de Bornéo
présentent des ensembles composés exclusivement ou quasi exclusivement de
mains. Elles sont alors utilisées comme des unités graphiques de base entrant dans
la réalisation de compositions picturales, où les mains ne sont plus de simples mains
humaines mais les parties d’un tout qui les transcende dans un message de niveau
supérieur. L’exemple emblématique est donné par l’image que nous avons appelée
le « Bouquet de Mains », à Ilas Kenceng (fig. 1). Nous pouvons également citer la
série de 22 mains alignées de Gua Ham (fig. 3) ou le panneau de 141 mains
dynamiques de Gua Masri.
Fig. 3. La frise des 22 mains alignées de Gua Ham.
The freeze of the 22 hands of Gua Ham.
Ces compositions picturales sont caractéristiques de Bornéo. Selon les cas, les
mains peuvent être disposées de façon dynamique les unes par rapport aux autres
dans un vaste ensemble ; elles peuvent être combinées, par paire ou par trio ; elles
sont parfois reliées par des lignes « végétales » qui peuvent continuer à travers la
paume et se terminer en majorité au bout du majeur ; enfin et surtout, les mains sont
très souvent décorées de motifs internes. Ces derniers sont composés de petits
éléments graphiques très simples, des points, des traits, des coches, des lignes à
angle droit ou en « V »… dans une infinie variété de combinaisons.
Gua Tewet est la quintessence de cet art rupestre. On y a décompté 240 mains
négatives, dont 102 sont décorées de la sorte. Un inventaire exhaustif vient d’être
terminé à partir des macrophotos de chaque main, qui permet d’en déduire une
gamme de plus de 50 motifs différents, dont le plus commun ne se reproduit que
sept fois (fig. 4). Certains de ces motifs sont uniques à Gua Tewet, mais la plupart se
retrouvent dans d’autres grottes, comme un fonds culturel commun.
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Fig. 4. Gamme des mains décorées de Gua Tewet et détail d’une des mains.
Variety of the decorated hands at Gua Tewet and close up of one hand.
Fig. 5. « L’Arbre de Vie » de Gua Tewet, quintessence de l’art rupestre de Bornéo. Douze mains gauches et une
droite, de grandes tailles, sont reliées par un lien végétal. Toutes sont décorées de motifs internes symboliques,
qui rappellent les tatouages d’appartenance clanique.
The “Tree of Life” at Gua Tewet, quintessential of the rock art of Borneo. Twelve left hands and one right, large
sizes, are connected by a vegetal link in a composition that evokes Hindu trees of life. All are decorated with
internal symbolic tattoos reminiscent of clan membership.
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Symposium Asie
Combinées, appariées, décorées, reliées, en associant un ou plusieurs de ces
critères, les mains négatives de Bornéo présentent un niveau de complexité inégalée
à ce jour (fig. 5-6).
Fig. 6. À notre connaissance, les seuls endroits du monde où l’on trouve des points de comparaison sont l’île
proche de Sulawesi, avec cette paire de mains en opposition (Bulu Simpong), et la lointaine Australie, avec ces
mains surpeintes de la Terre d’Arnhem (cliché Julien Monney). Mais nulle part, l’on ne trouve la magnificence de
ces combinaisons, assemblages et surcharges picturales qui est le propre de Bornéo.
To our knowledge, the only places in the world where there are points of comparison are the nearby island of
Sulawesi, with this pair of hands in opposition (Bulu Simpong), and remote Australia, with these hands
overpainted in Arnhem Land (Julien Monney courtesy). But nowhere is there the magnificence of these
combinations, assemblages and pictural overpainting that is the essence of Borneo.
Des doigts manquants
Parmi les mains peu communes, l’on trouve à Bornéo des mains négatives avec
des doigts manquants ou repliés. Mais, à la différence de la célèbre grotte de Gargas
(France), celles-ci sont très minoritaires : moins d’une demi-douzaine, chiffre à
comparer avec les 1 934 mains décomptées dans les 35 cavités que nous avons
découvertes et étudiées.
Un poing, tous doigts repliés, existe à Ilas Kenceng (fig. 7), tandis que dans sa
sœur jumelle Gua Ham (dont on aura un aperçu de la beauté du décor naturel dans
la figure 12), se trouve un poing cornu rappelant le geste de malédiction de Corse ou
du sud de l’Italie (fig. 8). Ce motif se retrouve avec une variante (trois doigts centraux
en partie repliés), peint au plafond de la grande galerie d’Ilas Kenceng, à 8,10 m de
hauteur (fig. 9). Ces localisations exceptionnelles ne sont pas sans poser quelques
questions quant aux moyens employés pour les réaliser : escalade osée (mais avec
une seule main pour se tenir…) ou construction d’échafaudages ?
Enfin, toujours à Ilas Kenceng, décidément la grotte la plus mystérieuse, une main
« positive » (la seule du genre) est dessinée de façon symbolique, dans le style
« Rayon X » propre aux Aborigènes d’Australie (fig. 11).
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Il y a peu de chance que l’on perce un jour la véritable signification de ces mains
hors du commun.
Fig. 7. Un poing fermé à Ilas Kenceng.
A fist, Ilas Kenceng.
Fig. 8. Une main décorée avec trois doigts
repliés à Ilas Kenceng.
A decotared hand with three bent fingers,
Ilas Kenceng.
Fig. 9. Une autre main avec trois doigts repliés
à Ilas Kenceng, à 8,10 m du sol !
A hand with three bent fingers, 8,10m above
the ground, Ilas Kenceng.
Fig. 10. Gua Tewet : où est le pouce ?
Surpeint plus tard…
Gua Tewet: Where is the thumb? Overpainted
later…
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Symposium Asie
Fig. 11. Ilas Kenceng : la seule main « positive »
dessinée en Rayon X.
Ilas Kenceng: the only positive painted hand
of Borneo, like an X-Ray drawing.
Fig. 12. Le splendide
paysage souterrain de Gua
Ham… avec sa profusion de
concrétions et ses jeux de
lumières entre les nombreux
porches a sans doute attiré
les hommes préhistoriques
pour y réaliser leurs rites
secrets.
The beautiful underground
landscape of Gua Ham …
with its abundance of
concretions and its play of
light among the numerous
entrances undoubtedly
attracted prehistoric people
to pursue their secret rites.
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Des mains « animales »
En procédant à l’inventaire des photos et des relevés des mains de Gua Tamrin,
découvertes en 2001, nous avons noté récemment que quelques mains présentent
des caractéristiques étranges. Comme elles sont situées les unes à 5 m et les autres
à 8 m du sol, sur une paroi déversante, il n’a pas été possible de nous en approcher,
mais les nombreuses photos, prises au téléobjectif, révèlent à l’observation attentive
des caractéristiques étranges : on dirait qu’elles ont été « épointées », le profil de
chaque doigt a été réduit de façon triangulaire, pour obtenir un résultat qui s’éloigne
notablement de la silhouette « normale » de la main humaine (fig. 13-14).
Fig. 13. Main épointée au milieu d’autres mains
« normales », Gua Tamrin.
Pointed fingers hand amongst other "normal" hands
Gua Tamrin.
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Symposium Asie
Fig. 14. (à gauche) Un groupe de 4 mains négatives
alignées, 10 m au-dessus du sol de la grotte, toutes
avec les doigts épointés. Gua Tamrin contient
87 mains négatives, et moins d’une dizaine est ainsi
retaillée.
4 hands in a row, 10m over the ground, with
“pointed” fingers. Gua Tamrin contains 87 hand
stencils, and less than a dozen hands are resized.
Fig. 15. (ci-dessous) Comparaison avec des mains
dans Gua Samanggi, une grotte de la région de
Maros, (Sulawesi) : des mains là aussi « animales »
sont épointées, avec des doigts manquants. Cela
évoque les rites chamaniques de transformation en
animal totem.
Comparison to the hands in a cave in South
Sulawesi, Cammin Kananga, Sulawesi: the hands
there are also ”animalized” with pointed and/or
missing fingers. This evokes shamanistic rites of
transformation into an animal totem.
Par coïncidence, cette même année 2001, ayant pu visiter les grottes
préhistoriques déjà connues de la région de Maros (île de Sulawesi, Indonésie), nous
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avons pu noter un fait qui a semble-t-il échappé aux chercheurs. Dans Gua
Samanggi et Leang Cammin-Kanang, j’ai pu observer des mains négatives que j’ai
qualifiées « d’animales » car elles ont subi une transformation picturale qui a réduit le
profil des doigts, en les épointant, voire en en supprimant certains. La figure 15
montre un ensemble remarquable de cinq mains, toutes modifiées (Gua Samanggi) :
la perception de ces empreintes négatives bascule alors de la main (humaine) vers
une patte (animale) : des oiseaux avec trois doigts, des reptiles avec quatre doigts,
et des singes avec les cinq doigts, mais très fins comparativement à la taille de la
paume… Par traitement sur ordinateur, j’ai pu démontrer que la main humaine
complète a été d’abord appliquée sur la paroi, et que les doigts ont été repris, voire
supprimés, par superposition de colorant.
La main, le propre même de l’homme, qui le différencie de toutes les autres
espèces du règne animal, peut donc devenir, au fil d’un processus de transformation,
une trace de patte animale… Pour l’instant, ces mains épointées n’ont été observées
à Bornéo que dans la seule Gua Tamrin (fig. 16). Le parallèle avec celles de
Sulawesi, situées 600 km au sud-est, de l’autre côté du détroit de Macassar, est
troublant.
Fig. 16. Pour accéder à Gua Tamrin, il faut gravir une falaise de 30 m de haut. Les grottes ornées
les plus riches, et celles avec le plus de traces manifestes de chamanisme, sont les plus difficiles d’accès. Cet
isolement vertical est comparable à l’isolement sensoriel vécu par les artistes de la préhistoire en Europe
lorsqu’ils progressaient de plusieurs centaines de mètres dans le noir et les labyrinthes des grottes profondes.
To access Gua Tamrin, one must climb a cliff 30 meters high. The richest painted caves of Borneo, and those
with the most obvious traces of shamanism, are the most difficult to access. This vertical isolation is comparable
with the sensory isolation experienced by prehistoric artists when they progressed several hundred meters iton
the dark labyrinths of deep caves in Europe.
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Symposium Asie
Des ongles au bout des doigts
Une autre singularité de l’expression rupestre de Kalimantan vient d’apparaître sur
les photos de plusieurs grottes : la présence manifeste d’ongles dépassant
l’extrémité des doigts1. La fréquence de ce phénomène et la remarquable précision
de la plupart des contours de mains prouvent que cela ne doit rien au hasard. Le fait
est surprenant car ce serait la première fois qu’il apparaîtrait, à notre connaissance,
dans l’art rupestre (J. Clottes, comm. pers. 2009).
Fig. 17. Ongles apparaissant sur le contour d’une main négative du plafond de Gua Tewet.
Nails appear on the outline of a hand stencil in the ceiling of Gua Tewet.
Fig. 18. Ilas Kenceng : détail d’une des mains du
« Bouquet de Mains » / close up on one hand of the
"Bouquet of Hands".
1
Fig. 19. Gua Sahak et son pouce exceptionnel.
Gua Sahak and its exceptional thumb.
À noter qu’au cours de l’excursion à la grotte de Gargas réalisée dans le cadre de ce congrès, nous avons pu
remarquer que, sur le pouce de la célèbre main noire, entière, située dans une petite niche, l’on pouvait noter
la présence de l’ongle… et inclure cette image au dernier moment en conclusion de notre présentation.
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Pour l’instant, le fait a été constaté dans les grottes suivantes : Gua Tewet
(fig. 17), Liang Sara, Gua Masri, Ilas Kenceng (fig. 18), Gua Ham, Gua Harto, Gua
Kecabe, ainsi que Gua Sahak où l’on trouve l’exemple emblématique : une main
gauche, de grande taille, dont le pouce présente un ongle démesuré, tout comme,
dans une moindre mesure, l’auriculaire (fig. 19).
Nous avons cherché à reproduire le profil de cet ongle à partir d’une main
féminine : le parallèle est troublant. L’expérience a été faite avec de l’ocre en poudre
délayée dans de l’eau et pulvérisée avec un souffle-en-cul, ancêtre de l’aérographe.
Un tel outil est facile à fabriquer avec deux os creux d’oiseau placés presque à angle
droit ; l’un, horizontal, est embouché et, lorsque l’on souffle, cela crée une
dépression dans le tube vertical, plongé dans le liquide, qui fait remonter ce dernier
et le mélange à l’air en très fines gouttelettes. Il est à noter que la forme des mains
négatives de Bornéo ne peut avoir été réalisée par crachotis de la bouche, car la
finesse des contours est exceptionnelle, sans bavures ni coulures, et la taille des
gouttes est très fine et homogène. Pour certains cas, nos expériences ont montré
que, selon l’angle de vaporisation de l’ocre sur l’extrémité des doigts, l’on peut voir le
profil d’un ongle apparaître un peu amplifié, mais pour les autres cas, le fait est
avéré : des ongles saillants sont visibles au bout des doigts (fig. 20).
L’étude, qui ne fait que commencer, devra être poursuivie, mais, dès à présent, la
présence d’ongles caractéristiques est un élément supplémentaire permettant de
suivre littéralement à la trace le même individu, dans la même grotte, voire d’une
grotte à l’autre.
Fig. 20. Reconstitution de l’ongle proéminent de Gua Sahak.
Reconstruction of the prominent nail from Gua Sahak.
L’on pourrait penser qu’une population, dont les mains sont en contact permanent
avec la matière pour la cueillette, la chasse, la pêche, la fabrication des outils, ne
puisse pas conserver longtemps des ongles longs car ils finissent par casser. Ces
ongles visibles signifient-ils que la personne qui les portait n’était pas astreinte aux
travaux du quotidien ? Soit parce qu’elle est d’un grand âge, soit en raison de son
rôle social dans le groupe, comme les chamans, par exemple, qui pouvaient être
dispensés des tâches matérielles du quotidien.
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Une « observation ethnographique » qui s’affine
L’étude récente réalisée pour la préparation du livre « Bornéo, la Mémoire des
Grottes », a permis d’organiser l’ensemble des données que nous avons commencé
de constituer dans les 38 grottes ornées de Bornéo (3 grottes ont été récemment
découvertes par des spéléologues ; nous ne les avons pas encore visitées). Peu à
peu, s’affine le profil de ces hommes préhistoriques qui semblent être les lointains
cousins des Aborigènes d’Australie. En ce sens, même si le fait de savoir que
certains avaient des ongles longs n’est pas décisif dans l’acte qui consiste à faire
une main négative, il permet de donner de la chair humaine à des hommes d’une
culture très éloignée dans le temps et dans l’espace, qui a totalement disparu de l’île
de Bornéo. Cela complète les informations obtenues en mai 2001, au moment de la
découverte de Gua Tamrin, qui fut un tournant important de nos recherches.
Cette grotte, atteinte après une escalade verticale de 30 m (fig. 16), contient
41 représentations d’anthropomorphes, soit la plus importante concentration de
Bornéo à ce jour. Certains sont dessinés avec un trait stylisé, dansant autour de
cavités naturelles de la paroi armes à la main, de concert avec des mains négatives.
Les autres, au contraire, bénéficient d’une très grande précision graphique, et
définissent un code de représentation que nous allons retrouver par la suite dans
plusieurs autres cavités de Bornéo.
C’est presque de l’observation ethnographique : qu’ils soient représentés dans
une position dynamique (danse, chasse, rituel) ou hiératique, les corps sont
filiformes, la tête est cachée dans une coiffe disproportionnée2, les pieds sont
massifs ; des parures en plumes sont disposées au niveau des reins, laissant les
attributs sexuels apparents, tandis que des bras brandissent des boisseaux de
flèches, arcs ? ou sagaies ? et même un objet qui pourrait être un propulseur… Si ce
fait s’avérait, il serait cohérent avec l’évolution du climat et de la végétation de la
partie sud-est de Bornéo, couverte de savanes arborées, devenues après la fin de la
dernière glaciation des forêts tropicales hyper humides. Dans une savane, le
chasseur avance en terrain découvert et le gibier ne peut s’atteindre avec un arc
dont la portée est réduite. Au contraire, au sein d’une forêt tropicale, ni l’arc ni le
propulseur ne sont efficaces, et c’est la sarbacane qui a été utilisée par les
populations Dayak et Punan.
Un patient travail de reconstitution sur ordinateur d’une fresque très dégradée par
les intempéries et le soleil, mettant en jeux plusieurs cervidés et des
anthropomorphes, a permis d’en réaliser le relevé (fig. 21) et de faire apparaître ces
tenues vestimentaires et ces objets, très proches de celles du « guerrier » de
Kakadu, toujours dans la Terre d’Arnhem en Australie (fig. 22-23).
2
Ces coiffes sont dessinées de manière stylisée, soit en arcs concentriques, soit à la façon d’un pompon, à tel
point que, pour nos guides Pak Tamrin et Pak Tewet, il s’agissait de représentations de palmiers !
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Fig. 21. Gua Tamrin : relevé d’un groupe avec
6 anthropomorphes, 2 cervidés, une forme géométrique. Le cartouche présente un grand personnage tenant un boisseau de flèches ou de lances,
et un second porteur d’un bâton à bout recourbé
(un propulseur ?) et un objet en « W » (protoboomerang ?)
Gua Tamrin, survey of a group with
6 anthropomorphs, 2 cervids, a geometric shape.
The cartridge shows a large figure holding a
bushel of arrows or spears, and a second one
carrying a stick with curved tips (a spear thrower?)
and an object in "W" (proto-boomerang?)
Fig. 22. Gua Tamrin, représentation
d’un suidé et trois anthropomorphes
« coiffés », dansant, avec des pieds
lourds, des plumes sur les hanches et
le sexe nu. L’un d’eux tient un bâton
à bout arrondi et creux, évoquant là
aussi un propulseur.
Gua Tamrin, representation of a pig
and three anthropomorphs with
headdress, dancing with heavy feet,
feathers on their hips and sex naked.
One of them is holding a stick also
evoking a spear thrower.
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Symposium Asie
Fig. 23. Comparaison surprenante entre les
anthropomorphes dessinés à Gua Tamrin et ce
« guerrier » ou chasseur (peut-être même pêcheur au vu
de ses flèches barbelées) sur une paroi du Parc national
de Kakadu, en Terre d’Arnhem, dans le nord de
l’Australie. Sa main droite tient un propulseur… et il porte
un pectoral dessiné en plein mouvement, tout comme à
Tamrin.
A surprisingly comparison between the anthropomorphs
drawn in Gua Tamrin and this "warrior" or hunter (perhaps
a fisherman with his barbed arrows) on a wall of Kakadu
National Park in Arnhem Land (northern Australia). His
right hand holds a spear thrower… and he wears a
breastplate designed in full motion, as in Tamrin.
Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kakadu-painting-hero.jpg
Conclusion
Si la prospection de nouvelles zones encore vierges reste largement ouverte dans
les karsts de Bornéo, l’étude des peintures déjà connues est loin d’être terminée. Ce
seront les axes de travail de la prochaine décennie, en complétant l’inventaire
photographique, en créant une base de données pour recouper les informations et
un SIG (système d’information géographique) pour situer à la fois les cavités dans
l’espace et les peintures dans les grottes, dont la disposition dans la topologie des
cavernes ne doit rien au hasard.
Enfin, l’objectif final de notre groupe de recherche pluridisciplinaire, le
Kalimanthrope, est de garantir la conservation et la protection de cet art rupestre,
menacé par l’arrivée anarchique du « progrès » (destruction de la forêt, plantation de
palmiers à huile, mines de charbon à ciel ouvert et, le pire : cimenteries). La première
étape est en voie d’achèvement, avec la création d’un parc national sur les Monts
Marang sous les auspices de Pindi Setiawan, là même où se situe la majeure partie
de « nos » chères grottes ornées.
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
CHAZINE J.-M. 2003. — Rock Art and Ceramics in East Borneo: Logical Discovery or New Cornerstone? In : SAND Ch.
(ed.), Pacific Archaeology: Assessments and Prospects, Proceedings of the International Conference for the
50th anniversary of the first Lapita excavation. Koné-Nouméa 2002. Les Cahiers de l’Archéologie en Nouvelle-Calédonie,
15, p. 43-52.
CHAZINE J.-M. 2005a. — Discovering a New Rock Art in Borneo: New Data and Concerns. In : DEVLET E. (ed.), World of
Art Conference Pre-proceedings, p. 319-334. Moscou.
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CHAZINE J.-M. 2005b. — Rock Art, Burials and Habitations : Caves in East Kalimantan. Asian Perspectives, 44 (1), p. 219230. Hawaï.
CHAZINE J.-M. 2007. — Rock Art from Borneo: an Original Insight into Socio-Cultural Prehistoric Patterns. In : ANATI E. &
MOHEN J.-P. (éd.), Les expressions intellectuelles et spirituelles des peuples sans écriture, Colloque UISPP- CISENP,
Paris, 22-23 octobre 2007, p. 33-47.
CHAZINE J.-M. & FAGE L.-H. 1998. — La ligne de Wallace a-t-elle été franchie par les artistes des temps préhistoriques ?
Deux nouvelles grottes à Bornéo. Karstologia, 32, p. 39-46.
CHAZINE J.-M. & FAGE L.-H. — 2002. Les Mains négatives des grottes de Bornéo /Hand Stencils in the Caves of Borneo.
International newsletter on rock art [INORA], 31, p. 2-9.
CHAZINE J.-M. & NOURY A. 2006. — Identification sexuelle des empreintes de mains négatives du panneau de la grotte de
Gua Masri II (Est-Kalimantan / Bornéo – Indonésie) / Sexual determination of hand stencils on the main panel of the Gua
Masri II Cave (Est-Kalimantan / Borneo – Indonesia). International Newsletter On Rock Art [INORA], 44, p. 21-26.
CHAZINE J.-M. & SETIAWAN P. 2008. — Discovery of a New Rock Art, in East Borneo: New data for réflexion. In : L'Art
pariétal : Conservation, mise en valeur, communication, Actes du colloque international des Eyzies-de-Tayac (Dordogne)
5-9 septembre 2005, p. 32-42. Les Eyzies / Paris : Société des Amis du Musée national de Préhistoire et de la
Recherche Archéologique / UNESCO.
FAGE L.-H. 1989. — Les dessins pariétaux de Gua Kao (Liang Kaung). Spelunca, 34, p. 31-35.
FAGE L.-H. 2003. — L’arbre à miel de Bornéo, la grotte ornée de Liang Karim. Les Cahiers d’Apistoria, 2, p. 58-63. Dijon
FAGE L.-H. 2009. — Bornéo, inventaire préliminaire des cavités ornées. Manuscrit, 480 p.
FAGE L.-H. & CHAZINE J.-M. 1997. — Découverte des premières grottes ornées de Kalimantan (Indonésie). In : Actes du
XIIe Congrès International de Spéléologie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 10-17 août 1997, vol. 3, p. 101-102. Union Internationale
de Spéléologie.
FAGE L.-H. & CHAZINE J.-M. 2001. — Synthèse de dix années de recherches à Bornéo. In : Actes du 11e Congrès national
de Spéléologie, Genève, 15-16-17 septembre 2001. Stalactite, Suppl. n° 15, p. 153-172.
FAGE L.-H. & CHAZINE J.-M. 2005. — Hands Across Time: Exploring the Rock Art of Borneo. National Geographic
Magazine, august.
FAGE L.-H. & CHAZINE J.-M. 2009. — Bornéo, la mémoire des grottes. Lyon : FAGE
éditions, 176 p.
FAGE L.-H. & CHAZINE J.-M. 2010. — Borneo. Memory of the Caves. Caylus : Le
Kalimanthrope, 176 p.
FAGE L.-H., CHAZINE J.-M., SETIAWAN P. 2002. — The rock art of Kalimantan in
Indonesia. Ligabue Magazine, déc., 26 p. + couverture. Italie.
FAGE L.-H., CHAZINE J.-M., SETIAWAN P. 2010. — Borneo. Menyingkap Gua
Prasejarah. Caylus : Le Kalimanthrope, 176 p.
PLAGNES V., CAUSSE C. et al. 2003. — Cross Dating (Th/U-14C) of Calcite Covering
Prehistoric Paintings in Borneo. Quaternary Research, 60, p. 172-179.
FILMOGRAPHIE
BOCCANFUSO P. & FAGE L.-H. 1988. La traversée impossible. TF1 Ushuaia/MC4 – 26 minutes, 16 mm.
FAGE L.-H. 1997. À la découverte des grottes ornées de Bornéo. Conseiller scientifique J.-M. CHAZINE. France 3/GEDEON
programmes – 52 minutes, vidéo.
FAGE L.-H. 2004. Bornéo, la Mémoire des grottes. Conseiller scientifique J.-M. CHAZINE. ARTE/MC4 – 52 minutes, vidéo.
Citer cet article
FAGE L.-H. 2012. — L’art rupestre de Bornéo : présentation et nouvelles observations sur quelques mains peu communes.
In : CLOTTES J. (dir.), L’art pléistocène dans le monde / Pleistocene art of the world / Arte pleistoceno en el mundo,
Actes du Congrès IFRAO, Tarascon-sur-Ariège, septembre 2010, Symposium « Art pléistocène en Asie ». N° spécial de
Préhistoire, Art et Sociétés, Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées, LXV-LXVI, 2010-2011, CD : p. 955971.
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