The term ‘Prehistory’ refers to the distant past when there was no paper or language or the written word, and hence no books or written documents. Painting and drawing were the oldest art forms practised by human beings to express themselves, using the cave walls as their canvas.
Prehistoric paintings have been found in many parts of the world, by the Upper Palaeolithic times we see a proliferation of artistic activities. Around the world the walls of many caves of this time are full of finely carved and painted pictures of animals which the cave-dwellers hunted.
The subjects of their drawings were human figures, human activities, geometric designs and symbols. In India the earliest paintings have been reported from the Upper Palaeolithic times.
Significance of these paintings: These prehistoric paintings help us to understand about early human beings, their lifestyle, their food habits, their daily activities and, above all, they help us understand their mind—the way they thought.
Discovery of pre-historic rock paintings in India
- The first discovery of rock paintings was made in India in 1867–68 by an archaeologist, Archibold Carlleyle, twelve years before the discovery of Altamira in Spain. Cockburn, Anderson, Mitra and Ghosh were the early archaeologists who discovered a large number of sites in the Indian sub-continent.
- Remnants of rock paintings have been found on the walls of the caves situated in several districts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar.
- Some paintings have been reported from the Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand also. The rock shelters on banks of the River Suyal at Lakhudiyar, about twenty kilometres on the Almora– Barechina road, bear these prehistoric paintings. Lakhudiyar literally means one lakh caves
- The paintings here can be divided into three categories: man, animal and geometric patterns in white, black and red ochre.
- Humans are represented in stick-like forms. A long-snouted animal, a fox and a multiple legged lizard are the main animal motifs. Wavy lines, rectangle-filled geometric designs, and groups of dots can also be seen here
- One of the interesting scenes depicted here is of hand-linked dancing human figures.
The granite rocks of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh provided suitable canvases to the Neolithic man for his paintings. There are several such sites but more famous among them are Kupgallu, Piklihal and Tekkalkota
Figure: Hand-linked dancing figure, Uttarakhand
Evolution of pre-historic paintings
Upper Paleolithic period:
- The paintings of the Upper Palaeolithic phase are linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge animal figures, such as bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars besides stick-like human figures
- Most paintings consist of geometrical patterns. The green paintings are of dancers and the red ones of hunters
- The richest paintings from this time period is reported from the Vindhya ranges of Madhya Pradesh and their Kaimurean extensions into Uttar Pradesh. These hill ranges are full of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic remains. Among these the largest and most spectacular rock-shelter is located in the Vindhya hills at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh
Figure: Bhimbetka caves, MP
- The caves of Bhimbetka were discovered in 1957–58 by eminent archaeologist S. Wakankar
- The themes of paintings found here are of great variety, ranging from mundane events of daily life in those times to sacred and royal images