News: Rush for protected tag to Faridabad site where Stone Age cave art found-31-07-2021
Gurgaon: The archaeology and museums department of Haryana has sent a proposal to the state government seeking protected status for a 5,000-hectare area in Faridabad’s Mangar, where cave paintings presumably dating back to the Paleolithic era (Stone Age) were recently discovered along with rock shelters and tools.
According to the proposal, a preliminary notification under Section 4(1) of the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1964 covering the area spread across the revenue estates of Shilakhari, Mangar, Kot, Dhauj, Roj ka Gujjar, Dhauj and Nurpur Dhumaspur may be issued immediately. The site is near the sacred grove of Mangar bani.
The Act mandates preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains other than those of national importance, regulation of archaeological excavations and protection of sculptures, carvings and other objects.
In the Paleolithic era, early humans lived in caves or simple huts. They used basic stone and bone tools, as well as crude stone axes, for hunting.
“The cave paintings are presumably dated back to 1 lakh years before present (BP). We have sought protection of the area and are waiting for approval from the Haryana government. The moment it gets ‘protected’ status, we will start documenting the entire site with the help of GPS mapping,” said Banani Bhattacharyya, deputy director of the Haryana directorate of archaeology and museums.
“We will also take the help of the National Research Laboratory for Conservation (Lucknow), Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleo Sciences (Lucknow) and Physical Research Laboratory (Ahmedabad) for conservation of the paintings,” she added.
There will be large-scale scientific excavation and archaeological dating of the paintings as well as the sediment unearthed during further investigation, she said.
Haryana principal secretary (archaeology and museums) Ashok Khemka said Palaeolithic paintings were earlier reported in Faridabad’s Anangpur in 1986. “These paintings might be an extension of the Anangpur sites,” he said.
Khemka further said 43 sites were traced in the area at that time, and several archaeological teams have been trying to trace paintings across the region. One such team was sent to Mangar, where the cave art was found, he added.
Meanwhile, the district administration of Faridabad on Thursday said they completed ground-truthing of the area (verifying the data through on-site observations) on Wednesday.
“We are preparing a report, which we will be sharing with the archaeology and museums department. The aim of the exercise was to figure out the landscape and category of land,” said Yash Pal, deputy commissioner of Faridabad.
Environmental activists have welcomed the move. Sunil Harsana, an activist from Mangar village, said it is apt for the entire area to get protection. “The Mangar forest area and the cave painting sites need protection as these are symbols of our very existence. It is critical that the site gets protection before further investigation.”
