INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The word 'prehistoric' refers to that part of history when paper and written word had not yet been discovered. The desire to communicate and express led humans to paint and scribble on the walls of their living spaces acting as their canvas that we now know as prehistoric rock paintings. It is truly wonderful that these paintings have survived the test of time and historians are able to crack some information which brings to light the lifestyle, tools, pottery, etc. of those times.
About twenty-five thousand years ago, the world was fully covered with thick jungles. Our ancestors lived in caves, in valleys, near streams, or by rivers and pools. They ate various grasses, fruits and vegetables or killed beasts for food. With this kind of life, when did man start creating works of art? What forced him to do so? What did these earliest works of art look like? History of Art seeks answers to these questions.
Prehistoric man struggled to fulfill his daily needs like food, clothing and safety from big beasts, heat, rain and other natural disasters. He was too weak to fight with natural disasters and found it difficult to kill the big beasts. He made drawings on the walls of the caves with wood, stone, mud and other natural material. There are images of symbols that he used in rituals and prayers that put light on man's psyche to please the supreme controlling power and the beginning of art for holy purpose as well.
Humans produced their first works of art during the Upper Paleolithic period-Aurignacian period (forty-five thousand years before present to thirty-five thousand years before present). The earliest images made were a series of random lines or grooves made by dragging the finger. Later on, engraving with some tools along the soft layer of clay on the walls was added on. The subject matter included simplified human figures, their day-to-day activities, geometric forms and symbols.
The prehistoric rock art has been broadly divided into seven periods:
Period One - (Upper Paleolithic) : During this period, there are line drawings of huge figures of animals such as bison, tigers and rhinoceroses in green and dark red. A few are in wash, but mostly they are filled with geometric patterns.
Period Two - (Mesolithic) : The largest number of paintings belongs to this period. Comparatively smaller in size, the stylised figures in this group show linear decorations on the body. Animals, human figures and hunting scenes dominate as subjects. There is also a depiction of love for animals probably the beginning of their domestication and conservation. A few engravings of animals are also found.
Period Three - (Chalcolithic or Copper age) : Common themes in ceramics and rock paintings found in Chalcolithic age are cross-hatched squares and grids. Pottery and metal tools are also shown.
Period Four and Five - (Early historic) : The figures of this group have a schematic and decorative style and are painted mainly in red, white and yellow. Here, we see the depiction of religious symbols, figures of yakshas, tree gods and magical sky chariots with riders wearing tunic-like dresses.
Period Six and Seven - (Medieval) : Paintings in the medieval era are geometric, linear and more schematic, but they are rough in their artistic style.
The first ever discovery of rock cave paintings was made in India in eighteen sixty-seven to sixty-eight by an archaeologist, Archibald Carlleyle. This discovery was twelve years before the discovery of Altamira in Spain. Later, a large
Fire is believed to be discovered in the lower Palaeolithic era, much before traces of art in cave paintings have been found. The wheel was invented circa three thousand five hundred years before present. The discovery of fire and wheel thereafter were instrumental in the making and baking of pottery. These two inventions brought the beginning of terracotta sculptures.
number of sites were unearthed by Indian and foreign archaeologists in a joint effort. These sites were found in several districts like Hoshangabad, Panchmarhi in Madhya Pradesh, Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar under the Kaimur range, Raigarh in Chhatisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Raichur in Karnataka and Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand.
BHIMBETKA
BHIMBETKA
The caves of Bhimbetka were discovered in nineteen fifty-seven to fifty-eight by a brave archaeologist Dr. Vishnu Wakankar. Bhimbetka is a natural art gallery and an archaeological treasure. Spread over miles, these caves trace the footsteps of the prehistoric man from as early as about fifteen thousand years ago. These magnificent paintings can be seen even on the ceilings of rock shelters located at great heights. These caves remained covered with dense forest and vegetation that protected these rock paintings from natural calamities.