An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c18.s1.5

v1.c18.s1.5

The region of the Vindhyan sandstone receives a rainfall of well over 100 cm per year and has several perennial rivers. At many places there are natural springs. Even today much of the hill country has a dense forest cover and in the past the vegetation must have been far thicker. There is a large variety of trees and plants with edible flowers, fruits, seeds, roots and tubers. The forests even today support a rich and varied fauna which again in pre-agricultural times must have been more plentiful. Abundant fossilized remains of mammals from the NARMADA Pleistocene deposits [9.8.2; 15.1] amply support such an inference. Ecologically therefore the region of the sandstone hills was well-endowed for supporting hunting-gathering populations. And it is no surprise that the entire region was colonized by man from early Acheulian times [4.2]. Though most of the settlements were in the open air along perennial as well as seasonal streams, caves and shelters were also occupied by man. Excavations at BHIMBETKA show that Stone Age communities lived in the shelters almost continuously since Late Acheulian times. Elsewhere as in Mirzapur area the earliest habitation in shelters goes only to the early Mesolithic times [4.5], though Carlleyle had encountered what he termed 'archaic' tools below Mesolithic levels. In the last 10000 years man also painted the walls and ceilings of the shelters with figures of wild animals and other subjects.