An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s1.4

v1.c19.s1.4

Excavations at BHIMBETKA have produced rich evidence that man lived in caves and rock-shelters on hilltops at an altitude of 600 m above sea level in dense forest. The depth of occupation in these shelters is nearly 4 m and the sequence of cultures encompasses the period from the Late Acheulian to the end of the Mesolithic. A study of cave sediments shows that there had been no appreciable change in climate and therefore in environment during the entire Stone Age. If at all the climate was slightly better at one stage during the Acheulian period and therefore the forest must have been denser. Today, in spite of deforestation, human encroachment on forest and prolonged and continuing hunting of wild life, the Bhimbetka forest contains a variety of plant foods in all seasons and also a number of species of food animals. Millennia ago when agriculture was unknown population was much smaller and human demands on natural vegetation were minimal, the forest must have been far denser and vegetable foods far more plentiful. Also when man killed animals only for food and not for pleasure or status, animal life must have been considerably rich. In such an environment food scarcity may well have been unknown, and it is not surprising that scores of shelters on a single hill were inhabited more or less continuously all through the Stone Age down to the Mesolithic.