An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c6.s5: 1.5 Elephantidae
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c6.s5
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1.5 Elephantidae
v1.c6.s5.1
Excavated remains of the elephant (*Elephas maximus*, Indian elephant) are relatively scarce but are of considerable palaeoecological significance. At the s. Neolithic sites, for example, elephant bones indicate the existence of a thicker vegetation cover and more abundant sources of water, which in turn are suggestive of a more humid climate than prevails today in this region. Zeuner, 1963, thinks that the bones and the frequent pictorial representations of the elephant at Mohenjo-daro are the earliest evidence of its domestication. Elephant tusks were variously used (e.g. ivory beads from INAMGAON). Coins depicting the elephant are common during the periods *c.* 250–140 B.C. in the e. Mediterranean and the e., suggesting that the animal continued to remain a symbol of power. Its domestication was at first confined to India, whence it spread to the w. after Alexander’s invasion.
v1.c6.s5.2
The Indian elephant is considered to be a descendant of *Elephas hysudricus* of the Indian Early Pleistocene and related to the group of *Elephas meridionalis*, ancestor of the mammoth and *Elephas antiquus* of Europe.