A History of Agriculture in India v1.c13.s2.1

v1.c13.s2.1

The best evidence of the life and activities of the Mesolithic man lies in the paintings in cave-shelters. Numerous painted cave-shelters have been located in India. Haematite paintings on rock-shelters situated near Singanpur, in the Raigarh District, Orissa, represent hunting-scenes and dances with masked figures, resembling those at Cogul in Spain. One of them depicts kangaroos, animals now restricted to Australia. Representations of horse and deer in Singanpur cave-shelters are very much like the Spanish drawings of the same age. Rock engravings at Ghatsila, in the Singhbhum District, Bihar, are remarkable for their Australian character. According to Mitra, these facts point to the existence of an ancient Indo-Australian culture extending from the upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic.