Posted on: 8 August 2013

Video:
100 ft long pre-historic rock paintings at Isco Caves in Jharkhand, 10000 BC
Filmed by Badshah Singh

Cave paintings lie in neglect
The Telegraph - 2008

Isco (Hazaribagh), March 12: Around 46km from here is the village of Barkagaon, where lies the Isco cave known for rock paintings over a thousand years old.

Jesuit Father Tony Hperbert, an associate with a local NGO, discovered the rock paintings in 1991.

Environmentalist Bullu Imam visited the area after he learnt about it from Herbert. He, in turn, informed the Bihar Archaeology Department that confirmed the antiquity of the paintings.

Megalithic explorer Subhasis Das, who is working in and around the district to ensure the safety of the ancient structure, said it was a matter of concern that, so far, no effort was made to preserve the rock paintings.

“I visit the site regularly to study the place and in the past two years, the rate of chipping has increased,” he said.

According to sources, Erwin Neumayer of Vienna and S.B. Otta, the head of pre-historical department of the Archaeological Survey of India, Nagpur, studied the cave paintings between 1993 and 1995.

Both the authorities dated the rock art to the Meso-chalcolithic period (9,000-5,000 BC).

Sources said several microlithis and polished stone axe-heads were found under painted shelters with evidence of Palaeolithic habitation.

While narrating a popular story, a villager Harimangal Munda, said: “Near the caves there is a small river called Marwatari. Here there is a wedding mandap called marwa. A king got married in the marwa (cave) and thus arose the name Marwatari.”

Das said: “It is shameful that officials have failed to take care of ancient rock art despite being aware of it.”


Watch the video of this lesser known heritage site:

http://bit.ly/1cgvQ41


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Thank you Badshah Singh!!

Great Badshah Singh!

Shame on ASI for criminally neglecting these 10,000 years old paintings!

Our sincere thanks to Shri Badshah Singh Saheb, and also to Rare Book Society of Indiae for making it available ro all of us for further sharing on Pages, in Groups and with friends and family.

India has such a wealth of wonderful archaeological sights (and sites) that it's very hard to find the money to safeguard many of them. It's really like Italy in that respect --- both countries are in the same boat------ owners of priceless artistic heritages but without adequate means to care for their national treasures.

Very interesting that there is so much "geometric" detail, and that the human figures seem enclosed in squares, Mayan / Incan like (unlike eg. Bhimbetka where are no such "enclosures". As one everyone here is already sayinh, kudos to involved, and in particular to Badshah Singh for immortalising the site, as it were. When you say chipping has increased in the last few years, is that natural, or are the nearby villagers chipping pieces away?

some of my friends tried to go to these areas, but the naxal- police conflict makes it very difficult to work here. it is well known that telangana area also has prehistoric sites, but current problems overwhelm study of the past....