Rock Art: Perspectives of Cognitive Development and Perception of Reality of our Stone Age Ancestors
Giriraj Kumar
Abstract: Rock art is a form of folk lore expressed on the bare surface of rocks mostly by our Stone Age ancestors. It is an important source for understanding the cognitive, intellectual and cultural development of the early humans. Indian rock art is extremely rich and varied in forms, motifs, styles and themes executed both in the form of paintings and petroglyphs, many times on the same surface one above the other overlapping or concealing the earlier ones.
It presents clearly defined developmental traits, patterns and perception of reality in the dynamic process of the creative history of humankind right from the early Stone Age till a few centuries back.
Besides, rock art and rock art sites are the best testimonies of the unending human quest for unravelling the secrets of the nature and finding the truth, and also that of human spirit of passion, adventure and creativity. The evidence from Bhimbetka and Daraki-Chattan through the EIP Project unambiguously established that the antiquity of rock art in India goes back to Lower Paleolithic Age. Mostly rock art sites are located in a serene environment where nature unfolds its wonders and beauty in the form of physical and natural creations such as oceans, canyons, gorges, hill valleys, caves, rock shelters, variety of flora, fauna, sweet-water streams and rivers in different geographic and climatic zones.
These are the timeless human qualities needed by any society at any time to progress and live a meaningful quality life.