ASI to start Sambalpur, Angul rock art investigation from Dec 27 | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Puri circle, will for the first time carry out a scientific investigation of rock art sites in Rairakhol region of Sambalpur and Bamur in Angul district. This will be followed by digital documentation for the protection and preservation of all the rock art sites at both the places in the lower Mahanadi valley.The process will begin from Friday, following a proposal for the protection of the rock art sites by Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan to the ASI. The national conservation body is collaborating with the forest and tourism departments for the work.The purpose of the scientific excavation is to find out the exact dating of the sites through the organic materials present in the rock art caves and to trace human movement from the rock shelters to delta region, said D B Garnayak, ASI superintending archaeologist. “For example, Rairakhol has caves with engravings of large birds that are presumed to be prehistoric ostriches or ostrich-like creatures. Such ostriches went extinct at least 15,000 years back. So, we are assuming the rock art may be that many years old. However, this scientific investigation will help us get an absolute date,” he added.Sambalpur district has 42 rock art sites in the reserve forests of Rail, Landimal and Luhapank-Brahmani, all in the Rairakhol subdivision. This constitutes 40.38% of the total rock art shelters in the state, discovered so far. Similarly, Dantari Hill in Kaimur range near Bamur has a large concentration of rock art sites.Garnayak said a large number of rock shelters are found in the catchment area of three perennial streams — Khalbala in the Rail range and Champali in Landimal range, both tributaries of Tikira, which is itself a tributary of Brahmani system, and Sureswari, a tributary of Mahanadi, in Bamur region. It is the largest rock art heritage zone in eastern India.
