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THE ROCK ART SITE OF KARABAD |
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For the first series of sites, our base was Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. The Karabad sites, west of it, are a series of
small shelters about 120 feet above a valley. As is most times the case, these sandstone shelters are rather shallow, so that the paintings have always been done in the daylight. They were an excellent introduction to Indian rock art with their herds of bovids with inner body decoration, sometimes all red or all white, more rarely red and white. Other animals, like a rhino (an animal that became extinct by the end of the Chalcolithic),
elephants, deer and
big cats were present, as well as a composite creature, i.e. a human with fantastically
long limbs and an animal’s head and other humans. The absence of warriors and inscriptions and the high number of
animals put those paintings in a rather early phase of the art, earlier than the Historic period to which so much Indian rock art belongs. Many superimpositions occur, as is the case in European Palaeolithic art even though the images here are much later. These
superimpositions can sometimes become quite clear when images are enhanced.
Lions with a dotted body
on top of a herd of cattle
Overhang with a series of
wild animals with inner decoration
A composite creature
man in red with an animal's head
Stags and other animals with
rectangular adorned bodies
Red and white humped bull
This is a good example of many
superimpositions on the same panel
Red bovids superimposed
over white cervids
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Prehistoric Paintings of the Pachmarhi Hills in India
