A team of researchers claims to have found evidence of prehistoric human settlement in Karnataka's Vijayanagara district, which includes stone tools, pottery fragments and petroglyphs.
The Vijayanagara Exploration Research Team unearthed these articles from the Meenakere village located on the banks of the Hagari river. Among the findings were Microlithic tools, which are small stone implements that were used during the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) period. A polished hand axe from the Neolithic period, pottery fragments, and petroglyphs from the Megalithic period indicated that prehistoric humans could have possibly lived in the region. Petroglyphs, which pre date the written language, are rock carvings made by incising or chiseling on a rock surface.
The team also discovered a birthstone slab (dated around 3000 BCE, Neolithic period) that had been flattened and engraved with a large image of a bison. The figure resembles today's Indian bison (gaur), suggesting that such species were domesticated or familiar to early humans even in pre-Christian times. Alongside it, on another rounded stone, a large-sized cow image has also been identified, according to Dr Govind of the Kannada Literature Department at Kannada University.
The bison petroglyph is about 3 feet high and 3 feet long, with curved horns and two forelegs shown upright. Scholars and locals have raised calls for immediate preservation of these unique engravings.
In Kumati village close to Meenakere, earlier discoveries had revealed megalithic-era monolithic human figures.
The findings are yet to be carbon-dated and verfied by state authorities and the Archaeological Survey of India.
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