Recent discoveries of the Yelagiri Hills have unveiled its great archaeological findings.
Located in Tamil Nadu, the Yelagiri hills have become increasingly popular due to a recent archaeological discovery. A natural cave located close to Reddiyur village houses ancient cave paintings over 9,000 years old. In addition to this, it has also been discovered that these caves contain almost 80 human and animal figures, which are painted in white pigment and show signs of aged perseverance. Currently, these sites are approximately 100 square meters as well as one thousand feet above sea level. The prehistoric Neolithic site marks an intense inflow in lieu of southern Indian heritage.
Remarkable: Astonishing Social Life and Ritualistic Remarks of the Prehistoric Era of Tamil Nadu
The surviving millennia paintings serve more value than just decoration—they offer brute insight into daily ceremonial life and showcase the social life components along with all spiritual activities practiced throughout the era. The community that possessed those characteristics can be remarked as spiritually rich due to their immense set of values. Over and above the illustrated form for described rituals, people riding beasts—dancing celebrating victory wars—which starkly propose great devotion packaged towards them and need not be considered mere undertakings.
Artistic methods and lasting materials
These paintings have a distinguishing feature that captures my attention: the use of pigment has truly resisted the effects of time. Echoing the Neolithic and Iron Age artistic traditions from the region, attention is given to proportion and movement in how the figures are rendered. The cave itself, which could shelter about fifty people, could have served as a dwelling at that time as well as a place where rituals were performed, demonstrating prehistoric man’s multifunctional use of natural spaces.
Archaeological importance
Professor Prabhu from Sacred Heart College considers this find important, for it contains the most extensive rock painting group found in northwest Tamil Nadu. Artistic components capture shared components with other Neolithic paintings in India, reinforcing an artistic commonality among humankind prehistorically. This discovery increases awareness of prehistoric art while simultaneously providing insight into Yelagiri’s significance as an ancient human center and settlement.
Protection Needs and Issues with Preservation
Alongside the excitement, worries have emerged regarding the preservation of these priceless works. Some archeologists have reported sightings of vandalism, which makes them call for immediate action from proper sustainers to protect the site for future generations. Such heritage must be defended because the paintings represent invaluable records of early human creativity, belief systems, and southern Indian community life.
