India should move away from colonial model of archaeolog: Bednarik

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'India should be proud of its ancient rock art'

August 6th, 2008 - 9:29 am ICT by IANS

 

By Neena Bhandari

 

Sydney, Aug 6 (IANS) Indian rock art needs more recognition globally

and the

country itself has to realise it is a repository of much more than

the Indus

Valley and Mughal periods, says an Australian expert. " Indian art is

at

least 200,000 years old, which is an educated guess and it could be

much

more. This is of great cultural significance to India, and to the

world, "

rock art expert Robert Bednarik told IANS.

 

He is the convener, president and editor of the International

Federation of

Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO).

 

" It is time India asserted itself and took pride in the enormous

history of

the Lower Palaeolithic culture, which has now been proved to be among

the

oldest in the world, rivalling Africa, southwestern Europe and eastern

Asia. "

 

" While Africa may be the cradle of the hominid evolution, southern

Asia is

more likely to be the main theatre of initial development of modern

human

cognition, self-awareness and technological competence, " says

Bednarik.

 

He collaborates with the National Museum of Man in Bhopal and the

Indira

Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi.

 

The Early Indian Petroglyphs (EIP) Project is a joint venture by the

Rock

Art Society of India (RASI) led by Giriraj Kumar and the Australian

Rock Art

Research Association (AURA) led by Bednarik under the aegis of IFRAO.

 

The project is the first to attempt scientific dating of Indian rock

art as

well as to provide a comprehensive chronological framework for the

Palaeolithic periods and reveals how advanced people were in Lower

Palaeolithic times, using art as a means of communication and

expression.

 

The Bhimbetka complex of rock shelters was first discovered by V.S.

Wakankar

near Bhopal in 1957 and declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in

July

2003.

 

The EIP project has demonstrated that currently the oldest known art

in the

world is in central India.

 

Certain archaic art traditions - the Auditorium Cave at Bhimbetka near

Bhopal, Daraki-Chattan cave near Bhanpura in Madhya Pradesh and

Bajanibhat,

a rock shelter near Kotputli in Rajasthan - are several times as old

as the

oldest previously dated rock art, that of the Upper Palaeolithic of

France,

dated to up to about 32,000 years BP in Chauvet Cave.

 

(BP stands for 'Before present'. 'Present', in this context, refers

to 1950,

the introduction of carbon dating and the beginning of nuclear

contamination

in carbon dating.)

 

" Indians probably don't realise the significance of these ancient

paintings.

They need to understand what it means in terms of national identity

like the

French, who have the importance of art ingrained in their psyche, and

preserve it, " Bednarik said.

 

Bednarik called on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to

establish a

special section dealing specifically with prehistoric rock art and

with the

Palaeolithic period.

 

" ASI has been focused on the Indus Valley and Mughal periods, but

there has

to be an understanding in decision-making circles that India has much

more

that that. "

 

The EIP Project, which has fostered, in-depth and long-term

collaboration

between Indian and Australian experts, enjoys the backing and

collaboration

of several research laboratories and scholars in both countries,

besides

substantial support from the (ASI, the Indian Council of Historical

Research

and the Australia-India Council in Canberra.

 

Bednarik feels it's time for India to move away from its British-

centric,

colonial model of archaeology to develop its own particular flavour

and

approach.

 

" One way of doing this is by teaching rock art science as a

specialised

course in universities, " he said.

 

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/india-should-be-proud-

of-its-ancient-rock-art_10080408.html

 

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