HYDERABAD: A desire to study archaeology and learn more about the Indus Valley civilization led Sai Krishna, a researcher doing PhD from Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute, Pune to discover prehistoric microlithic stone tools in Gundla Pochampally village, 25 kilometres from Hyderabad.
“I was interested in archaeology as its origins were much earlier than words were created. The topic in my PhD was ‘Causes for the decline of Indus Valley Civilisation’. I preferred to focus on Telangana, as it was neglected by previous archaeological scholars and did not get its due credit to the extent which it was supposed to get.”
When he went into the forest area to find if there were some prehistoric formations, he found a rock art dating back to Neolithic period, which had three bulls with long horns. Four rock art sites of Mesolithic, Neolithic time periods were also discovered. Elliptical rock grooves with a number of abrasion marks on the granite rock hills and boulders with colour variation, ranging from dark to lightly-coloured were also seen.The co-ordinates of the finding were N 17°34’ 54.93’’, E 78°27’ 45.13’, near the pond named ‘Eela’ in Medchal mandal, Ranga Reddy district.
Dr Rajan, a professor in Department of History, Pondicherry University, said, “The cultural transformation from food gathering to food production is considered a revolution in human history that happened during the Neolithic times. These tools represent the beginning of agricultural production in South India that took place about 5,000 years ago.”
Based on the above findings, he deduces the time period of the sites occupied by prehistoric people might be approximately around Upper Paleolithic (35,000 years from present) to the Neolithic (40,000 years from present). There is a need to do proper scientific work on these sites as well as surrounding areas of the village, he adds.
Sai Krishna is seeking the help of Archaeological Survey of India, State Archaeology Department, Government of India, State Government to come forward to safeguard the sites by conserving in the form of heritage sites, as they have huge potential in knowing more about the pre and protohistoric past of Telangana.