Experts: Edakkal's not far from Indus
Eminent historian MGS Narayanan said that the importance lay in the fact that this hinted at a possible cultural transaction.
Kozhikode: Do the Edakkal caves in Wayanad have some links with the Indus Valley civilisation? Prominent historians have called for more study to establish the possible links as many symbols unique to the civilisation were found from Edakkal during a recent excavation. One symbol was identified a few years back and later many more were found, say experts. This is significant as there were not many pieces of evidence for the spread of the civilisation to the south beyond Gujarat, it is pointed out.
Among the symbols, ‘a man with a jar cup’ is unique to Indus Valley. Historian M.R. Raghava Warrier told Deccan Chronicle that though the remnants were first identified during one of his visits to the excavation site in 2009, more such symbols were identified later. “But it will take time to interpret the background in which the symbols were found and the era in which the inter-cultural exchanges took place,” he said.
“It is true that very few such symbols were found in archaeological sites in South India, but here I have counted myself more than a dozen,” he said. The symbols are different from that of the rock engravings at Edakkal--may be the aftermath of migrations in the early stages of human history, it is pointed out. Eminent historian MGS Narayanan said that the importance lay in the fact that this hinted at a possible cultural transaction. “Efforts to decipher the symbols are yet to be taken,” he said and added, “we have to wait for more such pieces of evidence before arriving at conclusions.”
The origin of the Edakkal engravings, which are in the custody of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), dates back to 6000 BC, according to historians. It was in 1894 that Fred Fawcett, then police superintendent of Malabar, discovered the Neolithic habitat of cavemen in the wilderness of the district during one of his hunting expeditions. A detailed study published by him in ‘Indian Antiquary’ is the only one available on the pictorial engravings till date. The Indus Valley civilisation was a bronze age civilisation (3,300—1,300 BCE; mature period 2,600-1,900 BCE) mainly in the northwestern regions of South Asia, extending from northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India.