E-Paper
SC protects stone carvings at Aravalli, seeks Haryana’s response
The Supreme Court has directed the Haryana government to protect an Aravalli site where the ASI is studying stone carvings from the paleolithic era.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Haryana government to ensure that no damage is caused at the Aravalli site where the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has set up a team to study paleolithic era stone carvings and determine its antiquity through carbon dating.
A bench headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul passed the order on November 7 after a news report regarding ASI team’s visit to the site in question was brought to the Court’s notice by senior advocate ADN Rao, assisting the Court as amicus curiae in the Aravalli mining matter case.
Rao informed the Court that the news report filed in July indicated that the site in question falls in Mangar and Kot villages in Haryana’s Faridabad district. He further informed that a five-member team of ASI will carry out carbon dating of the ancient stone carvings believed to be from the upper paleolithic era. The upper paleolithic age began around 40,000 years ago and lasted till around 10,000 years ago.
Rao urged the Court to pass necessary orders to protect the site and seek response from the Haryana government.
The bench, also comprising justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, said, “This area may require protection” as it issued notice to the Haryana government seeking response. Posting the matter for January 9, the bench said, “The state of Haryana will file a response in this behalf and ensure that if the news report is correct, no damage is caused in the area.”
This is not the first time that this site has attracted the attention of archaeologists and historians. In 2021, cave paintings were discovered from Mangar in the Aravalli range. At that time, the state museum and archaeology department claimed the discovery to be one of the oldest cave arts in the country and sent a fact-finding team to the area.
These caves are situated in the mountain ranges of Aravalli just outside the national capital on the stretch connecting Gurugram and Faridabad. The Mangar Bani, a patch of primary forest in the region, is situated near to this site.
While tools from the Stone Age have been discovered in this region earlier, the discovery of rock art and cave paintings in 2021 was believed to be the first from the Aravalli range. The cave paintings discovered so far comprise images of human figurines, animals, foliage, besides rock art.
The ASI has been active in this region, which spans nearly 5,000 hectares. In 1986, a paleolithic site was discovered at Anangpur in Faridabad which led to further excavations in the region by ASI. As regards the present findings, the ASI team will be carrying out scientific experiments to ascertain the age of rocks. Experts suggest that in such sites, age of rocks can be ascertained by studying pigments which contain organic material that can be dated.
