Pithoragarh, Jan 18 (PTI) Rock paintings, which could be four to six thousand years old, have been discovered in a pre-historic cave in Berinag sub-division of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district, an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official said.
Eleven human figures, both men and women, can be seen in the cave paintings, the official said.
“The rock paintings seem over four to six thousands years old like the ones discovered in the Lakhu Udiyar pre-historic caves near Almora in the year 1965,” regional archaeological officer in Almora Chandra Singh Chauhan said.
This is the first cave with rock paintings to be found in Pithoragarh district, he said.
“Nine such caves in Almora, one in Nainital and three in Garhwal region have been found earlier. They bear testimony to the presence of humans in the Himalayan region in pre-historic times,”Chauhan said.
Chauhan said he has received pictures of the rock paintings in the newly discovered cave and will soon visit it to gather more information about them.
The cave and the paintings on its walls were discovered by Tarun Mehra, a young adventure tourism entrepreneur.
During a rock climbing expedition, Mehra and his team saw a tunnel-like structure and went inside it out of curiosity.
“When we went inside the cave after discovering it on a hill near PG college Berinag, we were surprised to see rock paintings on its walls in various colours,” Mehra said.
A cup mark has also been spotted some 20 feet up the hill, he said. A wild animal has also been depicted below the paintings of the 11 humans on the wall, Mehra said.
“Presence of wide space inside the cave also indicates that it was used by pre-historic human groups as their habitation, he said. PTI COR ALM SKY SKY SKY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.