The mysterious petroglyphs were first reported by Danish archaeologist Peter Glob. Beginning in 1961, a Danish archaeological mission studied Al Jassasiya but could not determine the date or culture of the people who created the petroglyphs at the site. Habitation of Qatar dates back 50,000 years, and ruins of dwellings containing both local and foreign pottery were found nearby which dated to the 15th century BC.
At this time, Qatar is believed to have been trading with the Kassite Babylonians, and engaging in shellfish dye production. However, while some researchers have argued the carvings at Al Jassasiya are much older, others have highlighted the softness of the rocks on the outcrops that can be shaped quite easily. This argument suggests that the carvings were made more recently.
The researchers documented around 900 petroglyphs in Al Jassasiya, portraying a wide array of subjects ranging from abstract shapes to animals including ostriches and scorpions and ships. The designs included 71 patterns in daisy shapes composed of 9 small holes – some have speculated these were part of a game called ‘ailah’. Also identified were the common cup shapes, although the most unusual feature were the thick-finned fish fossils.
Today, the Qatari authorities are consulting experts for further understanding of Al Jassasiya. You can visit without charge – do not be put off by the fenced-off site as there are gates to enter through. Once inside, there are no obvious signs but the petroglyphs are located along the ridge following the main road.
Try for yourself to decipher what the patterns of the carvings mean: do you think they were made for storing pearls, traded from the nearby sea port, or are you more convinced that these are records, telling the story of the mysterious people who inhabited the jebel thousands of years ago?
Accessible by car, drive north of Doha on the Al Shamal Road, exiting at Ras Laffan. Follow the road for 8km before turning left and Al Jassasiya is 3km down the track. You can park at the site.
]]>Prehistoric tribes living in the Dordogne Valley first settled in the mouth of Font-de-Gaume around 25,000 BC. The cave was inhabited sporadically for the next several thousand years. However, after the original prehistoric inhabitants left, the cave was forgotten until the nineteenth century when local people again began to visit the cave again.
The paintings, which date from around 17,000 BC (during the Magdalenian period) were discovered by Denis Peyrony, a local schoolmaster, on 12 September 1901. The cave had been known to the general public before this, but the significance of the paintings had not been recognised.
As of 2007, Font-de-Gaume was the only site in France with 180 polychrome cave paintings that is still open to the public. From horses to reindeer and bison, the paintings at Grotte de Font de Gaume are truly fascinating.
One of the finest depictions of European Palaeolithic art can be seen in Font de Gaume. This is the painting of a male reindeer bending forward, licking the forehead of a smaller, female reindeer. The tongue is engraved, and can only be seen with oblique light. Note that some ‘paintings’ are eighteenth century rather than prehistoric, owing to previous visitors.
Grotte de Font de Gaume is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site protecting the Vezere Valley and its many prehistoric caves.
Note that for conservation reasons there are only 78 tickets for a guided tour of Font de Gaume each day, so prior to travelling it is recommended that you make a reservation.
Grotte de Font-de-Gaume is located near to the town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil in the Dordogne départment of south-west France. The address is 4 avenue des Grottes, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil France. The nearest train station is Gare des Eyzies.
]]>Like those images and paintings in Grotte de Font de Gaume, the art in the cave of Les Combarelles was discovered by archaeologists in September 1901. Radiocarbon dating of bones found in the cave indicated that the cave was inhabited by Cro-Magnon people roughly 12,000 years go.
During that period, these people produced hundreds of drawings on the sandy cave walls, traces of dye suggesting the engraved drawings were originally coloured.
There are about 600 individual images in this cave, of which 245 are animals (horses, bison, mammoth, reindeer and stags, bears, and lions – there is even a single rhinoceros).
The rest of the images include numerous geometric patterns, and a number of depictions of humans – some interesting incised outlines of human heads, prehistoric portraits if you like, and some very stylized images of the female body which often clearly depict breasts which allow for identity of the gender.
Grotte des Combarelles forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the painted caves of the Vezere Valley.
The cave is about 1.5 kms outside of the town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac on the Avenue des Grottes, and is well sign-posted. The nearest train station is Gare des Eyzies.
]]>The Aboriginal people who lived in this area were originally hunter-gathers who used temporary dwellings such as stringy-bark and paperbark shelters near billabongs, wet-season huts built on stilts on the floodplains, and rock shelters in the stone country.
When non-Aboriginal people arrived in the Kakadu area, the Aboriginal population decreased markedly. About 2,000 people lived in the Kakadu area before the arrival of non-Aboriginal people. Now there are about 500 Aboriginal people living in 18 outstations dotted throughout the park.
Painted on sandstone blocks by the tribes who have inhabited Kakadu over the centuries, the rock art tells the story of their lives, including hunting imagery and paintings relating to magic and sorcery.
Kakadu covers almost 20,000 square kilometres and is a place of enormous ecological and biological diversity. Kakadu is considered a living cultural landscape. The traditional owners Bininj Mungguy have lived on and cared for the land. Their deep spiritual connection to the land dates back to the Creation and has always been an important part of the Kakadu story.
The extraordinary natural beauty and ancient cultural heritage of this land was recognised internationally in 1981 when it was first inscribed on the World Heritage list.
Due to the Kakadu National Park’s enormous size, organisation is key when visiting. The park’s website has some suggested itineraries tailored to each season and the amount of time you plan to spend there. There are also ranger guided tours available in the dry season.
There are three main areas of rock art, namely the Ubirr, Nourlangie and Nanguluwur sites, each of which can be reached via walking trails from the car park. The walks take approximately 1-1.5 hours to complete.
The Bowali Visitors Centre is probably the best place to start a visit to Kakadu. Not only does it have all of the information about tours and activities, but it also houses some aboriginal exhibits at the Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre.
Located 240 kilometres east of Darwin in Australia’s tropical north, Kakadu National Park is Australia’s largest terrestrial national park. The easiest way to get to Kakadu is by coach or by car from Darwin or Katherine. You will need a vehicle to get around the park, or you can join a coach or 4WD tour.
]]>Carved in a single hill of basalt known as Krishnagiri (meaning ‘black mountain’ in Sanskrit), a total of 109 caves were carved from the dense basalt stone of the hillside – meaning that the Kanheri site features largest number of caves carved in to a single hill.
Most of the caves were used as living quarters or monasteries by the monks who created them. Known as Viharas or Chaityas, some of the larger caves were carved for collective prayer. The monks also carved cisterns within the site to store water for daily usage while a huge Chaitya window was also created to provide natural light.
The walls of many of the Kanheri Caves are sculpted with huge images and statues, including one of a standing Buddha and another image of Bodhisattva, which was carved somewhere around 5th to 6th centuries AD. It is believed that these caves represent some of the earliest evidence of Buddhism in India, and this is why the Kanheri Caves are well known as an important Buddhist site.
Originally the Kanheri Caves site would have been connected with the rest of the Buddhist community in the area, such as the port of Sopara, Paithan, Nasik, Kalyan and Ujjain. The Kanheri site itself has been known by a number of names through the ages, including Krishnagiri, Kanhagiri and Kanhasela. During the eras of the Maurya and Kushan Empire, Kanheri was used as a university centre.
The caves are a popular attraction and it’s easy to spend several hours exploring fully. Some of the walking is quite steep, so it’s worth bringing comfortable / sturdy footwear and photographing or taking a map with you so you can plan a route as the caves can be something of a labyrinth.
The caves are located in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, about 20km north of Mumbai. Buses and tuktuks are the best way of getting there from the city.
]]>The Rouffignac caves has been known of since the fifteenth century, when clay was extracted from it. Writes and travellers from centuries ago commented in their memoirs about the caves and the fascinating images on the walls inside them.
In the late 1940’s, a group of cavers explored the galleries and noticed several images, but they didn’t realise these images were Palaeolithic. On 26 June 1956, Romain Robert, Louis-René Nougier, with Charles and Louis Plassard visited the cave and realised the archaeological value of the site. Then abbé Henri Breuil authenticated the images as Palaeolithic works on 17 July 1956.
It is thought that prehistoric man decorated the walls some 15,000 years ago, and that before this time, the caves were a hibernation spot for bears, which left their marks at the site in the forms of gouges and nests. Prehistoric artists drew and engraved 260 representations of bison, horses, ibexes and woolly rhinoceroses, as well as no fewer than 160 mammoths.
The Rouffignac caves are home to over a hundred engravings and line-drawings of mammoths earning it the nickname of the “cave of a hundred mammoths”. Representations of mammoths are considered to be quite rare in prehistoric art with depictions of bison and horses remaining much more common. There are drawing of these animals to – roughly 100 or so.
Much of this historic site can be accessed via an electric train. The train stops at various points along the cave for visitors to get off and admire close up the drawings and engravings. The highlight is the “Great Ceiling” decorated with 65 animal figures. As well as mammoths there are horses, bison and ibex and even a rhinoceros, very rare in pre-historic art.
Another highlight is the ten mammoths frieze, which as its name suggests is a line of ten mammoths. The ‘statue’ outside is a representation of one of the best individual engravings – that of an old mammoth with very long tusks.
The Rouffignac Caves form part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the cave paintings of the Vézère Valley.
The French cave of Rouffignac cave is located in the Dordogne near Rouffignac-Saint-Cernin-de-Reillac and Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. This extensive cave network is situated on a forested limestone plateau, with its three entrances in the Labinche valley. The entrance today is almost certainly the one used during the Palaeolithic.
The nearest train staion to the town of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac is Gare des Eyzies, roughly a 5 to 6 hour train journey away from Paris.
]]>With at least 350 distinct groups of rock art comprising of hundreds of individual carvings, Tanum Rock Carvings are one of the most fascinating collections of its type in Europe and as such, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.
The carvings date from around 1700 BC and 500 BC and depict scenes from the lives of those who lived in the area during this period, including scenes of ships, hunting and domestic life. During the Scandinavian Bronze and Iron Ages, people were good craftsmen with the ability to travel extensively by water. Many of the carvings show boats carrying around a dozen passengers, while also depicting carts or wagons.
The first records of the images were made in 1627 when a Norwegian doctor made ink drawings of the carving. A number of excavations and recordings continued throughout the 19th century and into the 20th century, study focused on the meaning of the drawings, confirming they were from the Bronze Age.
The Tanum Rock Carvings are spread out over a wide area and within the heritage area there are around 600 rock carvings boasting tens of thousands of images. Within this number, 4 have parking areas, footpaths and information boards: Vitlycke, Aspeberget, Litsleby – adapted for wheelchair users and has a tactile information panel – and Fossum.
A good place to start your exploration is at the Vitlycke Museum, where you can find further information and guides of the rock carvings in the area. The panel at Vitlycke lies 200 metres from the museum and is the most famous carving: the Bridal Couple or ‘Holy Wedding’.
Around the large human figure carved at Litsleby is a wooden walkway, allowing you to see the 2.3 metre-tall ‘Spear God’ in its full splendour. After exploring the numerous carvings, you can stop at Skräddö – a resting place and exhibition that tells you about travelling practices and the landscapes history relating to the prehistoric carvings.
Open 24 hours a day, from Gothenburg the Tanum Rock Carvings are a 1 hour and 45 minute drive via the E6, and there is plenty of parking at the above-mentioned carving sites.
Vitlycke can also be reached by public transport: from Trollhättan get the train to Västtågen and then the bus 870 to Vitlycke.
]]>The Dambulla Cave Temple is also known as the Golden Temple of Dambulla. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in the country, with the rock towering 160m over the surrounding plains. Inhabited since prehistoric times, it was in the 3rd century BC that a monastery was initially constructed at Dambulla.
In the 1st century AD, the caves began to be transformed into shrines, which continued into the 18th century. Most of the building work was carried out during the Anuradhapura (1st century BC to 993 AD) and Polonnaruwa times (1073 to 1250 AD).
During the 18th century, the temples were restored and painted by the Kingdom of Kandy. These paintings cover the the rock ceilings, which are decorated with intricate religious images which follow the contours of the rock.
In 1938, the architecture was embellished with gabled entrances and arched colonnades.
There are over 80 documented caves in the surrounding area; however, major attractions are spread over 5 caves, which contain statues and paintings. The largest and grandest of the caves is the second one, known as Maharaja Vihara.
Since 1991, the Dambulla Cave Temple has been a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Today, the Dambulla cave monastery is still functional, and remains the best-preserved ancient edifice in Sri Lanka. It is accessible via the gentle slope of the Dambulla Rock, which offers a panoramic view of the surrounding flatlands, which includes the rock fortress Sigiriya.
It is recommended that you tour the caves and surrounding area with a guide in order to fully immerse yourself in the site’s incredible and extensive history.
From the centre of Dambulla, the cave temple is a half an hour walk via the Kandy Rd/Kandy – Jaffna Hwy/A9 roads. There is also a bus service that takes around 4 minutes from the centre, and by car it takes around the same time via the same roads.
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