“Did early man really live here?” Taran wondered aloud, keeping an eye on a monkey nearby, which in turn was watching his backpack. Taran was walking up a steel stairway in Edakkal caves. Large boulders, slightly mossy due to rains, lay around and there was a whiff of moist Earth in the air. The family were enjoying some time in Wayanad, Kerala, and had come to explore some caves nearby which had ancient carvings.
“Yes, and we have come to get a glimpse of life 6,000 years ago by looking at their art, specifically the petroglyphs,” said Appa, looking like quite the explorer in his khakis, binoculars and cap.
“What’s pe-tro-glyphs?”A dinosaur?” Asked Taran, imitating a T-Rex.
Appa laughed. “Petroglyphs are carvings on stone; you chip away a layer to reveal a lighter shade of rock. The ones here are from the Stone Age, which means Early Man had already designed tools for such purposes.” They reached the top of Edakkal Caves, which was like boulders jammed together to form a cave. The ticket-seller explained that Edakkal meant “stone stuck in between” in Malayalam and added that local legend said that an arrow fired by Rama had pierced the boulders and caused a fissure.
After navigating some stairs in the crevices, they came to the petroglyphs. “Look Amma, that figure looks like he or she had spiked raised hair. Here you are, not letting me have anything other than a ‘school haircut’,” pointed out Taran.
“I’m sure their mother disapproved too,” smiled Amma.
“Just imagine. We are witnessing evolution first hand,” said Appa. “We had only seen such photos in encyclopaedias and textbooks.”
“What about Wiki … oh! I forgot Google baba was not invented in your time. You are so ancient, Appa!” laughed Taran.
“That may be true in general but, today, alongside these carvings, I am still a baby,” joked Appa.
A horde of school kids came charging in noisily. “Did Early Man know that children from the future will be coming to look at their carvings in droves?”
“Perhaps they did. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing,” smiled Amma. From the top of the hills, the views were stunning.
“No one knew about these carvings till around 1895. Fred Fawcett, who was the region’s Superintendent of Police, discovered it while on a hunting trip. After that, several archaeologists have visited and written about its importance in the study of Neolithic people,” explained Appa.
“Wow, Imagine wandering about and discovering something like this,” said Taran. “Do you think everything that has to be discovered is already discovered, Appa?”
“I am sure there are many wonders in the world yet to be discovered,” replied Appa thoughtfully.
“I hope so, because I want to be an explorer,” declared Taran.
“For starters, let’s explore some of the local snacks, shall we?” laughed Amma as they made their way down the hill.
