A rock bruising of a stag and a man dating back to the Neolithic period was found in the Gundala-Veerlavagu valley on the outskirts of Koppunuru village of Macharla mandal in Palnadu district. The art dates back to around 6,000 years, said archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation E. Sivanagireddy.
Mr. Sivanagireddy said that they discovered the rock art during a survey undertaken in and around Koppunuru-Gundala as a part of a heritage awareness campaign titled ‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity’. Ruins of a Vaishnavite temple dating back to the Kakatiya period (13th Century CE) were also found on the right side of Veerula Vagu (a canal).
Veerula Vagu is a deep and a narrow gorge with a good number of prehistoric rock shelters. At a distance of 1 km from the ruins of the temple towards Koppunuru village, a rock bruising of a stag measuring 20 cm in length and 15 cm in height delineated on the cliff of a rock shelter at a height of 10 metre was spotted, he said.
There is another rock bruising of a human figure on the top of it. Both the figures were executed in stick-type in the form of the stag and human figures, by hitting continuously with the stone tools and implements by the Neolithic folk during their stay in the seasonable camps. Mr. Sivanagireddy noticed hand prints executed with white pigment belonging to the Iron Age, a little away from the site where the rock bruising was found.
A few megalithic burials called cairn circles dating back to around 1,000 BCE were also found in agricultural fields, he added. Remains of bricks (59 cm x 29 cm x 7 cm) and pot sherds called redware of the Satavahana era (1st Ccentury CE) were also found.
