‘3,000-year-old Iron Age’ Geoglyph Circle Discovered in Telangana

Context- A geoglyph circle said to be 3000 years old was recently discovered in Telangana.

Key Highlights 

• Location: The geoglyph was found on the outskirts of Mudichu Thalapalli in the Medchal-Malkajgiri district of Telangana. 
• Features: Carved into a low granite hill, the geoglyph is 7.5 meters in diameter and has a perfect round shape. 
  • There is a 30 centimeter wide border around the circle and two triangles inside the circle. 
• Period: The geoglyph has been dated  to the Iron Age, precisely around 1000 BC. 
• Significance: Archaeologists have suggested that this circle could have served as a model for megalithic communities in the design of circular tombs. 
• The newly discovered geoglyph shows the artistic skills and etching techniques of the Iron Age inhabitants of Telangana 
• Archaeologists termed it as the first of its kind find in Telangana.  Tourism Potential: 
  • The site could be developed as an archaeological attraction comparable to the famous Konkan petroglyphs of the Ratnagiri belt in Maharashtra.  
  • The place is just 30-40 km from Hyderabad and Secunderabad, so it is easily accessible for tourists.  

What is a geoglyph? 

• A geoglyph is a work of art  created by placing or moving objects on the landscape. 
• These objects are usually stones or earth.
• These are intentionally man-made designs. 
•  They are usually made by removing or cleaning sand or stones, or sometimes by adding stones.  
  • It creates contrast between the figure and the ground, which improves visibility. 

Discovery of rock shelters and groves 

• The team also identified several grooves that they believe date back to  the Neolithic period,  4000 BC. and which are five meters away from the geoglyph. 
• In addition, they found three prehistoric rock shelters decorated with bulls, deer, piglets and masked human figures within one kilometer of the geoglyph spot. 
• According to the group, these works of art originate from the Mesolithic and Megalithic periods.  

Prehistoric period in India

• Information: The colonization of India by humans spans at least half a million years and is divided into two major periods viz. 
  • Prehistoric (before the birth of writing) and Historical (after writing). 
• The prehistoric era is further divided into the stone, bronze and iron ages.  The Stone Age is further divided into Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.

Stone Age: 

• As the name suggests,  technology during these periods was mostly based on stone. 
• Economically, the Paleolithic and Mesolithic represented a nomadic, hunting and gathering way of life.  
• The Neolithic represented a well-established, food-producing way of life. 
• Later, copper was introduced as a new material and this period was called the Chalcolithic period. 
• Agriculture: The invention of agriculture, which occurred approximately 8,000 years ago, caused dramatic changes in the economy, technology, and demography of human communities. 
• During the hunting-gathering phase, the habitat of humans was mostly in hilly, rocky and forested areas where there were abundant natural plant and animal food sources. 
  • With the introduction of agriculture, it moved to flood plains with fertile soil and year-round water availability. 

Bronze Age: 

• The first urbanization took place during the Bronze Age in the arid and semi-arid region of northwestern India in the valleys of the Indus and Saraswati rivers, the latter represented by the now dry Ghaggar-Hakra basin. 
• This urbanization is known as the Indus or Harappa Civilization, which flourished between 3500 and 1500 BC. 
•  Elsewhere in India, Neolithic and Chalcolithic farmers and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers lived during this period. 

Iron Age: 

• When iron technology was introduced about 3000 years ago, the focus of development shifted eastwards towards the Indo-Gangetic rift and the Ganges valley.  
• The most prominent cultures of that period were Painted Gray Pottery and  Northern Black Polished Ware. 
• Janapadas arose during this period and gave birth to 16 Mahajanapadas.

Source: The Hindu

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