In the Indian state of Maharashtra, archaeologists have discovered about 400 rock paintings, the so-called petroglyphs.
It is not yet known when they were created and by what civilization. But some scientists claim that they are more than 10 thousand years old (!).
According to the BBC, the petroglyphs depict various patterns, as well as people and animals. The most surprising thing is that some of these animals are not typical for India of this region or in general, but they are common in Africa.
For example, one of the stones probably shows a hippopotamus, but the last Indian hippos died out millions of years ago. Also among the petroglyphs there is an image of a rhinoceros, but rhinos have never been found in these places in India, and the rhino is also possibly African.
These facts speak in favor of the fact that the mysterious civilization that left these amazingly detailed drawings probably arrived in India from Africa.
Some of the petroglyphs are particularly unusual. For example, what is shown in the figure below, which looks like a large gear?
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Petroglyphs have been found in the Ratnagiri and Rajapur regions. It is reported that, by some miracle, until recently, they did not come across the eyes of any of the archaeologists. Perhaps the reason is that the drawings were barely visible on the surface due to a thick layer of dirt covering them.
When at last someone noticed the drawings and began to clear them, archaeologists were amazed at the quality of the images and their originality and beauty. According to some researchers, these are probably the oldest petroglyphs found around the world.
Petroglyphs have been found near 52 small villages, although the original information was about five villages. After examining the finds, scientists concluded that the culture that created the petroglyphs did not know agriculture, but were hunter-gatherers. And these hunters perfectly knew the animals and marine life around them.
Most of the petroglyphs show animals and fish that still live in these places, but the presence of animals similar to the inhabitants of Africa has not yet received a clear scientific explanation. Did these people come from Africa? Or maybe these animals lived here at that time, but we do not know anything about it yet?
At the moment, the state government has allocated additional money to study the finds and hopes that more details will be obtained soon.