SOUTH
During a hunting trip to Wayanad high ranges in Kerala 127 years back, Fred- Fawcett, the then superintendent of police of the Malabar District, stumbled upon a stone chisel in a coffee plantation.
Further explorations revealed a treasure trove of Neolithic relics and rock art on the walls of an intricate cave nearby. The rock engravings in the Edakkal Caves now attracts tourists and enthusiasts in prehistory worldwide.
More than a century after Fawcett published an article on the caves in the journal 'Indian Antiquary,' a researcher has discovered another Neolithic site on the banks of a lake in Wayanad. Writer and researcher OK Joshnny, who discovered the Neolithic engravings found that the engravings resembled that of Edakkal. Human figures and mysterious symbols are intertwined in these prehistoric rock art.
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But the most intriguing part is that the neolithic rock art is seen on isolated rocks. The location and the surrounding rocky areas are under the threat of quarry mafia. It is feared that the granite mining in the hills must have destroyed the valuable relics of the Neolithic sites forever.
This is not the first instance in which prehistoric sites are destroyed/ threatened, thanks to unmindful mining. The prehistory enthusiasts of Kannur, a neighbouring district, used to raise voice against the encroachments into the laterite hills with megalithic sites. But their protest unfortunately fall on deaf ears.