Rayagada: Traces of an ancient civilization have been found on the outskirts of this town. Three independent researchers – Lokesh Durga, a PhD student of History department in Delhi University, his associate researchers Damayanti Bag and Pratap Kumar Biswal – carried out in-depth investigations in the area and discovered two ancient caves and recovered some stone tools from there. Lokesh asserted that an ancient civilisation had once flourished along the Nagavali river basin hundreds of centuries ago. The research team scouted the area and in the initial phase. They stumbled upon many stone-carved tools on the Dumaguda hill and later found two caves nearby. Given the shape and style of carving of the stone tools, it appeared they belonged to Paleolithic Era or the Old Stone Age, said Lokesh. A research article on this discovery was published in quarterly journal of the ‘Mythic Society’, Bangalore.
The research team first located a cave 30 metres away from the hill top and another one just 200 metres away. They also found a stone platform linking the two caves. Among the tools discovered were axes, chisels and blades. These were made from granite, khondalite and quartzite stones. “This was just the primary research phase. It is too early to comment whether ancient civilisation existed in this area. The tools need carbon dating to ascertain their age,” said Lokesh. The team has found a rock of unusual shape near the banks of Khanjabati river, 20km away from Rayagada town. The researchers asserted that such a shape could have only been given by human beings who used to live there many centuries ago. They also said that there are several caves in the areas around this town. However, most of them have suffered damages due to infrastructure development. They said the entire area needs to be protected for historical purposes and can also be developed as a tourist spot in future.
