LALJAL (Cave near)
22.500000,87.000000
Description
A so-called »cave« (Indo-English Archaeologese) or rock shelter »about 3.2 m in height« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1982-83 / 1985: 104), which was not only understood to face an unidentified direction but also to occur in an unspecified kind of material which possibly consists of laterite or, more likely, of schist (note 1). The site had been suspected but was not proven to have been used as a troglodyte dwelling place of one or the other »early Stone Age man« and woman (note 2) though it yielded animal remains and 149 pieces identified as Upper Palaeolithic stone tools (note 3), of which some were excavated and others collected from the surface. SITUATION: In the valley of the Kasai or Kansai, Kansavati, and Kasay (note 4) and on a hill called »Devapahar« above the left bank of the Tarafeni (note 5) and about 18 km along a road north of the Belpahar Police Station (note 6) in »Midnapur district« (note 7). SITUATION 1991b: »Laljal Cave« (DATTA, A 1991: 24) is near a small village of that name on the left bank of one Tarafeni and about 18 km along a road in an unrecognised direction from a certain Belpahar Police Station. SITUATION 1991b: »Devapahar Cave« (SANT, U 1991: 96) is on a hill of that name (Deva Pahar, God's Hill) above the Tarafani - Kansai valley. SITUATION 1995: »Laljal Cave« (DATTA, A 1995: 75-85, 249, plate 5) in Midnapore district, Jhargram subdivision (note 8), lies 18 km north of Belpahari in the Kasay valley. CAVE DESCRIPTION: »The cave was about 3.2 m in height. A rock painting under the projected roof was also noticed« by S. De, D.K. Roy and B. Samanta of the Department of Archaeology, Government of West Bengal (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1982-83 / 1985: 104). CULTURAL HISTORY -- rock art: A kind of »rock painting under the projected roof was also noticed« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1982-83 / 1985: 104). »The few notices of rock art from Bengal and further east from Manipur are promising, and indicate that finds of rock art here are likely as soon as prehistoric research in these areas is intensified« (NEUMAYER, E 1993: 41). POSITION: Allegedly near (unspecified geodeetic datum probably Everest 1830) N22°45': E86°41' (DATTA, A 1991: 24) or N22°48'08”: E86°41'03' (DATTA, A 1995) but these positions indicate spots which lie about 75 km and 77 km in a direct line approximately WNW from the town of Midnapore (note 9) and thus beyond the limits of the Jhargram Subdivision (note 10) and in the Dalma Range (Puruliya district, Jharkhand State). ARCHAEOLOGY 1984: »No conclusive evidence of occupation of the cave by early man came to light, However, a few flakes and waste flakes of the Late Stone Age, a few potsherds, a piece of conch-shell bangle and a few partly fossilised pieces were collected from the cave« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1981-82 / 1984: 74-75). ARCHAEOLOGY 1985: »The excavation revealed three different layers. Layer (1) yielded iron implements, human bone fragments, charred bone pieces and coarse-brown pot-sherds. Layer (2) yielded broken ring stone and from layer (3) microlithic flakes were collected« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1982-83 / 1985: 104). ARCHAEOLOGY 1991: Archaeological excavation to a depth of 1.07 m yielded a 0.3 m thick cultural assemblage similiar to the one recovered from –>Bhaluk Sonda Cave. The faunal remains represent barking deer (Muntiacus muntiak Zimmermann), Sambar deer (Cervus unicolor Kerr), dog (Canis familiaris Linneaeus), river turtle (Trionyx gangeticus Cuvier), cattle (Bos indicus), etc. (SANT, U 1991: 96).
NOTE 1: Midnapore: »In the extreme north-west corner of the District there is a low ridge, formed of grey and bluish grey micacean schists with bands of a more igneous character. The plains are covered in the north and west by lateritic rocks, which gradually give way in the south and east to the ordinary alluvium of the Gangetic delta. At the surface the laterite invariably contains small rounded fragments of other rocks, and in places these become conglomeratic, pebbles of quartz coated with oxide of iron and rounded fragments of other rocks being frequently formed. Close to Midnapore town, where a section is exposed, more than 50 feet [15.4 m] of solid laterite are seen exposed in large tabular masses upon a soft soapy greyish white and reddish clay, resembling the kaolin clays which result from the decomposition of felspathic rock« (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909, 17: 328). NOTE 2: »No conclusive evidence of occupation of the cave by early man came to light, However, a few flakes and waste flakes of the Late Stone Age, a few potsherds, a piece of conch-shell bangle and a few partly fossilised pieces were collected from the cave« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1981-82 / 1984: 74-75). NOTE 3: »Indian archaeologists placed the ‘Upper Palaeolithic' between the Indian Middle and Late Stone Ages (using the nomenclature decided upon at the first conference on Asian Archaeology in 1961), or Middle Palaeolithic and Mesolithic (using more recent Eurocentric terminology)« (HASLAM, M et al. 2010: 12). For the nomenclature decided upon at the first conference on Asian Archaeology, HASLAM, M et al. (2010: 19 note 100) refer to MURTY, M L K (1979): Recent research on the Upper Palaeolithic phase in India.- Journal of Field Archaeology, 6: 301–320. NOTE 4: The river called Kasay (DATTA, A 1995) or Kansai (SANT, U 1991: 96) and Kansavati (PDF-version, accessed 2015.03.04, of the Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1981-82 / 1984: 74) is the Kasai (AMS sheets NF45-06 and NF45-07; India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 77 E2) or Kasai River N22°09': E087°50' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). NOTE 5: Tarafeni (or so) is neither listed on nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) or in IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 25: 567) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006 index). NOTE 6: Belpahari (or the like) neither listed on nima.mil/geonames (accessed 16.11.2003) or in IMPERIAL GAZETTEER (1907-1909, 25: 67) and in the India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006 index). NOTE 7: Midnapur district (Medinipore, Medinipur, Midnapore) between N21°36': E86°33' and N22°57': E88°11' (Everest 1830, IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909), also positioned at N22°30': E87°30' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003), has been divided into »West Midnapore« and »East Midnapor« (India Road Atlas, Eicher Goodearth 2006: 77). NOTE 8: Jhargram N22°27': E86°59' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) on AMS sheet NF45-06 Jamshedpur (U502 series, 1959 edition) and on India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) map 77 E2) in West Midnapore district. NOTE 9: Midnapur town (Medinipore, Medinipur, Midnapore), town near N22°25': E87°19' (IMPERIAL GAZETTEER 1907-1909) or N22°26': E87°20' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003) on India Road Atlas (Eicher Goodearth 2006) map 77 F2). NOTE 10: Laljal Cave is in the Jhargram Subdivision (DATTA, A 1995) and thus in the vicinity of the town of Jhargram (N22°27': E86°59'), which lies 34 km in a direct line (50 km along the road) due west of Midnapore (N22°25': E87°19').
Documents
Bibliography 07/04/2016History
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 1981-1982 »S. De, D. K. Roy and B. Samanta of the Department of Archaeology, Government of West Bengal, explored the area around Lalja cave in the Kansavati valley. Developed Acheulian handaxes were collected from the secondary laterite deposit lying in the vicinity of villages Belpahari and Ghagri. A scraper bearing signs of retouching, a punch-lie tool, waste flakes and a broken ring-stone were picked up from Domgar, 3 km to the south-west of Belpahari. One arrow-head of Late Stone Age and two points of Middle Stone Age were collected from a site near the confluence of the Tarafeni in the neighbourhood of Devapahar. Beldiha near Kuthi Ghat and Devapahar at Laljal, about 6 km from Tarafeni was explored with a few to ascertaining if the cave at Laljal had ever been used by the Stone Age man …« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1981-82 / 1984: 74-75). 1982-1983: »S. De, D.K. Roy and B. Samanta of the Department of Archaeology, Government of West Bengal, carried out small-scale excavation of a cave with a view to ascertaining the potentiality of the site« (Indian Archaeology: A Review [IAR] 1982-83 / 1985: 104).
Caves nearby
| Distance (km) | Name | Length (m) | Depth (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55.0 | KHATRA (Caves at) | ||
| 98.0 | BHALUK SONDA CAVE | ||
| 133.7 | JAMURIA COLLIERY | ||
| 140.9 | Australia Stall Cave Impression | ||
| 265.1 | VASUPUJYA BIL | ||
| 304.2 | MOOTTEE JHURNA (Cave at) | ||
| 306.8 | PATARGHAT CAVES | ||
| 321.2 | MANIHARI PERFORATED MASS | ||
| 425.3 | KENDRAKONA UNDERGROUND BUNKERS |