• Indrani Chattopadhyaya

Abstract: An attempt has been made in this paper to understand adapataions of humankind in the Vindhyas and the Ganga valley, India, from late prehistoric times through to present times against unfavourable conditions, such as palaeoclimatic fluctuations and socio-political forces. Human mobility and artistic activities have been chosen as two themes to shed light on the problem. Using combined archaeological and geomorphological evidence it has been argued, first, that the late prehistoric communities of the Vindhyan hills and plateau used mobility as a strategy to face the environmental challenges arising out of the terminal Pleistocene aridity and cold conditions and opted through information sharing for periodic migrations to the adjacent Gangetic planes during the Epi-palaeolithic and Mesolithic times. Secondly, how art, having an evolutionary adaptive significance through communication in a different language, is portrayed in prehistoric rock paintings. Author’s prehistoric and ethnographic surveys in the Sonbhadra District of Uttar Pradesh shows some striking ‘similarities’ between prehistoric painting motifs and the contemporary painted decorative motifs in the houses of Kol tribes. Finally, some explanations, by way of a hypothesis for further testing, are provided in support of the above observation.

Adaptation, Vindhyas and Ganga Valley, mobolity, art forms, ethno-archaeology,

"Some Aspects of Prehistoric Adapations in the Vindhyas and the Central Ganga Valley, India.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no.249-261, May-2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1905139.pdf

"Some Aspects of Prehistoric Adapations in the Vindhyas and the Central Ganga Valley, India.", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 5, page no. pp249-261, May-2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1905139.pdf