Konkan Geoglyphs

The Konkan Geoglyphs are found across approximately 1,500 sites spread along the laterite plateaus of Maharashtra's Konkan coast, primarily in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. Key sites include Kasheli, Devache Gothane, and Rundhe Tali, where the petroglyphs are carved directly into the flat lateritic rock surfaces. UNESCO inscribed these geoglyphs to its tentative World Heritage list in 2022.

The Konkan Geoglyphs are estimated to date from around 10,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE, placing them in the Mesolithic to early Iron Age periods, though precise dating remains challenging. They were largely unknown to the outside world until the late 1990s and early 2000s, when researchers Tejas Garge and Sudhir Risbood began systematically documenting them. The sheer scale and artistic sophistication of the petroglyphs have made them one of India's most significant recent archaeological discoveries.

The Konkan Geoglyphs depict a wide variety of animals including elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers, deer, monkeys, fish, and birds, as well as human figures and abstract geometric designs. Some depict species like rhinoceroses that are no longer found in the region, indicating a significantly different climate when the petroglyphs were created. The largest figures, including some elephants, measure up to 20 feet across.

The Konkan Geoglyphs were created by pecking or carving into the hard laterite rock that forms the plateaus along the Konkan coast, using stone tools to remove the surface patina and expose the lighter rock beneath. The flat, exposed laterite surfaces preserved the petroglyphs for thousands of years because laterite is highly resistant to erosion. However, modern threats include encroachment, mining, and vegetation growth that obscure the rock carvings.