Archaeologists unearth prehistoric tools in NCR's only primary forest

Archaeologists and environmental researchers carrying out work in the Mangar region of the Aravallis have said that they found a variety of prehistoric tools in Mangar from the Lower Palaeolithic age, which effectively could be holding clues to prehistoric ways of life.

- Jayashree Nandi

MANGAR, FARIDABAD: Archaeologists and environmental researchers carrying out work in the Mangar region of the Aravallis have said that they found a variety of prehistoric tools in Mangar from the Lower Palaeolithic age, which effectively could be holding clues to prehistoric ways of life.

Mangar Bani is a Palaeolithic archaeological site and sacred grove hill forest perched next to the Mangar village on the Delhi-Haryana border. According to people aware of the matter, the tools provide clues to the daily lives of the hunter-gatherer populations characterised by the occurrence of handaxes and cleavers belonging to the Acheulian (Lower Palaeolithic) cultural phase, which existed around 200,000 to 500,000 years ago. Close to 200 objects and artefacts have been found so far, they said.

HT first reported on July 14, 2021 that archaeologists have discovered cave paintings in a rocky and forested corner of Haryana, not far from the national capital, that they believe belong to the Upper Palaeolithic age.

HT reported last week that Mangar, comprising the village, and the sacred grove amid a rocky and hilly terrain, spread over 4,262 acres (of which 3,810 acres is the hill area), is among the most biodiversity-rich areas of the Aravallis in the NCR.

The researchers have been carrying out surface exploration work in the region for a week.

Mangar Bani (677.12 acres) is NCR's most sacred grove, and possibly the only patch of primary forest in the region. It is also home to around 240 species of birds and 15 species of mammals including leopards and hyenas.