The stone age remainings in Kerala is pretty interesting artefacts to all archaeologists in the world. The reality is still the research on it didn't done properly and the full history of ancient civilization in Kerala is unknown. Some of the sites like Edakkal Caves, Muniyaras or dolmens in Marayur are preserved well here in Kerala for tourism purpose only. See the slide show of these interesting spots in Kerala.

1. ANCIENT CAVES IN KERALA

2. There are two locations in Kerala are famous for
Stone-age caves….
1. Edakkal Caves
2. Marayur – Megalithic Dolmens and Rock
Painting Sites

3. 1:EDAKKAL CAVES, WAYANAD
The Edakkal caves situated about 4,000 feet above sea level on the Ambukuthi hillock in Wayand. These
are not technically caves, but rather a cleft or rift approximately 96 feet (29 m) by 22 feet (6.7 m), a 30foot-deep (9.1 m) fissure caused by a piece of rock splitting away from the main body. On one side of the
cleft is a rock weighing several tons that covers the cleft to form the 'roof' of the cave. The carvings are of
human and animal figures, tools used by humans and of symbols yet to be deciphered, suggesting the
presence of a prehistoric settlement.

4. The caves contain drawings that range over periods from as early as 5000 BC to 1000 BC. The
youngest group of paintings have been in the news for a possible connection to the Indus
Valley Civilization.

5. Notes about Edakkal Cave

6. Tourists in Edakkal Cave

7. Historian M.R. Raghava
Varier of the Kerala state
archaeology
department
identified a sign “a man
with jar cup” that is the
most distinct motif of the
Indus valley civilization.

8. The identified 429 signs, "a man with jar cup", a symbol unique to the Indus
civilisation and other compound letters testified to remnants of the Harappan
culture, spanning from 2300 BC to 1700 BC have been found in this cave. The ‘jar’ is
more or less same as those in Indus ligature. But the human figure is a little
different.

9. Roof of the Cave

10. Fred Fawcett was a Superintendent of Police who served British government in
Kozhikode. He had gone to Wayanad on an invitation from Colin MacKinzie, a planter
who wanted him to join him on a hunting expedition. The planter showed him rock
engraving in a cave and some very old implements which were found in his estate in
1890. They were situated on the western side of Ambukuthimala hill twelve
kilometres south-west of the town of Sultan’s Battery in the Wayanad District of
Kerala on an ancient route connecting the high ranges of Mysore to the ports of
Malabar.

11. Entrance to Edakkal Cave

12. Exit from the Edakkal Cave

13. Inside Edakkal Cave

14. Rock Carvings on the Wall of Cave

15. Climb to Edakkal Cave Site

16. Trekking to Edakkal Cave Site is really adventurous

17. Hill top view from Edakkal Cave Site, Marvelous!!!

18. 2: Marayur – Megalithic Dolmens and Rock Paintings
Marayur claims to be a part of a Stone Age civilization that is as old as 10,000 B.C. It is also
home to a later period of large-scale dolmen-building. The land and its unique
dolmens, caves, rock edicts and engravings declare its rich heritage.

19. People migrated from Tamil Nadu to this area when the Madurai king Thirumalainaicker was defeated by
Tippu Sultan, in the eighteenth century CE. Migrated people created five villages which are Kanthalloor,
Keezhanthur, Karayur, Marayur and Kottakudi. These villages were called as ‘Anju nadu, literally meaning
“five lands”. However these place names are very old and aboriginal tribes still live in these villages, with
their unique customs.

20. Megalithic Dolmens, also called Muniyaras, these dolmens belong to the Iron Age. These
dolmenoids were burial chambers made of four stones placed on edge and covered by a fifth
stone called the cap stone.

21. Some of these Dolmenoids contain several burial chambers, while others have a quadrangle
scooped out in laterite and lined on the sides with granite slabs. These are also covered with
cap stones.

22. The earthen burial urns (nannangady) unearthed from Dolmens.

23. Ancient rock paintings
are part of Marayur
heritage at Attala,
Ezhuthu Guha (literally
means
“cave
of
writing”), Kovilkadavu
and Manala in Marayur
panchayat.

24. Attala Cave Site in Marayur

25. Most of the parts of Western Ghats, Kerala are the sites of ancient
artefacts from stone-age civilization. This is a piece of news reading
related to findings of such materials near a local school in Kerala.

26. 1.Kottukal Kal Thrikovil Cave Temple
2.Kaviyoor Thrikkakkudi Cave Temple
3.Thrukkoor Mahadeva Temple
4.Madavoorpara Rock Cut Temple
5.Punarjani Cave

27. Kottukkal cave temple, also known as Kaltrikkovil in Malayalam, is an existing example of rock
cut architecture, built between 6th and 8th centuries CE. It is situated in village named
Kottukkal, near Anchal, Kollam district, Kerala, India. Historians read its origin back to the 7th
century AD when 'Nedila Paranthaka Nedumchadayan' who ruled Chadayamangalam the
nearby place, made the rock cut temple.

28. Thrikkakkudi Cave Temple
Located on the banks of the river Manimala, Kaviyoor. It bears close resemblance to the
Pallava style of architecture and has prompted historians to date it to a period as early as the
eighth century AD. The engravings here are among the earliest specimens of stone sculptures
in Kerala.

29. Thrukkoor Mahadeva Temple: A rock cut cave is more than 1500
years old, that is 24 ft. in length and 18 ft. in both width and height.

30. Madavoorpara Rock Cut Temple
A 1300-year-old cave temple.
Madavoorpara is around 17 km
from the Thiruvananthapuram.

31. Punarjani Cave:
The "punarjani"
cave
is
in
between
the
Vilwamala and
the Bhoothamala
near
Thrissur,
Kerala.
The Punarajani cave is a natural 15-meter long tunnel in the rocky cliff. It is believed
that by crawling through the tunnel from one end to the other, one washes away all
his sins and thus attains rebirth.