What is the News ?

Kerala Tourism has initiated a ?2.9-crore project to enhance civic amenities around Edakkal caves in Wayanad.

Facts About:

• These caves are situated on the magnificent Ambukuthi hills, 3,900 feet above sea level. The name Edakkal translates as "a stone in between."
• The ancient intricate stone carvings that are one-of-a-kind and come from the Neolithic and Mesolithic periods.
• The caves are two naturally occurring structures that are thought to have been created by a significant rock split.
• These include Neolithic-era pictorial writings that are thought to have been created at least 6,000 BCE.

Features:

• The Edakkal Caves are not actually caves, despite their name, as they also feature human and animal figures in addition to symbols and letters.
• They are a piece of a prehistoric rock shelter that naturally developed when one enormous boulder got wedged between two larger ones.

             These include human figures, animals, tools, vehicles, everyday objects, and scripts in various language scripts.

• The Muniyaras, or ancient burial sites, that have been discovered in these hills have yielded a rich collection of ancient earthenware and pottery.
• The variety of the engravings suggest that the Edakkal caves were inhabited several times at different points in history.