Edakkal Cave-Petroglyph , Wayanad, Kerala Stock Photo

Edakkal Caves are two natural caves at a remote location at Edakkal, 25 km from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India`s Western Ghats. They lie 1,200 metres above sea level on Ambukutty Mala, beside an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the ports of the Malabar coast. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to be dating to at least 5000 BC, from the Neolithic man, indicating the presence of a prehistoric civilization or settlement in this region. The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from south India. These are not technically caves, but rather a cleft or rift approximately 96 feet 29 m by 22 feet 6.7 m, a 30-foot-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 this 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.