ASI finds Stone Age era cave art site in Sambalpur district

Bhubaneswar: Away from prying eyes there existed in Sambalpur district a cave filled with rock art for ages. Recently, a team of archaeologists from the ASI’s Puri circle stumbled upon this rare historical find during an ongoing scientific clearance.

ASI’s superintending archaeologist Dibishada Brajasundar Garnayak said from the material found at the site, it appears to date back at least 10,000-15,000 years, with links to the Stone Age.


The newly found cave, which is locally named Badbil Ushakuthi, is located on a hillock 6km away from Badbil village.

The cave is exceptional for its overwhelming dominance of vulva motifs, accounting for nearly 98% of the imagery, which archaeologists interpret as symbolic representations of mother goddesses, offering rare insights into early belief systems and ritual practices and marking a significant addition to Odisha’s prehistoric heritage.

This is the first documented cave art site in Odisha recorded by the ASI. Till date, 120 rock art shelters have been documented across the state by different scholars, but no cave art site was recorded prior to the present discovery, Garnayak added.

He explained that while most rock shelters in Odisha have a wall and a superstructure resembling a snake hood, this cave is tunnel-like in form. The frontal opening measures about 20 metres and gradually narrows inwards, remaining accessible up to 18 metres. “Up to 18 metres, artworks are visible on the walls on both sides. Beyond this point, the cave extends another 3-4 metres, but is inaccessible and possibly structurally unstable,” Garnayak said.

“At both the entrance and throughout the cave, there is a huge concentration of pigmented engravings of the female vulva, generally considered symbolic of the Primordial Mother, a universal archetype of a female deity representing birth, fertility, and nature,” he added.

The pigmented engravings are done in black, ochre and white. Besides, the cave has paw marks, zoomorphs (representations of deities in the form of animals) done in both engraving and pigmented engraving techniques, and a rectilinear motif. A continuity in the artistic tradition is evident from superimposition and multi-layered pigmentation on several motifs, Garnayak pointed out.

Several cultural materials were also recovered from the site, including microlithic phase tools such as blades, crescents and fluted cores made from chert and quartz crystal. Besides, polished stone tools, grinding holes and stones, and pestles have been observed on the cave floor, indicating possible human habitation at the site.