A private estate deep inside the Senthuruni forest area houses the traces of an early human habitat in the subcontinent. A stone age culture thrived on the banks of the Senthuruni river in the Thenmala forest more than 5,000 years ago.
The archaeological findings inside the 172 square kilometre Senthuruni wildlife sanctuary, which predates the artefacts from the Indus Valley Civilization, are crying for attention. Evidence of a human habitat among the rocky crevices deep inside the forest is sure to put Thenmala on the timeline of early history.
The rocky terrain is hard to reach. Hardly a dozen people can gather inside the abodes of our ancestors. They might have used the space as a shelter against the elements and wildlife.
The rocks strewn over the rubber plantation might have sheltered small groups of prehistoric people. Most of the crevices have eternal springs inside them.
The carvings inside the caves are unique. The parallel lines and the diagonal lines crossing them are believed to be an identification system or a kind of prehistoric signboards.
The tools and artefacts found from the caves are kept in the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and the Archaeology Department at Kariavattom. Most of the tools were shaped out of the white stones collected from the Senthuruni river, experts said.
Experts have shouted out to the Archaeological Survey of India to take over the remains in the forest. Though the rocky formations have been kept intact, it needs constant monitoring to preserve it from the fury of the elements and outside encroachments.
Senthuruni wildlife warden A Shanavas said that the traces of the stone age culture needs to be studied in detail.
The site can be accessed through a rubber plantation off the Kollam-Thirumangalam national highway.
