Are there any Representations of the Indian Aurochs in Rock Art or: Was Bos namadicus Humped? Part 1
This is another one of my old posts at Carnivora that I've decided to move to my blog; in it, I argue that several of the Neolithic (and even Paleolithic) examples of rock art from the Indian subcontinent that depict humped bulls may actually be contemporary illustrations of the Indian aurochs; Naturally, I also argue that the Indian aurochs possessed a hump, as its domestic descendants, zebu cattle, do. Without further ado:
OK, my apologies for the delay; I was both under-motivated and fairly busy with other things over the past two days, but, I can spare some time now. Here is a post compiling some example of Indian rock art which may show Bos namadicus. Before we begin looking at the images though its important to get some obvious caveats out of the way:
1. Most Indian rock art I have seen is quite minimalistic and done in profile view, and often it is not possible to determine conclusively exactly which species a particular glyph is supposed to represent. Between prehistory and the early neolithic, the time frame during which most of these rock art images were produced, gaur, Indian Aurochs, zebus, taurine cattle, wild water buffalo and domestic water buffalo were all present at least in northern and northwestern India; these animals could all look quite similar when drawn in a crude or stylized fashion and it is often necessary to hazard a guess as to which bovid a particular illustration is supposed to depict. For this reason, and unlike with European cave art depicting the aurochs, the exact identity of the bovines in Indian cave art is rarely strictly unequivocal, and this problem is only exacerbated by the fact that we don't know exactly what the profile of the Indian Aurochs was supposed to have looked like. In this case, guesses are naturally vulnerable to circular logic and special pleading. Whenever possible I will try to make contextual arguments as to why I think certain paintings represent namadicus, or zebu, or gaur, or buffalo etc.
2. This bullet is a corollary of point 1 specifically concerning the issue of using rock art to determine whether the Indian aurochs was humped or not, and if so, what type of hump it had; I believe that many of the rock art images I will post convincingly depict a triangular, zebuine style hump, but one must admit that withers of deer, the convex muscular hump found in the European aurochs and the triangular zebuine hump could be difficult to distinguish in minimalistic or stylized drawings. This can complicate both attempts to identify the animals pictured as well as attempts to deduce particulars of their anatomy.
3 We don't know the stylistic conventions which were prevalent in the artistic cultures that created these drawings. prominent rounded shoulder humps are sometime depicted on animals with horns that look like those of a blackbuck (which have fairly flat backs) or even on animals with antlers. Considering this I think its highly likely that not only were the artistic rendering sometimes not quite anatomically precise, but also that features of one animal were sometimes transposed onto images of another.
4. Zebu cattle are sexually dimorphic and this dimorphism is expressed not only in the size and colour differences between the sexes but also in the shape and size of the hump. Female zebu usually have smaller humps than males and, in some breeds, the hump of females is so small that it is hardly visible if the animal lowers its neck. It is more than likely that the Bos namadicus hump, if present, would also have been a sexually dimorphic trait that was more developed in males.
With these points in mind, lets look at some cave art! I'll start with some images which I believe convincingly support the Idea that Bos namadicus had a pyramidal hump of the kind you see in most zebus and zebu hybrids today.
This first image was posted on Facebook by Aditya Dhopatkar, the caption is not mine. There is another obviously humped bovine to the left of the one with the arrows pointing to it, and what may be two deer and a gaur in the foreground between the two. I didn't find a date for these petroglyphs, but according to the caption they are prehistoric. Strictly speaking, the domestication of zebu happened in the prehistoric era as well, however, since the two bovines of interest appear to be surrounded by wild animals, I think it's fair to assume that they are likely to be wild animals themselves. i.e. we can assume that they are likely to be representations of Bos namadicus.
The Bhimlat Rock Art Site in Bundi, Rajasthan features many fine examples of Mesolithic and Chalcolithic rock art which may depict Bos namadicus
This panel appears to show a hunting scene; a large humped bovine and some smaller long eared (or horned) animals in the foreground appear to be the hunters quarry. The drawings at this site are somewhat faded, so it may be necessary to enlarge the photo to see the outline of the hump clearly, but it is definitely present and does not at all resemble the long, convex withers hump typical of the Eurasian Aurochs. Its possible that the image of the bovine was not constructed as part of the hunting scene, but given that the Indian Aurochs is known to have been a very common game item for early Indian hunters there is a good chance that it is depicted being hunted here. At the very least it is probably intended as part of the wild "scenery" meant to accompany the depiction of the hunt.
Another interesting panel, this time the humped bovine appears to be the object of some sort of religious ritual
In this panel hunters, dancing women and some type of wildcat are found in close association in the foreground, and in the background there is a humped bovine. The author of the linked post where I found this image offered the following interpretation of the foreground scene: "This painting is the clearest. Drawing 3 is of a dead / hunted animal which both the people (drawing 2) and tigress (drawing 1) want to eat. Their pose may be interpreted in two ways – one, they are dancing with joy after the hunt which means food; two, trying to scare off the tigress who has come to eat the hunted animal Again note the height and body structure of the woman right in front of the tigress."
The same panel as the one above
In this panel a humpless bovine (center) is depicted along with a much larger humped one. In the bottom left is a group of bovines which appear to have much squatter bodies, shorter horns and dorsal ridges as opposed to humps. These, I think, are either water buffalo or gaur. I had at least one larger image of that section of the panel, but I cant seem to find it now.
Then you have these paintings. According to one of the webpages where I've found these Images, they are also from the Bundi rock art sites. I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of them. The stylistic conventions are similar to the other Bundi paintings above, but the poses of the animals featured in these four paintings are much more dynamic than in any of the others I've seen. Also the animals here are depicted with three or four legs visible whereas in all the all the other paintings I've seen from from this site, and from many other rock arts sites where this style of red painting is found, the animals are all depicted in lateral view with only two legs visible. In any event, all four pictures obviously show some form of Bos species, but which one they show is not quite clear. The frills on the horns in some images have been interpreted as decoration. They could be depictions of wild namadicus, however the oddly curving asymmetric horns (which remind me quite a bit of Mundari cattle) and the ornamentation on the horns suggest to me that these animals are at the very least tame and possibly even semi domestic. They do seem to have humps, though the humps aren't very prominent. It's worth noting that some female zebu, particularly of less derived breeds, can have very small, even almost absent humps. The same may also have been true of namadicus.
Moving on, the Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh are another rock art site featuring possible depictions of namadicus.
this panel might feature some superimposition. The outline of the bull appears humpless, but there is clearly a triangular hump over the cervico-thoracic region of the bull's neck located within the outline of the bull itself. When tying to piece together the appearance of namadicus's dorsal profile using cave art this painting is particularly frustrating.
Chaturbhuj Nala is second rock art site in Madhya Pradesh, and this site is particularly interesting, because I believe depictions of namadicus, zebu and water buffalo can all be found here, with each species having a unique representation. Its also possible that the paintings here span multiple time periods and were produced by several different local clans/cultures, but that's speculation on my part and I won't get into it here.
I think these large, long horned, very prominently humped bulls represent the Indian aurochs (Bos namadicus)
There are also many images of smaller bulls, often in close association with humans.
The smaller bulls are usually also humped, but the hump is distinctly different; it is more rounded in profile and is usually clearly demarcated from the rest of the body. I suspect that these are depictions of zebu cattle.
Note* I souced the above images from here, and here; check out those pages for some more neat images from this rock art site.
On some panels both types of bull are depicted:
Then you have these completely humpless bulls:
Their completely flat dorsal profiles are not a good match for most wild bovines, or for zebu. It could be a good match for buffalo though, or even for taurine cattle. Of course, there's no saying for sure.
Another panel of humped bulls from Chaturbhuj Nala (some of these also have decorated horns):
According to the sources I've found, both here and at Bhimlat the humped bull motif seems to first appear in the Chalcolithic.
Now here are some depictions of long horned bulls from Southern India
A rock art piece from Kethavaram:
And some more from Sanganakallu (I recommend looking up more images from this site online, the site dates back to around 3000 BC):
The bull in the bottom image might be a representations of Bos namadicus, and it is the only piece of rock art I have found which convincingly suggests that that species may have been humpless.
To round things off, here are a few examples of rock art from across India which almost certainly depict ruminants other that the Indian Aurochs. I'll comment below each image with my guess as to what species each represents:
Nilgai (centre)
Gaurs
Deer (centre)
See Also: Some Photographs Of Indian Aurochs (Bos namadicus) fossils
OK, my apologies for the delay; I was both under-motivated and fairly busy with other things over the past two days, but, I can spare some time now. Here is a post compiling some example of Indian rock art which may show Bos namadicus. Before we begin looking at the images though its important to get some obvious caveats out of the way:
1. Most Indian rock art I have seen is quite minimalistic and done in profile view, and often it is not possible to determine conclusively exactly which species a particular glyph is supposed to represent. Between prehistory and the early neolithic, the time frame during which most of these rock art images were produced, gaur, Indian Aurochs, zebus, taurine cattle, wild water buffalo and domestic water buffalo were all present at least in northern and northwestern India; these animals could all look quite similar when drawn in a crude or stylized fashion and it is often necessary to hazard a guess as to which bovid a particular illustration is supposed to depict. For this reason, and unlike with European cave art depicting the aurochs, the exact identity of the bovines in Indian cave art is rarely strictly unequivocal, and this problem is only exacerbated by the fact that we don't know exactly what the profile of the Indian Aurochs was supposed to have looked like. In this case, guesses are naturally vulnerable to circular logic and special pleading. Whenever possible I will try to make contextual arguments as to why I think certain paintings represent namadicus, or zebu, or gaur, or buffalo etc.
2. This bullet is a corollary of point 1 specifically concerning the issue of using rock art to determine whether the Indian aurochs was humped or not, and if so, what type of hump it had; I believe that many of the rock art images I will post convincingly depict a triangular, zebuine style hump, but one must admit that withers of deer, the convex muscular hump found in the European aurochs and the triangular zebuine hump could be difficult to distinguish in minimalistic or stylized drawings. This can complicate both attempts to identify the animals pictured as well as attempts to deduce particulars of their anatomy.
3 We don't know the stylistic conventions which were prevalent in the artistic cultures that created these drawings. prominent rounded shoulder humps are sometime depicted on animals with horns that look like those of a blackbuck (which have fairly flat backs) or even on animals with antlers. Considering this I think its highly likely that not only were the artistic rendering sometimes not quite anatomically precise, but also that features of one animal were sometimes transposed onto images of another.
4. Zebu cattle are sexually dimorphic and this dimorphism is expressed not only in the size and colour differences between the sexes but also in the shape and size of the hump. Female zebu usually have smaller humps than males and, in some breeds, the hump of females is so small that it is hardly visible if the animal lowers its neck. It is more than likely that the Bos namadicus hump, if present, would also have been a sexually dimorphic trait that was more developed in males.
With these points in mind, lets look at some cave art! I'll start with some images which I believe convincingly support the Idea that Bos namadicus had a pyramidal hump of the kind you see in most zebus and zebu hybrids today.
This first image was posted on Facebook by Aditya Dhopatkar, the caption is not mine. There is another obviously humped bovine to the left of the one with the arrows pointing to it, and what may be two deer and a gaur in the foreground between the two. I didn't find a date for these petroglyphs, but according to the caption they are prehistoric. Strictly speaking, the domestication of zebu happened in the prehistoric era as well, however, since the two bovines of interest appear to be surrounded by wild animals, I think it's fair to assume that they are likely to be wild animals themselves. i.e. we can assume that they are likely to be representations of Bos namadicus.
The Bhimlat Rock Art Site in Bundi, Rajasthan features many fine examples of Mesolithic and Chalcolithic rock art which may depict Bos namadicus
This panel appears to show a hunting scene; a large humped bovine and some smaller long eared (or horned) animals in the foreground appear to be the hunters quarry. The drawings at this site are somewhat faded, so it may be necessary to enlarge the photo to see the outline of the hump clearly, but it is definitely present and does not at all resemble the long, convex withers hump typical of the Eurasian Aurochs. Its possible that the image of the bovine was not constructed as part of the hunting scene, but given that the Indian Aurochs is known to have been a very common game item for early Indian hunters there is a good chance that it is depicted being hunted here. At the very least it is probably intended as part of the wild "scenery" meant to accompany the depiction of the hunt.
Another interesting panel, this time the humped bovine appears to be the object of some sort of religious ritual
In this panel hunters, dancing women and some type of wildcat are found in close association in the foreground, and in the background there is a humped bovine. The author of the linked post where I found this image offered the following interpretation of the foreground scene: "This painting is the clearest. Drawing 3 is of a dead / hunted animal which both the people (drawing 2) and tigress (drawing 1) want to eat. Their pose may be interpreted in two ways – one, they are dancing with joy after the hunt which means food; two, trying to scare off the tigress who has come to eat the hunted animal Again note the height and body structure of the woman right in front of the tigress."
The same panel as the one above
In this panel a humpless bovine (center) is depicted along with a much larger humped one. In the bottom left is a group of bovines which appear to have much squatter bodies, shorter horns and dorsal ridges as opposed to humps. These, I think, are either water buffalo or gaur. I had at least one larger image of that section of the panel, but I cant seem to find it now.
Then you have these paintings. According to one of the webpages where I've found these Images, they are also from the Bundi rock art sites. I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of them. The stylistic conventions are similar to the other Bundi paintings above, but the poses of the animals featured in these four paintings are much more dynamic than in any of the others I've seen. Also the animals here are depicted with three or four legs visible whereas in all the all the other paintings I've seen from from this site, and from many other rock arts sites where this style of red painting is found, the animals are all depicted in lateral view with only two legs visible. In any event, all four pictures obviously show some form of Bos species, but which one they show is not quite clear. The frills on the horns in some images have been interpreted as decoration. They could be depictions of wild namadicus, however the oddly curving asymmetric horns (which remind me quite a bit of Mundari cattle) and the ornamentation on the horns suggest to me that these animals are at the very least tame and possibly even semi domestic. They do seem to have humps, though the humps aren't very prominent. It's worth noting that some female zebu, particularly of less derived breeds, can have very small, even almost absent humps. The same may also have been true of namadicus.
Moving on, the Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh are another rock art site featuring possible depictions of namadicus.
this panel might feature some superimposition. The outline of the bull appears humpless, but there is clearly a triangular hump over the cervico-thoracic region of the bull's neck located within the outline of the bull itself. When tying to piece together the appearance of namadicus's dorsal profile using cave art this painting is particularly frustrating.
Chaturbhuj Nala is second rock art site in Madhya Pradesh, and this site is particularly interesting, because I believe depictions of namadicus, zebu and water buffalo can all be found here, with each species having a unique representation. Its also possible that the paintings here span multiple time periods and were produced by several different local clans/cultures, but that's speculation on my part and I won't get into it here.
I think these large, long horned, very prominently humped bulls represent the Indian aurochs (Bos namadicus)
There are also many images of smaller bulls, often in close association with humans.
The smaller bulls are usually also humped, but the hump is distinctly different; it is more rounded in profile and is usually clearly demarcated from the rest of the body. I suspect that these are depictions of zebu cattle.
Note* I souced the above images from here, and here; check out those pages for some more neat images from this rock art site.
On some panels both types of bull are depicted:
Then you have these completely humpless bulls:
Their completely flat dorsal profiles are not a good match for most wild bovines, or for zebu. It could be a good match for buffalo though, or even for taurine cattle. Of course, there's no saying for sure.
Another panel of humped bulls from Chaturbhuj Nala (some of these also have decorated horns):
According to the sources I've found, both here and at Bhimlat the humped bull motif seems to first appear in the Chalcolithic.
Now here are some depictions of long horned bulls from Southern India
A rock art piece from Kethavaram:
And some more from Sanganakallu (I recommend looking up more images from this site online, the site dates back to around 3000 BC):
The bull in the bottom image might be a representations of Bos namadicus, and it is the only piece of rock art I have found which convincingly suggests that that species may have been humpless.
To round things off, here are a few examples of rock art from across India which almost certainly depict ruminants other that the Indian Aurochs. I'll comment below each image with my guess as to what species each represents:
Nilgai (centre)
Gaurs
Deer (centre)
See Also: Some Photographs Of Indian Aurochs (Bos namadicus) fossils
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