Cultural Anthropology - Gond Tribe

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND NATURAL
HABITAT --INTERRELATIONSHIPS
 The Bhimbetka rock shelters: UNESCO world heritage site in central India located in
the Raisen District in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh about 45 kilometers (28 mi)
southeast of Bhopal that spans the prehistoric Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods,
consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 kilometers.
 It exhibits the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent and evidence of
Stone Age starting at the site in Acheulian times.
 The inscription of Bhimbetka is proposed as cultural landscape as this is a natural
landscape that has sustained in a specific zone a sequential, undisturbed evolution of
humankind from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Chalcolithic, Early Historical to the Historical
period.
Madhya Pradesh on above

Bhimbetka rock shelters on right
Source: UNESCO World Heritage

GOND TRIBE
•The designated core of 1892

hectares forms a part of the Vindhyan
range within the northern periphery of
the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary.
•Major core area having Bhimbetka
rock shelters.
•The buffer zone of 10,280 hectares
contains in all 21 villages of varying
sizes and population
•These traditional adivasi
settlements sparsely populated
largely by the tribes of the Gonds, and
in lesser numbers by the Pradhans and
the Korkus.
•Population of 10,472 within the •Gond refers to tribal people who live all over India's
buffer zone. Deccan Peninsula. Most describe themselves as Gonds
(hill people).
•Gonds settled in Gondwana, now known as eastern
Madhya Pradesh, between the ninth and thirteenth
centuries AD.
•Gondi belongs to the Dravidian family of languages
and is related to Tamil and Kannada.
•They speaks Gondi, Telegu and Dravid.
EVOLUTION OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 On the visible surface, the rich profusion of paintings within the rock shelters
identified so far from the early Mesolithic period to the Medieval
period.
 This cultural evolution has been nurtured in an undisturbed environment of ecological
balances and unaltered topography.
 Bhimbetka’s uniqueness lies not only in the concentration of its antiquity and art, and
the wealth that it conceals, but that it has not remained frozen in time and space.
Elements of this continuity are manifest in the creative expressions that show affinity to
great antiquity in the traditional lifestyles of the Gond people of area of
Bhimbetka and the surrounding region.
Impressions,
Mediaeval
period,
Bhimbetka
Impressions,
exterior wall
surface of
dwelling,
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Amchha Kalan
INTERDEPENDENCE ON NATURAL AND MAN- MADE
CONDITIONS
Occupation
•Shifted from hunting to farming and labor due to environmental changes such as
global warming, shrinking of forests, temperature and
weather changes, longer summers, harsher winters, scarcity of water, seeds.
•Agriculture is a primary occupation along with a limited extent of cattle grazing.
•Dependent on forest produce for food and shelter and rainwater for irrigation
purpose.
•People used to migrate to other states like Gujarat not for the earning but for their
survival in search of work due to climate changes, changes in urban metabolism and
ecological footprint. •70% laborers and 30%
farmers
•Soya bean, cotton and
chilies are main crops.
•Rainwater is only source of
irrigation
•Only 3 months of
farming season and then
migrate to other regions for
work as laborers for about
7- 9 months
• Earnings are then invested
in farming for the next
season.
Source: UNESCO World Heritage •Move to the towns to get
INTERDEPENDENCE ON NATURAL AND MAN- MADE
CONDITIONS
Community life:
 Risk to the integrity of local
adivasi culture in the 21
surrounding villages is apparently
quite high, as mounting economic and
developmental pressures encourage
Dwelling units made of locally available people to move to the towns.
material  Cultural continuity, especially in
the tradition of painting walls and
surfaces of their dwellings, the
decorative application to the surface
of their pottery and elements in
handcrafted objects of daily use.
 Also new settlers from other regions
Interdependence on other natural species
are beginning to appear in the area.
like animals
 Worship nature and god-goddess on
the form of forests, mountains and
villages.
 No wastage of money and resources,
even in marriages.
 Whole community live and work
together as one.
Traditional paintings on shrines and  Small houses made up of mud and
earthen pots roof covered with leaves and thatch.
ADAPTATION TO ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIO-
ECONOMIC CHANGES
 The Bhimbetka landscape is

closely associated with a
hunting and gathering
tradition, which has an
extremely long connection with
the area (as documented by
the rock art), and is still part
of the culture of the local
External contemporary influences on architecture adivasi villages surrounding
the rock art site.
 But due to increasing urban
footprint of cities,
deforestation, changes in
urban metabolism and
ecological footprint, they
have transformed
themselves according to
the need.
Traditional utilitarian handcrafted items on sale at  There are a lot of changes
the weekly hat or local market came into their lifestyle,
occupation and practices
but their traditional values
remain intact which can be
Source: UNESCO World Heritage seen in the form of art and

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CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND NATURAL

Madhya Pradesh on above

Source: UNESCO World Heritage

•The designated core of 1892

 The Bhimbetka landscape is

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