Rhino Bones Discovered at Tamil Nadu Neolithic Site

CHENNAI, INDIA—The Times of India reports that the bones of 28 different animals have been identified at Molapalayam, a Neolithic site in the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu. “A faunal analysis reveals that people who lived here constituted a pastoral community that reared cattle, sheep, and goat,” said archaeologist V. Selvakumar of Tamil University. “They also hunted animals such as deer and antelope. Their food also included a diverse range of small millets and pulses,” Selvakumar added. Among the many animal bones, the researchers identified four bones of an Indian rhinoceros, which lives in grasslands and marshes. “This is a significant find as rhinos survived [in southern India] up to the middle of the second millennium B.C.,” explained Abhayan G.S. of the University of Kerala. “According to the current zoogeography, the animal is restricted to Assam and northeastern plans of India,” Abhayan concluded. To read about a third-century b.c. elephant sculpture unearthed in India's state of Odisha, go to "The Elephant and the Buddha."