Kurnur: The archaeological site of Jwalapuram in Nandyal District, one of the most important prehistoric sites is under threat from Sand Mafia.
Private landowners sell ancient sand dunes to the company for Rs 1,000 per ton. These sand layers are believed to contain remnants of Mount Toba, which took place approximately 74,000 years ago in what happened in today’s Indonesia.
These are crucial to understanding the survival and evolution of early humans in the Indian subcontinent.
Jwalapuram became a highly-watched person in 2007, when an international team of anthropologists and archaeologists dug out the site and found evidence challenging theories of human immigration and survival.
The results show that the Mesopotamians lived in the region before and after the Toba outbreak, suggesting that this catastrophic event did not eliminate early populations, contrary to Toba’s catastrophe theory.
The Toba eruption, which originated in Sumatra, was a massive volcanic event on Earth that blasted about 3,000 cubic kilometers of material into the atmosphere.
The event led to a global volcanic winter that lasted for several years and left a thick layer of ash in much of Asia, including six to eight meters in parts of India and Pakistan.
Later, ash was found even in the ice cores from Greenland and in the undersea rock cores of India and the southern oceans.
Archaeologists have found stone tools above and below ash sediments in Jwalapuram, located in the Jurreru River area of Nandyal. This proves that humans not only lived in the region before the outbreak, but also survived.
More than 15,000 stone tools have been restored from deeper excavation layers, showing 23 different categories of tools with unique peeling patterns, believed to have been made by modern humans.
Leading anthropologist Michael Petraglia, who co-wrote a study, believes that the continuity of tool manufacturing technology in the Toba gray layer is a strong sign of uninterrupted human existence.
He, together with Professor Korisetar, suggested that modern humans may have arrived in India about 1,00,000-120,000 years ago, far earlier than previously thought.
Despite its global significance, the site now faces erosion and destruction due to commercial sand mining.
Professor Ravindra Korisettar, a retired and adjunct professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, said that the groundbreaking research at Jwalapuram was conducted a decade ago. However, no government is also interested in retaining a portion of this critical site.
He expressed concern that, at least, regional governments should view the significance of the site as key evidence for understanding human evolution. He also stressed the need for proper protective measures immediately and appropriately.
Although officials acknowledge the urgency of retaining this important legacy, the ASI’s state wing has not responded yet.
Mysore Inscription Director K Munirathnam pointed out the significance of the website and emphasized that the AP department must act quickly to protect the area.
