The prehistoric rock art of India is as diverse as India’s cultural customs, languages and traditions, spanning many thousands of years of artistic endeavour. Although this substantial archaeological assemblage has been researched since the mid- to late nineteenth century, little of its potency and rhetoric has escaped its borders into the wider academic world until relatively recently. The earliest formal records were made by British archaeologist, Archibald Carlleyle (d 1897), during the mid-nineteenth century. From the mid-twentieth century, and the discovery in 1958 of a large collection of engraved panels at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, detailed research projects began to devise and speculate on local and regional chronologies and styles. The history of discovery and research are adequately explained within the first few pages of Neumayer’s new book.

Based on current research, the earliest rock art in India probably dates from around 10,000 years ago and can therefore be considered Mesolithic. The main themes are hunting and family/group scenes. Animal and human figures appear as outlines with intricate infilling. Not surprisingly, Chalcolithic imagery is quite different, featuring mainly pastoral and chariot (warrior) scenes; the animals depicted are usually domesticated. Based on an earlier work by the same author (1993), the thematics from the Mesolithic and succeeding Chalcolithic vary considerably. In terms of geographical distribution, Neumayer covers most of the upland areas of central and northern India, from Ladakh and other Himalayan locations, to the Vindhyas, the Satpuras and the Chhota Nagpur Plateau, and finally to southern Deccan and Sri Lanka regions (see also Neumayer Reference Neumayer1993, 12–13).

This lavishly illustrated and informative volume is divided into five chapters, excluding a lengthy Foreword and Preface, providing an essential overview to the prehistoric rock art of India. The Introduction explores the history of research, the chronology, the subject matter and that all-important context (this reviewer believes that the Introduction to Neumayer’s earlier book is more comprehensive and better illustrated). Despite this, the new book offers a useful and illustrated text, which is followed by a bibliography and a general index. A second index (Index II) comprises a list of all the major rock sites in India, which are then considered in the remainder of the book. The sites listed within the gazetteer are divided into two sections: Mesolithic (434 sites) and Chalcolithic (457 sites). A detailed discussion takes the reader through the history and archaeology associated with the two chronologies. It is pleasing to see that the page layout includes selected information boxes that focus specifically, for example, on subject matter or on particular sites. This approach provides the reader with a useful text as well as a good and effective reference tool.

The chapter concerned with Mesolithic rock art furnishes a useful discussion on what the ‘Mesolithic’ in India actually is. Quite rightly, Neumayer is cautious in assigning the rock art to particular chronological periods, suggesting that some of the imagery could actually be Upper Palaeolithic or later than the transition between the Mesolithic and the succeeding Chalcolithic (scholars should be aware, though, that the evidential knowledge for this period in this part of Asia is still problematic). The approach taken is partly based on thematics, ie hunting and foraging scenes. In the chapter dealing with the Chalcolithic, Neumayer discusses the problem of directly dating the material. Absolute dating would assist in assigning panel styles to either one of the two recognised periods. We must assume for the time being that herding and agricultural scenes and warrior figures are Chalcolithic.

This volume, with its wealth of excellently printed photographs, line drawings and readable text (and accompanying cd), is designed and printed in a landscape format which, in my view, makes it awkward for the researcher to take into the field. As hinted above, Neumayer published a similar book in 1993, making this volume, in my view, a revision. This reviewer found the earlier book more useful than the new volume in terms of understanding geographical distribution. Despite these minor criticisms, this book is truly an important addition to the rock art bookshelf and will be essential reading for rock art scholars, students of Asian archaeology and anthropologists who wish to understand the current issues and ideas about prehistoric rock art in India. However, because of its bulky landscape format, the bookshelf may become its only home.