2-739-303 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Ringstone, 200s BC. After 1,500 years during which no works of art in stone survive from India, sculptures began to be made during the 3rd century BC, and this ringstone is one of the first types that survive from that early time. Like the railings that encircled sacred sites, the motifs on this ringstone include running animals and imagery pertaining to birth, fertility, and abundance. The innermost band contains palm trees alternating with the figure of a man who offers a wheat sheaf to a woman.