In this book the author presents his findings connected with the archaeology of the Rajmahal Hills (Jharkhand State, north-eastern India), and discusses the wider relevance of his surface archaeology approach to the archaeology of the rest of the tribal areas of India. He also approaches the issue of a gendered study of rock-art and landscape archaeology both of which again fall within the domain of tribal archaeology proper. Further sections engage in theoretical debates regarding the relationship between history and archaeology. The study concludes that it may be possible to delineate a separate domain for the archaeology of the tribal areas called subaltern archaeology.

Rock paintings and petroglyphs are a record of human memories. No doubt, this function defines in essence all archaeological objects. Yet some objects such as tools, beyond their symbolic value, are clearly fashioned for their utility. How does rock art as an object fashioned by human hands then differ from tools? What utility does it have beyond its symbolic value? The Vindhyan corpus of rock paintings has provided us with a very valuable opportunity to be answering such questions.