Bhubaneswar, May 29 -- Researchers claimed to have found possible evidence of a human civilisation dating back nearly 10,000 years at the historic Ushakothi site near Rairakhol in Odisha's Sambalpur district.

The findings were reportedly made around seven kilometres from Betagada under Luhapank Panchayat, where researchers discovered cave paintings and hand-made tools believed to belong to the Mesolithic Age.

The development comes after a team from the Archaeological Survey of India, Puri Circle, visited the site in January this year. Subsequently, Professor Dr Atul Kumar Pradhan of the History Department at Gangadhar Meher University conducted further surveys in Chhatagada and Parabhadi Ushakothi areas.

According to researchers, sever...