At the end of the Pleistocene 11,000 years ago, the sea level dropped radically unit the end if the ice age. The landscape consisted of dry land and today’s current islands were large stone mountains. About 8,500-7,500 years ago, glacial ice began to melt causing the seawater level to raise filing in all low-lying areas and valleys around these mountains. Then 5,000-4,000 years ago the environment changed again, and the sea level continuously rose and fell deeper and higher than ever before.

Environmental fluctuations leveled off between 3,700-2,700 years ago, the seawater rose to 1.5 m level above present, and has since receded to today’s levels. It is important to understand this constant fluctuation If sea level of one can understand its effects on any peoples living in existence near the sea during these times. In 1981, a group of archaeological students unearthed shell fossil remains and other evidence of prehistoric dwellers in caves and around some of the island of Ao Phangnga National Park.

This evidence of primitive cliff dwellers , includes rock paintings, Fragments of carts, and spearheads, give us clues in understanding their way of life and struggle for survival. People have inhabited this strip between Phangnga and Krabi Province for about 10,000 years, traveling to and fro, living in the mountain caves If building lean-to shelters.

It seems they were never far from the sea, always living close to where they could store their rafts or boats enabling them to travel far distances around the bay. No permanent structures were built, so little evidence remains of their civilization. Archeological digs have recovered only the broken remains of objects thought to be spearheads because of their point – ednoss and sharp sides. One spearhead found, is made from the mineral quartz, while another from quartzite.

Other objects recovered include a few pieces If rope of rope harnessed to a rock stone axte, shards If broken pottery, and fragments of tools: Thought to be hatchets, and sharpened fish bones, thought to be uses as sewing needles, The cave paintings of these pre-historic peoples can be found inside Ao Phangnga National Park on Khao Kien, Ko Pan Yi, Ko Raya, Tham Nak and Ko Phra At thao. The majority of the rock paintings are monocolored, but others have been repeatedly traced several times over in orange-yellow, blue, grey, and black, each time.

The pictures contain scenes of human figures, and animals The paintings aren’t on any one plane of reference: they are interestingly placed right-side up, up side-down and sideways. Some pictures mimic natural scenes, such as a man carrying a fish over his back, but other drawings have figures upside down, or juxtapositioned at strange angles for no obvious reason.