Some of the stone age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are 30,000 years old.
The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site of the Paleolithic, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian Subcontinent, and thus the beginning of the Indian Stone age. It is located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, At least some of the shelters were inhabited by Homo erectus over 100,000 years ago.
One rock, popularly referred to as “Zoo Rock”, depicts elephants, Barasingha, bison and deer. Paintings on another rock show a peacock, a snake, a deer and the sun. On another rock, two elephants with tusks are painted. Hunting scenes with hunters carrying bows, arrows, swords and shields also find their place in the community of these pre-historic paintings. In one of the caves, a bison is shown in pursuit of a hunter while his two companions appear to stand helplessly nearby; in another, some horsemen are seen, along with archers.
