The Bhimbetka rock shelters are about an hour’s drive from Bhopal and are located in the midst of sal and teak forests.. They are an archaeological site of the Palaeolithic period, exhibiting the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent, and thus the beginning of the South Asian Stone Age.
At least some of the shelters were inhabited by Homo Erectus more than 100,000 years ago. Some of the stone age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 30,000 years old. The caves also deliver early evidence of dance. They were declared a World Heritage Site in 2003.
Bhimbetka cave art
Photo credits: Beverley Bloxham
