The Bhimbetka rock shelters are an archaeological site in central India that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period.[1][2] It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of Stone Age starting at the site in Acheulian times.[3][4][5] It is located in the Raisen District in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh about 45 kilometres (28 mi) south-east of Bhopal. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 km (6.2 mi).[2][6] At least some of the shelters were inhabited more than 100,000 years ago.[2][7] The rock shelters and caves provide evidence of, according to Encyclopædia Britannica, a “rare glimpse” into human settlement and cultural evolution from hunter-gatherers, to agriculture, and expressions of prehistoric spirituality.[8]

Some of the Bhimbetka rock shelters feature prehistoric cave paintings and the earliest are about 10,000 years old (c. 8,000 BCE), corresponding to the Indian Mesolithic.[9][10][11][12][13] These cave paintings show themes such as animals, early evidence of dance and hunting from the Stone Age as well as of warriors on horseback from a later time (perhaps the Bronze Age).[14][15][16] The Bhimbetka site has the oldest-known rock art in India,[17] as well as is one of the largest prehistoric complexes.[8][18]

Bhimbetka rock art is considered oldest petroglyphs in the world, some of these similar to aboriginal rock art in Australia and the paleolithic Lascaux cave paintings in France.[19] Of the 750 rock shelters, only 12 to 15 are open to visitors.[19]

The Bhimbetka shelters also contain fossils from the Precambrian, hundreds of millions of years before the human era, including the enigmatic basal animal Dickinsonia.[20]