page_title: Cave painting
section_title: India
hierarchical_section_title: Cave painting / Paleolithic cave art by region / India
context_page_description: Cave paintings are a type of parietal art,
  found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, but cave paintings can also be of recent production: In the Gabarnmung cave of northern Australia,
  the oldest paintings certainly predate 28,000 years ago, while the most recent ones were made less than a century ago.
  The oldest known cave paintings are more than 44,000 years old, found in both the Franco-Cantabrian region in western Europe, and in the caves in the district of Maros. The oldest type of cave paintings are hand stencils and simple geometric shapes; the oldest undisputed examples of figurative cave paintings are somewhat younger, close to 35,000 years old.
  A 2018 study claimed an age of 64,000 years for the oldest examples of non-figurative cave art in the Iberian Peninsula.
  Represented by three red non-figurative symbols found in the caves of Maltravieso, Ardales and La Pasiega, Spain, these predate the arrival of modern humans to Europe by at least 20,000 years and thus must have been made by Neanderthals rather than modern humans.
context_section_description: The Bhimbetka rock shelters exhibit the earliest traces of human life in India. Paintings in Bhimbetka are dated to about 8,000 BCE. Similar paintings are found in other parts of India as well. In Tamil Nadu, ancient Paleolithic Cave paintings are found in Kombaikadu, Kilvalai, Settavarai and Nehanurpatti. In Odisha they are found in Yogimatha and Gudahandi. In Karnataka, these paintings are found in Hiregudda near Badami. The most recent painting, consisting of geometric figures, date to the medieval period.
  Executed mainly in red and white with the occasional use of green and yellow, the paintings depict the lives and times of the people who lived in the caves, including scenes of childbirth, communal dancing and drinking, religious rites and burials, as well as indigenous animals.
caption: Bhimbetka rock painting
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