Bhimbetka rock shelters, a World Heritage Site, are the oldest continuously inhabited rock shelters in India and the oldest known human settlement in the Indian subcontinent. Out of the 750 rock shelters, 500 are decorated with paintings. The site remained a centre of Human activity right from the lower Paleolithic time up to the medieval period. The area remained occupied till the 19th century AD during the Gond period.
The paintings at Bhimbetka appear from the Mesolithic period to the Historical period. These paintings show the gradual development of the social-cultural life of mankind. The rock paintings of the early phase comprise human and animal figures in linear drawings.
These caves also have a rich Buddhist past and they were home to Buddhist monks from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. This is proved by the existence of Buddhist stupas in dressed stone belonging to the Sunga period. The Brahmi inscriptions on the rock shelters in Bhimbetka can be dated back to the second century BC. The Buddhist remains have been found on the northwestern slopes of Bhonrawali hill, Bineka, Bhimbetka and Lakha hills. Bhimbetka is situated in the middle of several Buddhist sites like Panguraria and Talpura, both of which go back to the third century BC.
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File:Gond Tribe Habitat Model.jpg
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File:2016 view of Bhimbetka rock shelters Madhya Pradesh India.jpg
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