What type of painting were depicted …

Period II (Mesolithic) Largest number of paintings in this period. More themes but paintings reduce in size. Mostly hunting scenes – people hunting in groups with barbed spears, arrows and bows, and pointed sticks. Also show traps and snares to catch animals. Hunters wear simple clothes; some men are shown with headdresses and masks. Women have been shown both clothed and in the nude. Animals seen – elephants, bisons, bears, tigers, deer, antelopes, leopards, panthers, rhinos, frogs, lizards, fish, squirrels and birds. Children are seen playing and jumping. Some scenes depict family life. Period III (Chalcolithic) Paintings indicate an association of these cave-dwellers with the agricultural communities settled at Malwa. Cross-hatched squares, lattices, pottery and metal tools are depicted. Colours used in Bhimbetka paintings –

• Period II (Mesolithic)

1. Largest number of paintings in this period.
2. More themes but paintings reduce in size.
3. Mostly hunting scenes – people hunting in groups with barbed spears, arrows and bows, and pointed sticks. Also show traps and snares to catch animals.
4. Hunters wear simple clothes; some men are shown with headdresses and masks. Women have been shown both clothed and in the nude.
5. Animals seen – elephants, bisons, bears, tigers, deer, antelopes, leopards, panthers, rhinos, frogs, lizards, fish, squirrels and birds.
6. Children are seen playing and jumping. Some scenes depict family life.

• Period III (Chalcolithic)

1. Paintings indicate an association of these cave-dwellers with the agricultural communities settled at Malwa.
2. Cross-hatched squares, lattices, pottery and metal tools are depicted.
3. Colours used in Bhimbetka paintings – white, yellow, orange, red ochre, purple, brown, green and black. Most common colours – white and red.
4. Red obtained from haematite (geru); green from chalcedony; white probably from limestone.
5. Brushes were made from plant fibre.
6. In some places, there are many layers of paintings, sometimes 20.
7. Paintings can be seen in caves that were used as dwelling places and also in caves that had some other purpose, perhaps religious.
8. The colours of the paintings have remained intact thousands of years perhaps due to the chemical reaction of the oxide present on the rock surface.