Cave paintings dating back to approximately 30,000 years. Rock shelters that were home to humans, millennia ago. And a rich flora and fauna surrounding these, indeed, make Bhimbetka a gift to us from our earliest ancestors. The Bhimbetka Rock Shelter has the oldest-known rock art in India, as well as is one of the largest prehistoric complexes to be seen. An archaeological treasure, Bhimbetka has around 243 rock shelters and have earned the honour of UNESCO World Heritage Site. These hill ranges are full of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic remains, and they are also full of forests, wild plants, fruits, streams and creeks, thus a perfect place for Stone Age people to live. These are having about eight hundred rock shelters, five hundred of which bear paintings. The caves of Bhimbetka were discovered in 1957‚¬€œ58 by eminent archaeologist V. S. Wakankar and later on many more were discovered. The themes of paintings found here are of great variety, ranging from mundane events of daily life in those times to sacred and royal images. These include hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honey collection, decoration of bodies, and other household scenes. The rock art of Bhimbetka has been classified into various groups on the bases of style, technique and superimposition. The drawings and paintings can be categorised into seven historical periods. Period I, Upper Palaeolithic; Period II, Mesolithic; and Period III, Chalcolithic. After Period III there are four successive periods. NOTE- We have marked option 1 as the Correct answer. Because paintings from the Palaeolithic period are also found here. Hence, it is the most suited answer. ?Upper Palaeolithic Period PaintingsThe paintings of the Upper Palaeolithic phase are linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge animal figures, such as bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars besides stick-like human figures. A few are wash paintings but mostly they are filled with geometric patterns. The green paintings are of dancers and the red ones of hunters.