In the foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains, surrounded by dense forests, are the remains of a past that reaches back as far as 100,000 years ago.  The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka contain evidence of some of the first human presence in all of India.  These natural shelters number in excess of 200 at the site with hundreds of others in nearby locations.  Many of the caves are decorated with paintings that show the legacy of their previous occupants.  The rock shelters were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 2003.

The area of Bhimbetka would have been considered a paradise for any living there in an age before modern convenience.  Water, plentiful natural resources and all the necessities of life are present in this region.  As far as ancient humans were concerned, this would have been prime real estate for survival.

The shelters were first discovered in 1957 and excavations were begun in 1971.  This process has continued, though there is still much that is not known about the site and the people who have inhabited it over the years.  Artifacts have been found, including stone tools, but much of it has yet to be dated so that an accurate chronology can be established and the links to modern regional cultures understood.

The rock paintings which make the site so valuable to historians stretch back as far as into the Mesolithic Period, some of them believed to be more than 30,000 years old.  Others are more modern, extending all the way into the medieval period.  This shows that humans have repeatedly found Bhimbetka to be a desirable location to settle.  Scholars believe that the site has been occupied almost continuously for more than 100,000 years.

Tours are available to see the cave paintings, though lack of proper security means that one is able to wander about pretty much at will to see the sites on their own.  Hopefully this will be remedied in the future so that the finds at Bhimbetka will not degrade and be lost to time.