Pre- historic Rock paintings

Class XI
Chapter 02
 WHAT IS PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD ?

1. The distance past there was no paper or language or the written word, and hence
book or no written documents, is called as the prehistoric period

2. It was difficult to understand how prehistoric people lived until the scholars began
excavations in prehistoric sites

3. Old tools, pottery, habitats, bones of ancient human beings and animals, and
drawings on cave wall are significant discoveries made by scholars. Through these
discoveries scholars constructed fairly accurate knowledge about what happened
and how people lived in pre-historic times.

4. The painting and drawing were the oldest art forms practiced by human beings to
express themselves using the cave wall as their canvas
Significance of Pre-historic Paintings.
1) The way people lived in those times is difficult to surmise. It was only until scholars began to discover the places
where prehistoric people lived.
2) Excavation at these places brought to light old tools, pottery, habitats,
bones of ancient human beings and animals, and drawings on cave walls.
3) By piecing together the information deduced from these objects and the cave
paintings, scholars have constructed fairly accurate knowledge about what happened
and how people lived in prehistoric times.
4) These prehistoric paintings help us to understand about early human beings, their
lifestyle, their food habits, their daily activities and, above all, they help us
understand their mind -the way they thought.
5) Prehistoric period remains are a great witness to the evolution of human civilization,
through the numerous rock weapons, tools, ceramics and bones.
6) More than anything else, the rock paintings are the greatest wealth the primitive
human beings of this period left behind.
Pre-historic rock painting in India
• 1867-68 first discovery of rock painting was made in India by an archaeologist,
Archibold Carlleyle

• rock paintings have been found on the walls of the caves situated in several
districts of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar.
Some paintings have been reported from the Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand also.

• Among these the most notable and largest rock shelters Bhimbetka are
located in the Vindhya hills Madhya Pradesh near Bhopal. 1957-58 VS Wakanker -
discoved the cave of Bhimetka.. These caves were declared as World Heritage Site
by UNESCO in 2003.

• 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.
Periodiacal classification of Bimbetaka

The rock art of Bhimbetka has been classified into various groups
on the bases of style, technique and superimposition. The drawing
and painting can be categorised into seven different historical
periods.

Period I - Upper Palaeolithic

Period II - Mesolithic
Period III - Chalcolithic. Bhimbetka rock shelters
After Period III there are four successive periods.
Period IV and V- Early history
Period VI and VII- Medieval
Upper Palaeolithic Period
The 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.
Upper Palaeolithic Period

huge animal figures

The green paintings are of dancers and the red ones of
hunters.
Mesolithic Period
• More themes than the Paleolithic period.

• Paintings are smaller in size than the upper paleolithic period.

• Loved painting animals:-Painting of both fear and affection towards animals.

• Both Economic and Social activities depicted:-The hunting scenes depicting people
hunting in groups, community dancing, People gathering fruit or honey from trees,
Women grinding and preparing food, family life, etc.

• Animals painted in naturalistic style but humans were painted in a stylistic manner.

• Many colours were used:-The artists in Bhimbetka used many colours including White,
Yellow, Orange, Red ochre, Purple, Brown, Green, and Black.
• But white and red were their favourite colours.
Mesolithic Period

Hunting scene
Hunting scenes predominate in Mesolithic paintings.
Chalcolithic period
Period III (Chalcolithic)
The painting of this period are Similar to the paintings of the Mesolithic period. these drawings
reveal that during the period the cave dwellers of this area had been in contact with the agricultural
communities of the Malwa plains and exchanged goods with them.
Material and methods used by the earliest artists for painting

• The artists of Bhimbetka used many colours, including various shades of white,
yellow, orange, red ochre, purple, brown, green and black. But white and red
were their favourite colours.

• The paints were made by grinding various rocks and minerals. The rock of
mineral was first ground into a powder. This may then have been mixed with
water and also with some thick or sticky substance such as animal fat or gum or
resin from trees. Brushes were made of plant fibre.

• They got red from haematite (known as geru in India). The green came from a
green variety of a stone called chalcedony. White might have been made out of
limestone.

• These colours have survived thousands of years of adverse weather conditions.

 A roaring animal

Name : A Roaring Animal

Place : Bhimbetka Cave , Near - Bhopal ,

Madhya Pradesh , India .

Artist : Unknown

Medium : Mineral colours

In this painting , a beast ( bison ) in red has been shown in big size and a
group of people in small size has been shown hunting that bison . In this
process , some injured people have also been depicted lying scattered on
the ground and a few people watching them helplessly
 Wizard’s dance

Name : Wizard's Dance

Place : Bhimbetka Cave , Near -Bhopal ,

Madhya Pradesh , India .

Artist : Unknown

Medium : Mineral colours

In this painting , an animal is shown in the agony of death and the people have been depicted
dancing with holding hands of each other and a person has been shown playing a big musical
instrument and some people have been shown in sitting position to watch them . It is the initial
painting which shows the celebration with full rhythm and movements . These prehistoric
paintings help us to understand about early human beings , their lifestyle , their food habits , their
daily life activities and above all , to understand their state of mind .