Test: Prehistoric Rock Paintings- 2 - Humanities/Arts MCQ

The paintings in Lakhudiyar can be divided into three categories: man, animal and geometric patterns in white, black and red ochre.

The subjects depicted in the paintings found in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are bulls, elephants, sambhars, gazelles, sheep, goats, horses, stylised humans, tridents, and rarely, vegetal motifs.

The caves of Bhimbetka were discovered in 1957–58 by the eminent archaeologist V.S. Wakankar.

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, but here only the first three phases have been discussed.

The Mesolithic paintings depict various hunting scenes where animals like elephant, bison, tiger, boar, deer, antelope, leopard, panther, rhinoceros, fish, frog, lizard, squirrel and at times birds are also depicted.

Many animals are depicted in the paintings, as well as scenes of people gathering fruit or honey and women preparing food. However, there is no mention of vehicles or machines being depicted.

The paintings made at these high-up locations were perhaps meant to be noticed from a distance

Hand-linked figures in dancing mode are a recurrent theme in the rock paintings of Bhimbetka.

The multiple layers of paintings found in some areas at Bhimbetka may be due to various reasons such as the artist not liking their creation and painting another painting on the previous one, some of the paintings and places being considered sacred or special, or the area may have been used by different generations of people at different times.

The colours used in the rock paintings of Bhimbetka have survived thousands of years of adverse weather conditions due to the chemical reaction of the oxide present on the surface of the rocks.