 Hello and welcome to Chanakya IS Academy. I am Priya Kumari and today, daily topic of the day is world's oldest cave painting. So recently this topic was in news because archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known cave painting, a life-size picture of wild pig that was made at least 45,500 years ago in Indonesia. So the finding provides the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region. So that's why this topic was in news recently. So the key details about this finding is archaeologists have discovered the world's oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia that is a wild pig believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago. So the painted using dark red okre pigment, the life-size picture of the Sulawesi Vati Pig appears to be part of a narrative scene. See this finding was discovered in Sulawesi which is in Indonesia. So that's why it is known as Sulawesi Vati Pig. So the picture was found in the Liang Tadong Cave in a remote valley on the island of Sulawesi. So animal finding found in cave is 44,000 years ago. A dating specialist Mr. Ober had identified a calcite deposit that had formed on top of the painting and used uranium series isotope dating to determine that the deposit was 45,500 years ago. So the characteristics of this finding was the report says that the painting which measures once 36 centimeter by 54 centimeter, it depicts a pig with horn-like facial warts characteristic of adult males of the species. Then there are two hand prints above the back of the pig which also appears to be facing two other pigs that are only partially preserved. The painting may be world's oldest art depicting a figure but it is not the oldest human produced art. So in South Africa a hashtag like doodle created 73,000 years ago is believed to be the oldest known drawing. So is it the oldest painting? So in 2019 a cave fall depiction of pig and buffalo hunt become the world's oldest recorded story. So that rock painting was also found in Sulawesi by the same team of archaeologists who claim that it was at 44,000 years old. So before this finding rock art found in European sites dating back to 14,000 to 21,000 years was considered to be the oldest. So what is the significance of this cave painting? So Sulawesi Wattie pig seems to be the world's oldest surviving representational image of an animal. So these pigs have been hunted by humans for tens of thousands of years and are the most commonly depicted animal in the Ice Age rock art of the island which suggests that they have long been used as food and form a focus of creative thinking and artistic expression for people of that time. The Sulawesi island contains some of the oldest directly dated rock art in the world and also some of the oldest evidence for the presence of hominins beyond the southern east limits of the Ice Age Asian continent. So it also provides the earliest evidence of human settlement of the region. So cave paintings in India the history of cave paintings in India or rock art range from drawings and paintings from prehistoric times beginning in the caves of central India typified by those at the Bhimbetkar rock shelters from around 10,000 before present to elaborate frescoes at sites such as rock cut artificial caves at Ajanta and Ellora extending as late as the 10th to 12th century before present. So the Bhimbetkar rock shelters an archaeological site in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India that spans several prehistoric periods. So that exhibits the earliest traces of human life on the Indian subcontinent and evidence of stone age habitation starting at the site in accluent times. So it is located in the Rai Sen district southern east of Bhopal. Bhimbetkar is also UNESCO world heritage site that consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 kilometers. So at least some of the shelters were inhabited more than one lakh years ago. So some of the Bhimbetkar rock shelters feature prehistoric cave paintings of which the oldest date from 10,000 years before present corresponding to the Indian Mesolithic. The paintings show themes such as animals and early evidence of dancing and hunting. The Bhimbetkar site has the oldest known rock art in the Indian subcontinent and it is one of the largest prehistoric complexes. So that's all for today's topic. We will see you in the next topic. Till then take care and goodbye. Don't forget to like share and subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon to never miss an update.