Researchers in the Vindhya Range have discovered a series of cave paintings that depict animals such as the Palaeoloxodon namadicus (an extinct giant elephant) and the Indian rhinoceros. The pigments, analyzed using Raman spectroscopy, date the art to approximately 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.
This is the first time that such specific extinct megafauna have been clearly identified in Indian rock art. The paintings provide a rare glimpse into the Paleolithic ecosystem and suggest that early humans in the subcontinent were keen observers of their environment, documenting the species they coexisted with before their extinction.