Return of the past

The chance discovery of a 550-million-yearold fossil at Bhimbetka puts the caves back in the international spotlight

- SRAVANI SARKAR

UNDER A PALE February sun, the massive reddish-brown sandstone outcrops at Bhimbetka loom like silent sentinels guarding ancient mysteries. Only the mysteries have suddenly deepened. The world heritage site, located 50km from Bhopal, is renowned for its paintings and etchings by successive generations of settlers from over 10,000 years ago. The current excitement is over a chance discovery that hints that the caves here could possibly have fossils from 550 million years ago.

In March 2020, by sheer chance, a group of Indian and international palaeontologists spotted three, white, leaf-like imprints—some of it obscured by soot—about 11.5 feet up on the roof opposite the entrance of the iconic sphinx-shaped shelter No 3 of Bhimbetka, also known as the auditorium cave. The researchers were stunned by the fact that they might have just discovered the first ever Indian fossils of the complex early life form called Dickinsonia that thrived just before the explosion of life on the earth in the Cambrian period, which extended from 541 million to 485 million years ago.

The scientists had come to India to attend the 36th International Geological Congress (IGC). The sessions were, however, cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but some of the participants from the US and South Africa, accompanied by a few officers of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) went ahead with their planned pre-conference tour, and Bhimbetka was one of their last destinations.