cave, which soon became famous for their depth of color and depictions of animals, hands, and abstract shapes. Chauvet Cave (France) – some of the earliest cave paintings known, and considered among the most important prehistoric art sites. Coliboaia cave (Romania) contains the oldest known cave paintings of Central Europe, radiocarbon dated to 32,000 and 35,000 BP El Castillo cave, one of the Monte Castillo caves (Spain) – contains decorations in red ochre paint which has been blown onto the walls in the forms of hand stencils as long as 37,000 years ago, and painted dots. One faint red dot has been dated to 40,800 years ago, making it the oldest dated cave decoration in the world. Lascaux caves (France) – contains some of the best known artworks of early painters, many of those portraying large animals. Bhimbetka rock shelters (India) – the shelters, decorated with art from 30,000 years ago, contain the oldest evidence of artists exhibiting their work on the Indian sub-continent. Gravettian The Gravettian spans the Last Glacial Maximum, ca. 33–21 kya. The Solutrean (c. 22–17 kya) may or may not be included as the final phase of the Gravettian. Numerous Venus figurines from the Gravettian have been found including: Venus of Dolní Věstonice, Venus of Brassempouy, Venus of Laussel, Venus of Lespugue, Venus of Moravany, Venus of Galgenberg, Venus of Petřkovice, Venus of Savignano, Venus of Willendorf Cosquer Cave (France) – hand stencils from 27,000 years ago, and 19,000-year-old animal drawings that portray bison, ibex, horses, seals and what may be auks and jellyfish, showcase this gallery. Caves of Gargas, France, features numerous negative hand stencils, some with one or more fingers absent. Epigravettian, Magdalenian Cave art Chufin cave (Spain) – small cave with engravings, stick figures, and artwork schematically portraying red deer, goats and cattle. Côa Valley (Portugal) – artists engraved thousands of drawings of horses and other animal, human and abstract figures in open-air artwork completed 22,000 to 10,000 years ago. Font-de-Gaume in south-west France contains over 200 polychrome paintings and engravings from artists who worked over 17,000 years ago. The cave's most famous painting is a frieze of five bison, although renditions of many other animals, including wolves, are featured. Kapova cave in southern Ural Mountains (Russia) – presently 173 monochromatic ochre rock paintings and charcoal drawings or their traces are documented, presenting Pleistocene animals and abstract geometric motives. They are about 18,000