Early Middle Palaeolithic culture in India around 385-172 ka reframes Out of Africa models (original) (raw)

The lower Paleolithic of the Indian subcontinent

Evolutionary Anthropology, 2009

This broad overview highlights the Indian subcontinent as an important and exciting source of new discoveries regarding Lower Paleolithic hominins and their biological and behavioral evolution. Broadly situated in the center of the Old World, the region arbitrarily encompasses Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan; it represents the richest easternmost domain of classic Acheulean bifaces in the Old World.1 The region comprises diverse ecological zones with complex geological and climatic histories, including a bi-annual monsoon prevalent since the Miocene, all of which had major impacts on faunal and floral distributions and associated hominin adaptations.

THE GLOBAL CONTEXT OF LOWER PALAEOLITHIC INDIAN PALAEOART

This paper begins by reviewing the art-like productions currently known from the world's Lower Palaeolithic period. In order to place the evidence known from India into this context, it then describes the available Lower Palaeolithic evidence from that country. It also reviews the Lower Palaeolithic hominin occupation evidence from India in some detail.

The South Asian Paleolithic record and its potential for transitions studies

Sourcebook of Paleolithic Transitions, 2009

The Indian subcontinent contains a rich and continuous behavioral record of hominin occupation since at least the early Middle Pleistocene. All lithic assemblages demonstrate the presence of Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic features and variable patterns of blank reduction, being in general congruence with other parts of the Old World. However, empirical lacunae continue to persist, such as the lack of absolute dates for many important sites and well-excavated spatial information. As a result, it has been challenging to assess the timings and nature of these technological transitions and compare that data with other regions. Although broad ages have been assigned to most assemblages on the basis of lithic typology, stratigraphy, and biochronology, they are inadequate when discussing the precise causes of the behavioral shifts and resulting adaptive strategies. Accumulated data, to date, reflect diverse techniques of raw material acquisition, transport, and reduction. The few stratified sites that have yielded evidence of technological phases include both open-air and rockshelter/cave contexts. Both the Lower to Middle and Middle to Upper Paleolithic transitions vary at an interregional level, particularly in peninsular India. This probably reflects the collective impact of a suite of factors: demography, raw material type, topographical prominence, water resources, cognitive capabilities, mobility and settlement patterns, and subsequent hominin dispersals from peripheral regions. This paper discusses the dynamic character of the archaeological record in Pleistocene South Asia and attempts to highlight key behavioral changes. From a broader comparative perspective, the general contextual, technological, and chronological attributes are also discussed for the best-known sites.