The lower Paleolithic of the Indian subcontinent (original) (raw)
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A Decade of Paleoanthropology in the Indian Subcontinent (2005–2015)
Recently, there has been a significant increase in paleoanthropological research in India and the surrounding regions, addressing a wide range of topics and research problems. For example, just the last decade has witnessed numerous publications-journal articles and edited volumes spanning the disciplines of Paleolithic and Mesolithic archaeologydescribing the results of new surveys, excavations, museum-based research, experimental archaeology, laboratory methods, and biographical sketches of important past scholars and their contributions (e.) have also recently been published. This chapter reviews the most recent important archaeological and associated evidence for paleoanthropology in South Asia (see Map 1), leaving aside the hominin fossil record (Sankhyan, Chapter 6 in this volume), the genetic evidence (e.g., Mellars et al., 2013; Stoneking, Chapter 4 in this volume), and recent work related to the migration routes for the peopling of South Asia (Korisettar, Chapter 5 in this volume), as these topics are reviewed elsewhere.
Current Anthropology, 2017
The Indian subcontinent lies on a key east-west corridor for hominin expansions across Asia, which has led to it playing a prominent role in debate surrounding the dispersal of modern humans. The current geography and ecology of the region consists of a diverse array of habitats. An examination of changes in monsoonal intensity indicates that geographic reconfiguration of ecological diversity occurred, but at a regional level, South Asia is shown to provide suitable environments for hominin occupations throughout the Late Pleistocene. Unfortunately, the fossil record of South Asia remains poor, preventing decisive resolution of modern human dispersal debates. However, in the past decade new interdisciplinary approaches to the archaeological record have overhauled the framework for understanding behavioral change during the Late Pleistocene. While the nature of the Late Acheulean to Middle Paleolithic transition remains to be resolved, it is now clear that it appears significantly later than in other Old World regions and may coincide with the expansion of modern humans across Asia. Mounting evidence supports a gradual rather than abrupt transition from Middle to Late Paleolithic technologies, which does not easily reconcile with arguments for the introduction of microlithic tool kits by the earliest expansions of modern humans.
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.
Rethinking the Past: A Tribute to Professor V.N. Misra (ISPQS Monograph no.7), 2017
The present paper discusses Acheulian artefacts collected from various geomorphic contexts in the Deccan trap region of the upper Krishna basin. Primary data has been generated over the years and hence the focus of this paper is on some of the unique artefacts within the assemblage. These artefacts suggest early hominin adaptability in varied contexts. The use of large flakes has also been briefly dealt with in this paper.
New Postcranial Hominin Fossils from the Central Narmada Valley, India
Hathnora in Central Narmada valley (Madhya Pradesh) has earlier yielded a partial skullcap, and two cla-vicles and a 9th rib of Middle Pleistocene hominins. Recent explorations have brought to light two more hominin fossils—a humerus and a femur from a new locality, Netankheri. The femur is derived from the Middle Pleistocene stratigraphic horizon as the Hathnora skullcap, and shares similar “archaic” mosaic morphology of Homo heidelbergensis, also attested by new bio-stratigraphic and Palaeolithic data. The humerus is derived from the pre-YTA (~75 Kya) Upper Pleistocene strata in association with unique fos-silized bone artifacts and documents the early emergence of anatomically modern Homo sapiens in South Asia.