The Early Paleolithic of the Indian Subcontinent: Hominin Colonization, Dispersals and Occupation History

Abstract

The Indian subcontinent contains a multitude of Early Paleolithic sites which are important for ­understanding dispersal processes and the paleodemography of early humans. Mode I sites appear to be scarce whereas Acheulean occurrences are found in some abundance, particularly within basins that provided a perennial water supply, high biomass, and raw material sources. Though the record of Acheulean habitation appears to extend over the long term in South Asia, site distributions and site counts do not necessarily imply that populations were large and permanent in any particular region. Acheulean tool-making traditions in South Asia contrast considerably with contemporaneous tool assemblages in East Asia, though there are intriguing technological similarities with the Chinese stone tool assemblages from the Luonan Basin, suggesting a more complicated scenario for the evolution of populations in Asia.