South Asian Stone Age
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| History of South Asia |
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The South Asian Stone Age spans the prehistoric age from the earliest use of stone tools in the Paleolithic period to the rise of agriculture, domestication, and pottery in the Neolithic period across present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. The traditional divisions into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods do not carry precise chronological boundaries; instead, they describe broad phases of technological and cultural development, reflecting assumptions about ways of life based on the tools and artifacts found at various archaeological sites.
The Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) in South Asia began as early as 2.6 million years ago (Ma) based on the earliest known sites with early human activity, namely the Siwalik Hills of northern Pakistan and northwestern India. The Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) is defined as a transitional phase following the end of the Last Glacial Period, beginning around 10000 BCE. The Neolithic (New Stone Age), starting around 7000 BCE, is associated with the emergence of agriculture and other hallmarks of settled life or sedentism. The earliest South Asian neolithic sites include Mehrgarh in present-day Pakistan dated to 6500 BCE [1] and Koldihwa, in present-day Uttar Pradesh, India, where domesticated rice has been radiocarbon dated to around 7000–6000 BCE [2]
Paleolithic
[edit]The Paleolithic in South Asia is also traditionally divided into the Lower, Middle, and Upper Paleolithic periods. The Paleolithic falls within the larger geologic Pleistocene Epoch, which spans from about 2.58 million years ago to 11,700 years ago [3]. As such, the terms Early Pleistocene and Middle Pleistocene are often applied as overlapping geological timeframes in discussions about the Paleolithic.
Lower Paleolithic
[edit]The Lower Paleolithic period in South Asia represents the earliest phase of early human activity in the region and chronologically corresponds with the Early Pleistocene. This archeological record, spanning 2.6 Ma to approximately 300,000 years ago, is marked by both fossils and far moreso, evidence of lithic technology, including those characterized as the Acheulean industry, (which are often attributed to early hominids such as Homo erectus), the Soanian industry, named after the Soan River, a tributary of the Indus, as well as distinct Pre-Acheulean lithic assemblages.
Siwalik Hills
[edit]The Masol site, located in the Siwalik Frontal Range north of Chandigarh, India was surveyed between 2009 and 2011 by an Indo-French research program patroned by Professor Yves Coppens, the College of France and Academy of Sciences and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs[4] .
The site yielded over 1,469 fossils within a stratigraphic layer confirmed by paleomagnetic dating to 2.6 Ma, including 45 fossils with green fractures, 12 with carnivore traces, and 3 with cut marks, found on a tibia shaft from a large herbivore, a bovid shaft, and a rib from a Stegodon (Stegadon insignis) [5]. Although critics have attributed similar types of bone markings elsewhere to large predators or trampling [6], in this case, researchers concluded the "anthropic origin can be in no doubt" based on several lines of evidence. Foremost, the markings closely matched experimental cut marks made by quartzite edges [7] Furthermore, the taphonomic analysis of the Masol site does not suggest dispersal by a natural disaster nor does it provide evidence for animal predation of such large prey. Finally, statistically, researchers noted a relatively high frequency of sharp cut marks—3 out of 1,469 fossils—compared to other sites, such as Java, Indonesia, where only 5 bones out of 30,000 showed similar marks in a locale with substantial fossil evidence of a Homo erectus [8] .
Evidence of anthropic cut marks on fossilized bone in the Himalayan foothills (2.6 Ma) positions South Asia closer to the center of hominin evolution than ever before, suggesting the region was witness to early scavenging behaviors, similar to those observed at sites like Dikika, Ethiopia (3.4 Ma) [9] and Lomekwi, Kenya (3.2 Ma)[10], both earlier and further from Africa than previously considered [11].
Other Lower Paleolithic Sites
[edit]While the Masol site shows evidence of quartzite cut marks, other sites within the same region reveal lithic assemblages capable of producing them. Riwat, located in the Pothohar Plateau is one of the earliest sites containing Pre-Acheulean stone tools dated to around 2.5 Ma.[12] Similarly, the Pabbi Hills in Northern Pakistan have produced stone tools dating between 2.2 to 0.9 Ma.[13]. The stone tools found at these sites, including light and heavy-duty tools like simple end-choppers, represent a distinct, older lithic technology separate from the Acheulean and Soanian traditions [14] .
In terms of later lithic traditions, the Attirampakkam site, located near Chennai, was first identified by the British geologist Robert Bruce Foote in the 1860's. It has produced some of the oldest known Acheulean tools in not just South Asia, but the entire world, indicating that homonins inhabiting the Indian subcontinent were already familiar with bifacial tools, handaxes and cleavers approximately 1.5 Ma. This dating, confirmed by both paleomagnetic and 26Al/10Be burial dating, means that India's oldest Acheulean tools were contemporary to those in Africa and Central Asia and thus challenges the traditional view of Acheulean colonization, suggesting either an earlier spread or independent development of these lithic technologies across several continents[15]
Isampur in Karnataka, India, is one of 200 some Lower Paleolithic Acheulian sites in the Hunasagi and Baichbal valleys, and is dated to about 1.27 Ma [16]. Although older assemblages have been found in Attirampakkam and Bori, Maharashtra (1.4 Ma) [17], Isampur is a unique archological site in that it is a quarry - a site of lithic manufacturing where over 15,000 artifacts have been uncovered. The site has provided insights into a full spectrum of early hominin tool-making processes, from the process of selecting limestone slabs, removing large flakes, and shaping tools into bifaces such as handaxes and cleavers through secondary flaking[18] .
Homo erectus in South Asia
[edit]The presence of Homo erectus in South Asia is largely inferred on the basis of lithic assemblages within the appropriate temporal range of the species duration and commonly, via the association between Acheulian tools and Homo erectus that has been established at other global sites.
Acheulean assemblages have been widespread across South Asia, including the Kortallayar Valley in Tamil Nadu, Hunsgi-Baichbal Valleys in Karnataka (e.g. Isampur), Chirki-Nevasa in Maharashtra, Didwana in Rajasthan, Bhimbetka's rock shelters and its surrounding open-air sites in the Vindhya hills of Madhya Pradesh. These discoveries indicate that Acheulean technology was not confined to a single area but was widespread across the Indian subcontinent, suggesting that associated early hominins like Homo erectus had a broad geographical distribution throughout the region.[19]
Homo sapiens
[edit]Analysis of mitochondrial DNA dates the immigration of Homo sapiens into the subcontinent to 75,000 to 50,000 years ago.[20][21] Cave sites in Sri Lanka have yielded non-mitochondrial record of Homo sapiens in South Asia, dated to 34,000 years ago.(Kennedy 2000: 180) Microlithic assemblages at the sites of Mahadebbera and Kana, West Bengal, India, have been dated to between 42,000 and 25,000 years ago using Optically Stimulated Luminescence, indicating an earlier presence of homo sapiens, and more specifically, microlithic technology, in South Asia than previously documented.[22] For finds from the Belan in southern Uttar Pradesh, India radiocarbon data have indicated an age of 18,000-17,000 years.
At the rock shelters of Bhimbetka there are cave paintings dating to c. 30,000 BCE,[23][24] and there are small cup like depressions at the end of the Auditorium Rock Shelter, which is dated to nearly 100,000 years;[25] the Sivaliks and the Potwar (Pakistan) region also exhibit many vertebrate fossil remains and paleolithic tools. Chert, jasper and quartzite were often used by humans during this period.[26]
Neolithic
[edit]In northern India the aceramic Neolithic (Mehrgarh I, Baluchistan, Pakistan, also dubbed "Early Food Producing Era") lasts c. 7000 - 5500 BCE. The ceramic Neolithic lasts up to 3300 BCE, blending into the Early Harappan (Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age) period. One of the earliest Neolithic sites is Lahuradewa in the Middle Ganges region and Jhusi near the confluence of Ganges and Yamuna rivers, both dating to around the 7th millennium BCE.[27][28] Recently another site along the ancient Saraswati riverine system in the present day state of Haryana in India called Bhirrana has been discovered yielding a dating of around 7600 BCE for its Neolithic levels.[29]
In South India the Neolithic began after 3000 BCE and lasted until around 1000 BCE.[30] South Indian Neolithic is characterized by Ashmounds since 2500 BCE in the Andhra-Karnataka region that expanded later into Tamil Nadu. Comparative excavations carried out in Adichanallur in the Thirunelveli District and in Northern India have provided evidence of a southward migration of the Megalithic culture.[31] The earliest clear evidence of the presence of the megalithic urn burials are those dating from around 1000 BCE, which have been discovered at various places in Tamil Nadu, notably at Adichanallur, 24 kilometers from Tirunelveli, where archaeologists from the Archaeological Survey of India unearthed 12 urns containing human skulls, skeletons and bones, husks, grains of charred rice and Neolithic celts, confirming the presence of the Neolithic period 2800 years ago. Archaeologists have made plans to return to Adhichanallur as a source of new knowledge in the future.[32][33]
See also
[edit]- History of Afghanistan
- History of Bangladesh
- History of Bhutan
- History of India
- History of Maldives
- History of Nepal
- History of Pakistan
- History of Sri Lanka
- Prehistoric Asia
Notes
[edit]- ^ Coningham, Robin (2015). The Archaeology of South Asia: From the Indus to Asoka, c. 6500 BCE–200 CE. Cambridge University Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-0-521-84697-4.
- ^ Singh, Purushottam (2008). Srivastava, Vinod Chandra (ed.). History of Agriculture in India, up to c. 1200 AD. Concept Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 9788180695216.
- ^ Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy. International Commission on Stratigraphy. "Major Divisions". Retrieved 25 September 2019. quaternary.stratigraphy.org
- ^ Dambricourt Malassé, A., Moigne, A.-M., Singh, M., Calligaro, T., Karir, B., Gaillard, C., Kaur, A., Bhardwaj, V., Pal, S., Abdessadok, S., Chapon Sao, C., Gargani, J., Tudryn, A., & Garcia Sanz, M. (2016). Intentional cut marks on bovid from the Quranwala zone, 2.6 Ma, Siwalik Frontal Range, northwestern India. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 15(3–4), 317-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2015.09.019.
- ^ Moigne, A. M., et al. "The faunal assemblage of the paleonto-archeological localities of Masol Formation, Late Pliocene Quranwala Zone, NW India." Human origins on the Indian sub-continent. CR Palevol 15 (2016): 47-58.
- ^ Morton, M. C. (2015). Butchery or trampling? Controversy marks ancient animal bones. Earth Magazine. https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/butchery-or-trampling-controversy-marks-ancient-animal-bones
- ^ Dambricourt Malassé, A., Moigne, A.-M., Singh, M., Calligaro, T., Karir, B., Gaillard, C., Kaur, A., Bhardwaj, V., Pal, S., Abdessadok, S., Chapon Sao, C., Gargani, J., Tudryn, A., & Garcia Sanz, M. (2016). Intentional cut marks on bovid from the Quranwala zone, 2.6 Ma, Siwalik Frontal Range, northwestern India. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 15(3–4), 317-339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2015.09.019.
- ^ Choi, K. (2003). Subsistence and tool use behavior of Homo erectus in Java: An experimental and taphonomic approach (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Wisconsin-Madison).
- ^ Thompson, J. C., Shannon, P., McPherron, S. P., Bobe, R., Reed, D., Barr, W. A., Wynn, J. G., Marean, C. W., Geraads, D., & Alemseged, Z. (2015). Taphonomy of fossils from the hominin-bearing deposits at Dikika, Ethiopia. Journal of Human Evolution, 86, 112-135. [1](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.05.013)
- ^ Harmand, S., Lewis, J. E., Feibel, C. S., Lepre, C. J., Prat, S., Lenoble, A., Boës, X., Quinn, R. L., Brenet, M., Arroyo, A., Taylor, N., Clément, S., Daver, G., Brugal, J. P., Leakey, L., Mortlock, R. A., Wright, J. D., Lokorodi, S., Kirwa, C., Kent, D. V., & Roche, H. (2015). 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. Nature, 521, 310-315. [2](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14464)
- ^ Dambricourt Malassé, A. (2016). The first Indo-French Prehistorical Mission in Siwaliks and the discovery of anthropic activities at 2.6 million years. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 15(3–4), 281-294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2015.12.001.
- ^ R.W. Dennell, Grasslands, tool-making and the Hominid colonization of southern Asia: a reconsideration, in M.D. Petraglia, R. Korisettar (Eds.), Early Human Behaviour in Global Context, Routledge, London (1998), pp. 280-303.
- ^ Dennell, R., Coard, R., & Turner, A. (2006). The biostratigraphy and magnetic polarity zonation of the Pabbi Hills, northern Pakistan: An Upper Siwalik (Pinjor Stage) Upper Pliocene–Lower Pleistocene fluvial sequence. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 234(2–4), 168-185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.10.008
- ^ Gaillard, C., Singh, M., Dambricourt Malassé, A., Bhardwaj, V., Karir, B., Kaur, A., Pal, S., Moigne, A.-M., Chapon Sao, C., Abdessadok, S., Gargani, J., & Tudryn, A. (2016). The lithic industries on the fossiliferous outcrops of the Late Pliocene Masol Formation, Siwalik Frontal Range, northwestern India (Punjab). Comptes Rendus Palevol, 15(3–4), 341-357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crpv.2015.12.002
- ^ Pappu, S., Gunnell, Y., Akhilesh, K., Braucher, R., Taieb, M., Demory, F., & Thouveny, N. (2011). Early Pleistocene Presence of Acheulian Hominins in South India. Science, 331(6024), 1596-1599. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1200183
- ^ Paddayya, K. (2002). "Recent findings on the Acheulian of the Hunsgi and Baichbal valleys, Karnataka, with special reference to the Isampur excavation and its dating". Current Science. 83 (5): 641–647.
- ^ Korisettar, R., et al. (1988-89). Age of the Bori volcanic ash and Lower Palaeolithic culture of the Kukdi Valley, Maharashtra. Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute, 47/48, 135-137. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42930220
- ^ Paddayya, K., Jhaldiyal, R., & Petraglia, M. (2000). Excavation of an Acheulian workshop at Isampur, Karnataka (India). Antiquity, 74, 751-752. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00060269
- ^ Misra, V. N. (2001). Acheulian culture in Peninsular India: An ecological perspective. In Paddayya, K. (Ed.), Recent Studies in Indian Archaeology (pp. 491-531). Pune: Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute.
- ^ Alice Roberts (2010). The Incredible Human Journey. A&C Black. p. 90.
- ^ James & Petraglia 2005, S6.
- ^ Basak, Bishnupriya; Srivastava, Pradeep (Fall 2017). "Earliest Dates of Microlithic Industries (42-25 ka) from West Bengal, Eastern India: New Light on Modern Human Occupation in the Indian Subcontinent". Asian Perspectives: The Journal of Archaeology for Asia and the Pacific. 56 (2): 237+. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Doniger, Wendy (2010) [First published 2009]. The Hindus: An Alternative History. Oxford University Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-19-959334-7.
- ^ Jarzombek, Mark M. (2014) [First published 2013]. Architecture of First Societies: A Global Perspective. John Wiley & Sons. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-118-42105-5.
- ^ Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. "World Heritage Sites - Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- ^ "Chert: Sedimentary Rock - Pictures, Definition, Formation". geology.com. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
- ^ Fuller, Dorian (2006). "Agricultural Origins and Frontiers in South Asia: A Working Synthesis" (PDF). Journal of World Prehistory. 20: 42. doi:10.1007/s10963-006-9006-8. S2CID 189952275.
- ^ Tewari, Rakesh et al. 2006. "Second Preliminary Report of the excavations at Lahuradewa, District Sant Kabir Nagar, UP 2002-2003-2004 & 2005-06" in Pragdhara No. 16 "Electronic Version p.28" Archived 2007-11-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Haryana's Bhirrana oldest Harappan site, Rakhigarhi Asia's largest: ASI". Times of India. 15 April 2015.
- ^ Murphy, C.; et al. (2017). "The Agriculture of Early India". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.013.169.
- ^ Sastri, Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta (1976). A History of South India. Oxford University Press. pp. 49–51. ISBN 978-0-19-560686-7.
- ^ Subramanian, T. S. (2004-05-26). "Skeletons, script found at ancient burial site in Tamil Nadu". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2004-07-01. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
- ^ Zvelebil, Kamil A. (1992). Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 21–22. ISBN 978-90-04-09365-2.
The most interesting prehistoric remains in Tamil India were discovered at Adichanallur ... There is a series of urn burials ... seem to be related to the megalithic complex.
References
[edit]- Kennedy, Kenneth Adrian Raine (2000). God-Apes and Fossil Men: Palaeoanthropology of South Asia. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0472110131.
- James, Hannah V. A.; Petraglia, Michael D. (December 2005). "Modern Human Origins and the Evolution of Behavior in the Later Pleistocene Record of South Asia" (PDF). Current Anthropology. 46 (Supplement): S3. doi:10.1086/444365. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-002B-0DBC-F. S2CID 12529822. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2006.
- Misra, V. N. (November 2001). "Prehistoric human colonization of India". Journal of Biosciences. 26 (4): 491–531. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.628.6715. doi:10.1007/BF02704749. PMID 11779962. S2CID 26248907.
- Biagi P, Kazi M M e Negrino F. 1996. An Acheulian workshop at Ziarat Pir Shaban on the Rohri Hills (Sindh - Pakistan). South Asian Studies, 12: 49–62. Cambridge.
- Biagi P, Kazi M.M, Madella M e Ottomano C. 1998-2000 - Excavations at the Late Palaeolithic site of ZPS2 in the Rohri Hills, Sindh, Pakistan. Origini, XXII: 111–133. Roma.
- Biagi P. 2003-2004 - The Mesolithic Settlement of Sindh (Pakistan): A Preliminary Assessment. Praehistoria, 4-5: 195–220. Miskolc.
- Biagi P. 2011 - Late (Upper) Palaeolithic Sites at Jhimpir in Lower Sindh (Pakistan). In Taskiran H., Kartal M., Özcelik K., Kösem M.B. and Kartal G. (eds.) Iş?n Yalç?nkaya'ya Armagan. Ankara University, Ankara: 67–84.
- Biagi P. and Nisbet R. 2011 - The Palaeolithic sites at Ongar in Sindh, Pakistan: a precious archaeological resource in danger. Antiquity Project Gallery. Antiquity 85 (329): 1–6. August 2011. http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/biagi329/. Cambridge.
- P. Biagi and E. Starnini 2014 - The Levallois Mousterian assemblages of Sindh (Pakistan) and their relations with the Middle Palaeolithic in the Indian Subcontinent. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia, 42 (1): 18-32 (Elsevier English edition). Doi: 10.1016/j.aeae.2014.10.002.
- P. Biagi 2015 - Modeling the Past: The Paleoethnological Evidence. In W. Henke, I Tattersall (eds) Handbook of Paleoanthropology. Springer Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg (2nd revised Edition): 817-843 Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-27800-6_24-3.
- P. Biagi 2017 - Why so many different stones? The Late (Upper) Palaeolithic of Sindh reconsidered. Journal of Asian Civilizations, 40 (1): 1-40.
- P. Biagi and E. Starnini E. 2018 - Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the Indus Valley? The Middle and Late (Upper) Palaeolithic Settlement of Sindh, a Forgotten Region of the Indian Subcontinent. In: Nishiaki Y. and Akazawa T. (eds.) The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Archeology of the Levant and Beyond. Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans Series. Springer, Singapore: 175–197. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-6826-3_12.
External links
[edit]- Modern Humans Arrival In South Asia May Have Led To Demise Of Indigenous Populations (ScienceDaily 2005)
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