**1. Introduction**

Human evolutionary studies or paleoanthropological research are constantly yielding new information and thus revising previously assumed hypotheses as well as generating new ones. While Africa and Europe have dominated the bulk of our knowledge on human evolution over the last century, various parts of Asia are yielding new and unexpected paleoanthropological surprises. One of these vital Asian regions is South Asia or the Indian Subcontinent, its prehistory being known and regularly highlighted since the nineteenth century [1] and predominantly includes stone tool assemblages from various time periods ranging from the Lower Paleolithic to the Neolithic [2]. Prehistoric evidence is known from throughout the Subcontinent with specific geographic pockets as being exceptions due to various

factors including research bias as well as other natural attributes. Lithic assemblages belonging to all prehistoric phases have been reported including Lower Paleolithic (Oldowan and Acheulean), Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic and microlithic/ Mesolithic. Despite this large body of known evidence, very few sites have been properly dated using absolute dating techniques. The earlier results, though obtained through different dating methods [3, 4], should be viewed as provisional until verified by newly-available dating techniques. For example, some U-Th dates (between <390 Ka and < 131 Ka) processed a few decades ago at a multi-period site in Rajasthan have now been revised to younger estimates using the luminescence method e.g. [5], leading to a re-interpretation of that cultural sequence [6]. The persistent marginal profile of hominin fossils continues to afflict Indian prehistory and more systematic surveys are required to identify new areas with vertebrate fossil preservation. The only known pre-modern hominin fossils in the subcontinent, which may be contemporary with the Late or terminal Acheulean phase, come from Hathnora and nearby localities in the central Narmada Valley. They include a partial calvarium, possibly female, and possibly associated clavicles and a rib fragment, all

#### **Figure 1.**

*Map of dated Paleolithic technologies across the Indian subcontinent including Pakistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka (LP: Lower Paleolithic; a: Acheulean; EA: Early Acheulean; LA: Late Acheulean; MP: Middle Paleolithic; UP: Upper Paleolithic; M: Microlithic; MC: Multi-cultural; OES: Ostrich eggshell).*

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**Table 1.**

*List of dated prehistoric sites in the Indian subcontinent.*

*Human Evolution in the Center of the Old World: An Updated Review of the South Asian…*

**Site Age Techno-chronology** Masol 2.6 Ma? pre-Acheulean Riwat (Pakistan) ~2 Ma Pre-Acheulean Pabbi Hills (Pakistan) 2.2–0.9 Ma Pre-Acheulean

Attirampakkam 1.5 Ma & 385–73 Ka Acheulean & Middle Paleolithic

Isampur 1.27 Ma? Acheulean Singi Talav ~800 Ka? Acheulean Dhansi >780 Ka Undiagnostic Morgaon >780 Ka & 41 Ka Acheulean Dina & Jalapur ~700–400 Ka Acheulean Chirki Nevasa >350 Ka Acheulean Sadab 290 Ka Acheulean Teggihalli 287 Ka Acheulean Umrethi >190 Ka Acheulean Kaldevanhalli 174 Ka Acheulean Patpara & Bamburi 1 140–120 Ka Acheulean Bori 1.38 Ma to 23 Ka Acheulean Adi Chadi Wao 190 to 69 Ka Acheulean 16R (Didwana) 187 Ka - 6 Ka Multi-period Sandhav 114 Ka Middle Paleolithic Bhimbetka Rockshelter III-F23 >106 Ka & >41 Ka Multi-period Nakjhar Khurd >100 Ka Acheulean Durkadi <100 Ka Multi-period Kataoti 95 Ka Middle Paleolithic Dhaba 79–65 Ka & 48 Ka Middle Paleolithic & microlithic Jwalapuram 77–38 Ka & 35 Ka Middle Paleolithic and microlithic

recovered over a decade [7, 8]. The calvarium, originally identified as an "advanced" *Homo erectus*, was later reclassified as an archaic or early form of *H. sapiens* [9, 10]. Phylogenetic reevaluation of the calvarium reveals that it shares key morphological

Mehtakheri 48 Ka Microlithic Fa-Hien Lena (Sri Lanka) 48 Ka microlithic Kalpi 45 Ka Middle Paleolithic Site 55 (Pakistan) 45 Ka Upper Paleolithic Kitulgala beli-Lena (Sri Lanka) 45 Ka microlithic Sanghao Cave (Pakistan) 42 Ka Middle Paleolithic Kana 42 Ka Microlithic Batadomba Lena (Sri Lanka) 36 Ka microlithic Mahadebbera 34 Ka Microlithic Arjun 3 (Nepal) >30 Ka? Middle Paleolithic Patne 30 Ka Multi-period

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94265*


*Human Evolution in the Center of the Old World: An Updated Review of the South Asian… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94265*

### **Table 1.**

*List of dated prehistoric sites in the Indian subcontinent.*

recovered over a decade [7, 8]. The calvarium, originally identified as an "advanced" *Homo erectus*, was later reclassified as an archaic or early form of *H. sapiens* [9, 10]. Phylogenetic reevaluation of the calvarium reveals that it shares key morphological

features with both *H. heidelbergensis and H. erectus* [11]; it has been most recently classified as *Homo* sp. indet. [12]. The oldest fossil evidence for *Homo sapiens* is dated to ~38 Ka and currently comes from Sri Lanka, while all younger evidence comes from multiple sites across India [13, 14].

What is also largely missing is direct evidence for butchery in the form of cutmarked fossil bones; some possible exceptions include Isampur [15] and Masol [16], both of which require further verification and substantiation through more evidence. Additionally, use-wear analyses and other scientific methods such as residue analysis are also required on well-preserved lithic assemblages. Other types of evidence that are poorly known is the age and nature of symbolic behavior (see [17]) as well as the nature of technological transitions. Indeed, there has been a recent global movement to decolonize earlier interpretations of hominin dispersals and population replacements across the Old World [18]. This also includes India, where earlier historical interpretations defined the Upper Paleolithic and modern human behavior based on the then-known European evidence [19]. Numerous reviews of the South Asian region's prehistoric records have been published elsewhere (e.g. [3, 4, 20–28]). Over three dozen Paleolithic and early microlithic sites have been dated in Pakistan [29–33], India [5, 14, 16, 34–58], Nepal [59] and Sri Lanka [60–63] since the 1980s onwards, using different relative and absolute dating methods including biochronology, palaeomagnetism, stratigraphic correlation, U-Th, U-series, K-Ar, Ar-Ar, luminescence, electron spin resonance, radiocarbon (calibrated and uncalibrated) and AMS. These various ages range from ~2.6 Ma to ~35 Ka, and include geographically random sites belonging to various prehistoric technologies including Oldowan-like, Acheulean, Middle Paleolithic, Upper Paleolithic and the earliest microlithic assemblages (**Figure 1** and **Table 1**). While broad summaries are provided here, the primary goal of this paper is to highlight the most salient attributes of this zone, provide specific updates to previously known data and discuss possible implications of new discoveries from surrounding regions outside the Subcontinent.
