TeaThe Indian subcontinent is full of unresolved archaeological questions, the biggest and most intriguing of which is all around us – the anatomically modern humans, the magnificent Homo sapiens. For paleontologists and archaeologists working in the field of prehistory, the most important problem revolves around determining the period of dispersal out of Africa by anatomically modern humans into the subcontinent.
Despite being located along the dispersal route of modern humans and boasting a rich palaeontological record, the subcontinent lacks fossil evidence, forcing scholars to rely largely on artifacts. On the basis of artefacts Middle Palaeolithic technology is attributed to modern man. It was a universally accepted view that Middle Palaeolithic (Mesolithic) technology in South Asia was associated with the arrival of Homo sapiens. 125 ka-70 ka (A=thousand years). This date was suggested after an important study carried out at the site of Jwalapuram, where artefacts recovered from sediments beneath the 74 ka youngest Toba Tuff were similar to African Middle Stone Age artefacts. Meanwhile, another theory links the Indian Middle Palaeolithic to the Archaic species (pre-sapiens) and claims that modern humans arrived in India around 71,000–57,000 years ago.
But what happens when the Middle Palaeolithic is pushed back about 100,000 years Back? Would this mean that modern humans spread from Africa to South Asia earlier than thought or that some unknown archaic pre-sapien population invented Middle Palaeolithic technology in India? Archaeologists began to ask this question following the findings of a recent investigation at a prehistoric site hanumanthunipadu made public.
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Middle Palaeolithic in India
Located in the upper Paleru river basin in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, a ditch was dug along the open right bank of the river. The purpose of this excavation was to understand the geological context of the artefacts and to collect samples for luminescence dating. The depth of the excavated trench was 2.65 meters and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts were found at a depth of 2.20 metres.
A total of 305 stone artefacts were excavated at Hanumanthunipadu. These tools were made of medium to fine-grained quartzite, which is available in abundance on the Velikonda hillock, located 20 km west of the site. The artefacts were spotless as there were no signs of abrasion. Tool-making techniques at the site appear to have been advanced with the rare presence of large cutting tools, Levallois, small flakes and retouched tools, which collectively make up the Middle Paleolithic assemblage. But what set the course of the whole research was the luminescence ages of the horizons associated with these artifacts, going back as far as 247,000 years ago (˃247±32 ka). (Devra, Anil et al 2022).
Hanumanthunipadu is not the only site that has yielded early dates of the Middle Palaeolithic horizon in recent times. In fact, dating at the stratified prehistoric site of Attirampakkam, located on the banks of a tributary of the Courtalaiyar River in Tamil Nadu, has shown that the Middle Palaeolithic culture emerged here at 385 ± 64 ka, earlier than is traditionally believed. in South Asia. The Middle Palaeolithic continued here till 172 ka. The researchers observed a steady decline in the use of biface tools, a predominance of smaller tools, the introduction of the distinctive Levallois flake (similar to Hanumanthunipadu), point and blade components, all of which indicate a significant change from the Early Paleolithic or Early Palaeolithic stone. A collection of tools.
The inherent differences between the theories and the absence of any significant fossil marker further complicate the issue. However, from more recent fossil evidence Epidima Cave in Greece (Harvathi et al. 2019) and Missalia Cave in Israel (Hershkowitz et al. 2018) have revised the earliest date for the move of modern man out of Africa to 210 ka, which is closer to that from Hanumanthunipadu.
On the one hand, the two sites offered an opportunity to fill a gap in the understanding of the origin and development of tool technology, a significant change that occurred in India and to establish its contemporaneity with similar processes. Document in Africa and Europe ‘The complex interaction between local development and ongoing global change.’ On the other hand, it brought back to the table the age-old pressing question of who were the makers of these tools 3,00,000-2,00,000 years ago? Were they Homo sapiens, modern humans, archaic hominins, or pre-sapiens?
If modern man moved out of Africa in 210 ka and Middle Palaeolithic sites in India date from before these ages, is it possible that Middle Palaeolithic tools were mastered by another unknown species? Archaeologist Anil Devra, the investigator of Hanumanthunipadu, has also said the same. According to him, ‘Middle Palaeolithic technology in India is indigenously associated with some other archaic hominins and we ask, if archaic hominins had the capacity to invent lithic technology similar to that of Homo sapiens, why did they become extinct and Only Homo Sapiens left? ‘ Whose answer is buried somewhere in the unknown.
Disha Ahluwalia is an archaeologist and Junior Research Fellow at the Indian Council of Historical Research. She tweets @ahluwaliadisha. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)