Abstract Rivers and river-borne deposits have always been a major attraction for hominins as an important source of sustenance and settlements. Hence, fluvial deposits have long been an important source of evidence for early human occupation throughout the Old World. Apart from being an important palaeoclimatic marker, fluvial sequences have provided archaeologists with frameworks for correlation, along with Palaeolithic markers discovered within them. Moreover, given the influx of sediments eroded and deposited by Indian rivers, these could have acted as a centre of hominin activities. Palaeolithic research in India has been concentrated around some of its major river valleys, which have yielded a rich record of hominin occupation. So far, 305 Palaeolithic sites have been reported from a gravel context throughout the country, yielding Lower to Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic evidence. However, most of the derived evidence is secondary deposits and stands contested based on its contextuality. Nevertheless, its importance as a source of information about hominin activity cannot be underestimated. This review presents a provisional synthesis of all of the Indian Palaeolithic sites reported from gravel contexts, thereby presenting scope for future multidisciplinary research at these localities.

Abstract In glacier-fed Baspa River valley, Late Quaternary climatic changes are archived in the terraces, fan and landslide deposits. An initial optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) based stratigraphy of these deposits is developed to deduce geomorphic evolution and palaeoclimatic changes. The data show large alluvial fan progradation around Sangla till c. 45 ka (middle of marine isotope stage 3 or MIS-3) due to glacial retreat and readjustment of glacigenic sediment under warm and humid conditions followed by incision. During the end phase of MIS-3 (>23 ka), intensified precipitation blocked the river course near Sangla and Kharogla by rock avalanches and imposed lacustrine conditions which recorded sedimentation until the beginning of Holocene ( c. 11.4 ka). Reduced sedimentation in these lakes during the last glacial maximum (LGM) c. 23–18 ka suggests a cold and arid climate, whereas increased sedimentation during c. 18–11.5 ka indicates a warm and humid climate post-LGM. A palaeolake breach occurred during early Holocene and incision continued throughout the Holocene, with a pulse of fluvial aggradation during c. 9.1–6.5 ka over lacustrine remnant. In the upper reach of the valley (Chitkul area), coeval aggradation continued from >28 ka until c. 19 ka (MIS-3 to LGM) under cold and relatively arid conditions. This study emphasizes that Late Quaternary geomorphic evolution of Baspa valley is well synchronous with glacial fluctuations and the rapid response of the glacifluvial system to Indian summer monsoon (ISM) dynamics.