Abstract Archaeological and geological remains associated with the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) deposits in India are seen as significant proxies for reconstructing (1) initial modern human colonization of India and (2) possible climatic impacts of the Toba super-eruption of 74 ka on the Indian climate and hominin behaviour. In order to gain further insights into the environmental impacts and behavioural adaptations of human populations in India before and after the Toba eruption, we investigated archaeological horizons associated with the Toba ash beds along the Gundlakamma basin in Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Here, lithic artefacts were identified below and above the YTT deposits. The YTT deposits in the Gundlakamma River basin have a maximum thickness of 50 cm, comparatively thinner than those at the better investigated valleys of the adjacent Jurreru and Sagileru in Andhra Pradesh and the Son, Madhya Pradesh, India. Our surveys indicate that the Palaeolithic assemblages associated with YTT deposits from the Gundlakamma River basin can provide significant insights into the issues and debates surrounding the Toba archaeology.

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.