Abstract The western edge of the Deccan Plateau (=Western Uplands) has been depicted in its evolutionary models to be a contiguous crustal block exposing structurally undisturbed subhorizontal stacks of Deccan Trap basalts. The geomorphological and morphometric characteristics of this terrain, Quaternary fluvial sediments capping the Deccan Traps in some river basins, compounded with deformation features in the basalts, and in the overlying sediments, are compiled here. They demonstrate that the Western Upland region of the Deccan Plateau may be constituted of no less than three blocks with differential Quaternary uplift histories, rather than the entire region experiencing a unified uplift.

Abstract Pleistocene vertebrate fossils are prominently known from several regions across the Indian Subcontinent including the Siwalik Hills, the numerous river valleys across India and some cave sites. Unfortunately, most of this evidence is lacking a robust chronological framework and very few fossil specimens have been subjected to absolute dating methods. All of the known fossil evidence is found in diverse sedimentary contexts and these faunal assemblages have mostly been assigned broad or relative age brackets such as Early Pleistocene (i.e. the Pinjore Formation of the Upper Siwalik Subgroup) and Late Pleistocene (almost all the remaining fossil vertebrate fauna in the rest of the Subcontinent). This paper discusses contextual and chronological perspectives and associated interpretative issues of open-air Pleistocene faunal sites south of the Siwalik Hills, such as north-central and peninsular India. For instance, the virtual lack of Early and Middle Pleistocene fauna across most of India requires consideration and explanations beyond just the lack of absolute dates. A general review of the known data demonstrates a critical need for absolute dates for the various fauna as well as more rigorous field and lab methods for Indian palaeontology in general, and to avoid erroneous implications for Indian palaeoanthropology.