Abstract The Sonar River Valley is centrally located in Madhya Pradesh, flanked by rich Palaeolithic and fossiliferous localities in the Son and Narmada valleys and has historically been overlooked in favour of the latter rivers, which tend to preserve well-stratified Quaternary formations along varying portions of their length. Here an attempt is made to look at the Sonar Basin through a broader lens, examining the various landforms found in the district of Damoh through which the Sonar flows before joining the Ken. The objective of this paper is threefold: to bring together the geomorphology of the area both in association with and as a result of fluvial action but also as a product of other geomorphic processes; to understand the consequences these processes have for the visibility of the prehistoric archaeological record within the region; and to look at this geoarchaeological relationship in the wider context of some of the major river basins in Madhya Pradesh, notably the Son and Narmada. Secondary sources on geology and geoarchaeology have been integrated with preliminary fieldwork in Districts Damoh and Narsinghpur, and to a smaller extent in Sagar, Chhatarpur and Panna. This work demonstrates the complexity of the South Asian Palaeolithic record that stretches beyond fluvial contexts, in turn helping to spatially expand our understanding of hominin behaviour beyond narrow riverine corridors.

Abstract Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Narmada River Valley has been well known for discoveries of abundant vertebrate fossil localities, a wide range of prehistoric archaeological assemblages and the first-known hominin fossil site in India at Hathnora. The fossil and archaeological remains are found in various sedimentary contexts: boulder conglomerate, pebble-rich sand, cross-bedded, coarse-to-fine sand and reddish brown clay in the Early to Late Pleistocene deposits. Our preliminary field investigations in the Narsinghpur region of the basin mark the presence of 26 individual localities within a stretch of 70 km of the Narmada River and adjoining tributaries. Each location was documented by GPS and the geological details were recorded while collecting the fossils. Past and current palaeontological research has revealed that a variety of fauna adapted to the sub-humid climate of both aquatic and terrestrial landscapes that thrived in this area during the Pleistocene period. One of our long-term goals is to understand the reasons for the high number of palaeontological occurrences compared with other parts of India and use such information to predict the locations of new occurrences, including hominin fossils. Various taphonomic processes in this region are responsible for the preservation and destruction of fossil assemblages in different geological formations: soil type, climatic conditions, rich calcium carbonate presence, encrustation, patination and modern anthropogenic activities (among others). Most of the fossil localities are found at an elevation range of 310–350 m above mean sea level (AMSL). The Narmada Basin was inhabited by prehistoric human populations and a variety of fauna, as evidenced by the ample lithic and fossil assemblages across the region. There are definitive contextual patterns of occurrences of the Quaternary vertebrate fossils and archaeological assemblages in the landscape, which require detailed investigations and mapping to understand the spatial distribution pattern and nature of associated sedimentary environments. In addition, this uniquely fossil-rich area requires proper protection and long-term preservation as it is heavily impacted by modern anthropogenic factors such as agriculture, sand mining and other activities.

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.