Abstract Landscape adaptation in central India is quite exceptional, as more than 300 Lower Palaeolithic occurrences have been reported in different contexts. The present work deals with these assemblages and associated raw material sources in the central Narmada Valley. The central Narmada Valley is rich in various rock types that were used as raw material by various hominin populations. The Narmada River divides the region into northern and southern parts. In the north, there are mainly the Vindhyan Supergroup and Deccan Trap, whereas, in the south, there are primarily the Gondwana Supergroup, the Deccan Traps and the Mahakoshal Group. Along the river, there are exposures of the Vindhyan Supergroup and thick deposits of Quaternary alluvium. The main raw material types in the north of Narmada are quartzite and sandstone (Vindhyan Supergroup), whereas, in the south of Narmada, the main raw materials are quartzite (Gondwana Supergroup) and chert (Deccan Trap). Acheulean sites are mostly found along the foothills of Vindhyan, as well as along the banks of the Narmada River and its tributaries. In this chapter, the author has tried to link these raw material sources with the occurrences of Palaeolithic sites in order to have a better understanding of past hominin land-use patterns and ecological adaptations.

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 The earliest occurrence of microliths in South Asia dates back to the Late Pleistocene at Mehtakheri (45 ka) and Dhaba (48 ka) in Central India, Jwalapuram 9 in Southern India (38 ka), Kana and Mahadebbara in Northeastern India (42–25 ka) and Batadomba-Lena (35–36 ka) and Fa Hien Lena (48 ka) in Sri Lanka. Microlithic technology is distributed across the entire Indian Subcontinent and chronologically continues up to the Iron Age and Early Historic periods. This chapter discusses new data acquired from the first author's doctoral research in the two districts of Madhya Pradesh (Hoshangabad – now renamed Narmadapuram – and Sehore), which fall within the central part of the Narmada Basin in central India. We present here preliminary dates from key areas of distribution to understand the geochronological contexts of microliths at Pilikarar, Morpani and Gurla-Sukkarwada. Initial dates from these respective occurrences range between 14 ka and 3 ka.

Abstract Whether scavenging or hunting, the consumption of large mammals is very prominent in the history of humankind. During the Lower Palaeolithic period, the abundance of large cutting tools found indicates increased meat consumption. Evidence has demonstrated this at various African and European sites where direct links between lithic and faunal assemblages have been made, for instance cut-marked bones and use-wear studies. On the Indian Subcontinent, there is a lack of direct evidence on animal remains in archaeological contexts (with one exception); however, there are numerous sites where animal fossils and lithic artefacts occur in shared contextual associations. The present paper is concerned with the relationships between the lithic and faunal assemblages in archaeological contexts, particularly the occurrence of bifaces and large mammalian fossils in Lower Palaeolithic assemblages with specific reference to the central Indian zone. Without the confirmation of anthropogenic signatures on Pleistocene faunal remains, it is not easy to assess whether a particular assemblage has the contemporaneous deposition of the two datasets or not. Here, we present a review of archaeological and faunal records in the central Narmada Valley and explore the possible associative evidence of human–animal interactions.

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.

During the last two decades, extensive paleontological research in the main Deccan volcanic province has led to a better understanding of biodiversity close to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. Several infratrappean localities exposed in Jabalpur, Kheda, Balasinor, Rahioli, Dohad, and Bagh in the Narmada Valley (India) preserve one of the most geographically widespread dinosaur nesting sites known in the world. The well-studied intertrappean beds, such as those of Naskal on the southern margin, Asifabad and Nagpur on the eastern margin, Kisalpuri and Mohgaon Kalan on the northeastern margin, and Anjar on the northwestern margin of the main Deccan volcanic province, have yielded Maastrichtian fish ( Igdabatis ) and dinosaur remains and palynofossils ( Aquilapollenites - Gabonisporites - Ariadnaesporites ), either separately or in association, that suggest a Maastrichtian age for these beds. Only two intertrappean sections, Papro on the northern margin and Jhilmili on the northeastern margin of the main Deccan volcanic province, have produced Paleocene fossils. The fossil record from the infratrappean and intertrappean beds demonstrates that the dinosaurs survived the early phase of volcanism, though there was an apparent decline in their diversity, and that freshwater vertebrate fauna was least affected by the initial volcanic activity. The episodic nature of Deccan volcanism may possibly explain the survival of many freshwater and terrestrial communities during the periods of quiescence. In addition, as in the case of the late Maastrichtian sections in eastern Montana, North America, detritus-feeding freshwater vertebrate communities possibly had greater potential for survival than the terrestrial communities dependent on primary productivity. A close examination of the vertebrate faunal distribution across the two stratigraphic intervals (infratrappean and intertrappean) suggests that sampling bias in the infratrappean beds may have also masked the actual diversity of these beds.