Abstract The Lower Son Valley is generally overlooked despite a lengthy history of archaeological and geological studies in the adjacent Middle Son Valley. However, recent explorations in the former have yielded a large number of Palaeolithic and microlithic sites. This paper provides an initial report on Doma, a newly discovered site with the first-known stratified bifaces in this part of the valley. The site preserves multi-period technologies in different contexts, including terminal Acheulean/early Middle Palaeolithic and Upper Palaeolithic (all tentatively assigned based on respective typologies). Preliminary field observations are presented on the sedimentary sequence, archaeological surveys, topographical mapping, raw material and the overall palaeoanthropological assessment of Doma. The raw material utilized at the site is primarily porcellanite, derived from exposures of the Semri Group of the Vindhyan Supergroup. The oldest Palaeolithic evidence at Doma broadly resembles Late Acheulean sites dated to c. 140–120 ka in the nearby Middle Son Valley. The Pleistocene sediments here also yielded mammalian fossil specimens, such as long bone fragments, dental specimens and antler fragments. Along with the lithics and fossils, the site also preserves datable sedimentary sequences with calcrete, all key proxies in developing a testable model of technological transitions within a palaeoenvironmental framework, in the future.

Abstract The Spiti Valley is located in the Trans-Himalayan terrain of India, from where non-geometrical microliths have been discovered. While the Siwalik Hills have been subjected to extensive prehistoric surveys, this is the first evidence of lithic tools discovered in the Trans-Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh, India. Due to its topographical and intense climatic features, the Trans-Himalayan region has generally been regarded as a barrier since prehistoric times. However, Dzamathang cannot be considered as an isolated site in the Trans-Himalayas. In fact, in the adjoining areas of Ladakh, Tibet and Nepal, similar lithics have been reported from several sites and been assigned to the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. The discovery of this site suggests that the Trans-Himalayan zone may have acted as a possible route rather than a barrier during human migration. Large numbers of lithics have been recovered in the Dzamathang area of the Spiti Valley. Based on the collection of the artefacts from the surface, this paper tries to understand the geological and geographical setting of the area, particularly concerning prehistoric settlements in the Trans-Himalayas. This assemblage consists of assorted artefacts, which include a unifacial chopper, microlithic cores, flakes, blades, bladelets, burin and a large amount of debitage fragments. The majority of artefacts are on quartzite or quartzarenite. Future surveys will be targeted at recovering primary context sites for excavations and absolute dating.

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 Progress over the last 20 years in establishing reliable benchmarks in the Paleolithic of India has been uneven but major successes have been the dating of the earliest Acheulean assemblages in India; the dating of the onset of the Middle Stone Age; the dating of the earliest microlithic assemblages in India; and the dating of the antiquity of human occupation of rain forests in South India and Sri Lanka. Also important is our greater understanding of the Younger Toba Tuff and the impact of the Toba megaeruption 74 ka ago on hominin populations in India. Major uncertainties persist over when the genus Homo first entered South Asia; when our own species, H. sapiens first entered South Asia; the age of the earliest blade assemblages in India; and the antiquity of its rock art.

Pollen and lithopedological data were obtained from Upper Paleolithic sites and Upper Pleistocene loess-soil sequences located between the Sea of Azov and the River Donets, and in the foothills of the Crimean Mountains. During the last Middle Pleniglacial interstadial (Upper Vytachiv soil, 30–27 ka), there existed boreal steppe (south-boreal forest-steppe in Crimea). During the Late Pleniglacial, two main phases of loess accumulation occurred, which were separated by the phase of initial pedogenesis. The loess accumulated under subperiglacial xeric steppe (particularly dry at 15–13 ka), and the incipient soils (Dofinivka unit, 18–15 ka) formed under boreal grassland. During the Late Glacial interstadials, there existed boreal and south-boreal forest-steppe with a relatively wet climate (middle Prychernomorsk soil unit, the upper soil 11.8–11.4 ka). During the Younger Dryas, grassland reappeared under a dry and cool climate (10.9–10.5 ka). Paleoclimatic changes demonstrate the same pattern in both studied areas, and they correspond well with Black Sea transgressive-regressive cycles. Regional differences still existed—during all phases, the climate was the mildest in the western foothills of the Crimean Mountains, the coldest in the Donetsk Upland, and the driest near the Sea of Azov.