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Prehistory and Protohistory in India and Pakistan c6: Chapter I. Lower Palaeolithic Culture: Early Stone Age

Prehistory and Protohistory in India and Pakistan c6

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English

Contents

Chapter I. Lower Palaeolithic Culture: Early Stone Age

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LOWER PALAEOLITHIC CULTURE

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*Geographical Survey*

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WITH this introduction, a geographical survey, first of the Early or Lower Palaeolithic Cultures in India, is given. Beginning with the Panjab, we move on to the U.P., Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra and Madras, the States in the East and South-East India. Proceeding up along the west coast, we have Kerala, Mysore, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajputana and Madhya Pradesh, terminating after reaching the heart of India which abuts on the Gangetic plains. Thus we cover the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the uplands and the Peninsular India proper. Now it may not be a pure accident that the two main Early Palaeolithic Cultures of India fall into two groups with distinct geographical features. Thus the Sohanian or the Chopper-Chopping Culture seems to have originated in and confined primarily to the Panjab, whereas the Hand-axe Culture, though of equal antiquity and also found in the Panjab, has its real focus, wide and prolific distribution, in the Peninsular India.

West Panjab

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*De Terra's Work*

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DE TERRA'S work is a skillful correlation of the geological and climatic events in the Kashmir valley with the geological deposits containing human records in the foothills of the south-western Himalayas, which constitute what is called the Siwalik hills and the Potwar plateau. The Siwaliks run continuously from the north-west, from the plains of Bannu, near Peshawar to the Brahmaputra in Assam in the east. The Potwar is an elevated plain—a plateau—and includes the Rawalpindi and other districts of Western Panjab. It is the ancient Panchanada, drained by the Indus, the Sohan, the Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas.

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*Siwaliks and Early Man*

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Geologically the Siwaliks are comparatively a recent formation. Though 2,00,00 ft. thick, it is all a fresh water deposit and ranges in age from the Late Miocene to the Early Middle Pleistocene. The deposit is divisible into three groups: Lower, Middle and Upper Siwaliks and what is important is that almost all the groups except the topmost have yielded fossils of mammals including those of the anthropoid (apes). So if there is any hope of finding the remains of Early Man, it is here in the Siwaliks.

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Hence a great significance was attached to the discovery of stone tools of Early Man in a definite geological context in the Sohan Valley first by Dr. D. N. WADIA and then by Dr. HELMUT de TERRA between 1928 and 1932. For, the earlier discoveries as far back as 1880 had been merely from the surface.

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*Nature of Evidence*

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It was necessary to determine the age of the deposit in the Sohan Valley. This could be done if it contained something of a known character, so that one could proceed from the known to the unknown.

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From the previous work in the Kashmir Valley by DAINELLI and DE TERRA's own on both sides of the Himalayas it was known that the Kashmir Valley had witnessed a series of glacial and interglacial events.

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During the glacial times, among other things, huge boulders are carried down the Valley and they bear typical ice action, such as faceted boulders. Such glacial boulders had been found in the Sohan Valley in the Potwar. By a careful mapping and study of glacial geography of the Kashmir Valley and the Potwar plain, the exact sequence of events was to be worked out, so that the part played by man during this long period could be well understood.

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*Glacial and Interglacial Terraces*

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Without going into great details, it may be mentioned that DE TERRA and PATERSON found that in the Kashmir Valley which had undergone glaciation, five "terraces" could be seen due to the filling up (aggradation) of the Valley by ice and its erosion during the time when the ice retreated and great streams of water were released. In technical words, terraces I and III were caused by degradation during the interglacial periods and terraces II, IV and V by aggradation during the glacial periods. The first terrace was formed during the later half of the second interglacial.

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Coming down the foothills, the glacial moraine consisting of faceted boulders and erratics, believed to have been brought down by the second glaciation, were observed in a deposit known as Boulder Conglomerate forming the Upper Siwaliks in the Tawi and Poonch rivers in Jammu. This provided a secure basis for linking the glacial cycle in Kashmir with that in the plains. This was further extended to the Sohan and the Indus valleys where human remains in the shape of tools had been found. It was thus possible to work out a sequence of climatic fluctuations illustrating the environment of man from the Pleistocene times up to the Holocene (or present). (*See Fig. 3.*)

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*Second Ice Age : Boulder Conglomerate*

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Definite presence of man is first noticed in the Boulder Conglomerate which forms the topmost surface in the Indus, Sohan and other rivers. It was formed, as shown above, when the Kashmir Valley and the Himalayan slopes were under the mantle of the Second Ice Age and gravel fans, boulder clay and karewas were laid down. The Potwar plateau seems to have suffered a period of very heavy rain (pluvial) and the rivers as a consequence carried boulders. It is in these, towards the top, that the tools made of split pebbles and large flakes of quartzite chipped only on one side with large bulbs of percussion and small platforms are found at 11 localities in the Panjab. So far such flakes have not been found from anywhere in India (*sic*)¹ or Asia. They have been, however, compared with the Cromerian² of England. To distinguish this from the later Sohan industry and marking a distinct chronological stage, this industry has been called 'Pre-Sohan'. Very few animal remains have been so far found in the Boulder Conglomerate. The presence of a few bones of *Elephas namadicus* suggest that the deposit cannot be earlier than Middle Pleistocene.

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¹ This statement is not quite correct in view of the fact that DE TERRA mentions the occurrence of "Pre-Sohan-like flakes" in the Narbada. DE TERRA and PATERSON, op. cit., p. 316.

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² No longer these flakes from England are regarded as artefacts. See KENNETH, OAKLEY in *Antiquity*, Vol. XXXI (1957), p. 204.

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COMPOSITE TRANSVERSE SECTION THROUGH THE SOHAN VALLEY, SHOWING STONE AGE SEQUENCE IN RELATION TO ITS PLEISTOCENE TERRACES UNDERLYING LATE CAINOZOIC SIWALIK STRATA (AFTER DE TERRA AND PATERSON)

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Fig. 3. Transverse Section through the Sohan Valley

Second Interglacial Terrace

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A new development then took place. Owing to earthquakes or such movements in the earth, the Boulder Conglomerate which was originally a level formation seems to have been suddenly tilted, and the first rivers—the Indus, the Sohan etc.—were formed in the Potwar. These began to carve out a bed for them by cutting into the Boulder Conglomerate. Thus was formed the "First Terrace". It is 220 ft. and 410 ft. respectively above the level of the present Sohan and the Indus river beds. The same thing happened in the Kashmir Valley. The ancient lake formed during the Second Glaciation was cut, and the present Jhelum river was formed. This erosional activity, it has to be remembered, was due, not to heavy rains, but mountain uplift and a drier phase called "Interglacial" or "Interpluvial" in the Panjab and Kashmir Valleys. The Peninsular India, at this time was probably experiencing a wetter climate, so that in the Narbada and Godavari Valleys, for instance, such animals as "straight tusked" elephant (*Elephas namadicus* or *antiquus*), buffalo, hippopotamus, *bos namadicus* and horse could live happily.

Sohan and Hand-Axe Industries

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It is in this environment that in the Panjab we find two types of the relics of man. This may imply the existence of two kinds of man: one using the hand-axe, the other largely pebble tools and a few flake tools, which are so different—atypical—from the well-known group of hand-axes and cleavers that after the tool types, the industry is called "Chopper-Chopping" or after the river Sohan "Sohan Industry." It is not a little remarkable that both these groups of tools are found in the deposits of Terrace I, which consists of thin gravels, spread by the re-deposit of the older Boulder Conglomerate. However, more perplexing is the fact that these are not found together, but at *different localities* in the same river Valley, implying independent existence of the two kinds of man in the Panjab during the 2nd interglacial times.

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The details of the tool types will be given later. Let us see what happened in the climatic and geomorphologic field.

Third Glacial

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Both in Kashmir and in northern Panjab owing to renewed glaciation—the Third Glacial Age—first the streams eroded spreading gravels, and then a very fine silt called loam was deposited all over the Potwar. Thus the new bench or terrace along the Sohan is constituted at the base by gravel and over it is a thick deposit of loessic silt, sometimes over 350 ft. in thickness. This period marks the beginning of the intense wind activity which characterizes the Panjab plains even today, and which, then as now, carries the river silt over great heights. Such a condition as well as the presence of camel among the few fossil remains of animals—horse, bison, wolf—in the Potwar indicates that the climate was comparatively dry—semi-arid—as it is today in the Panjab.

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*Late Sohan Industry*

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The man was also present and a witness of such profound changes heralding modern conditions. His presence is indicated by the occurrence of tools in the basal Potwar gravel and in the lower 20 ft. of the silt. Since the tools are to some extent stratigraphically and typologically different from the earlier Sohan and exhibit a difference among themselves, the entire assemblage is called Late Sohan Culture. Its chief feature is the appearance of flakes and cores which have undergone previous preparation and technically called "Prepared Core and Flake" or "Levalloisian technique."

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*Third Interglacial Terrace III*

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The story of climatic changes does not end here. After the third glaciation in the Kashmir Valley, there followed an interglacial period, when the heat once again released large streams of water which in their turn eroded the Potwar basin. A new low terrace, 80 ft. high above the Sohan and elsewhere in Poonch, Jammu and Kashmir was formed. No tools of man are found in this terrace. This was once again followed by the Fourth Glaciation in the Kashmir Valley and a period of comparatively heavy rain in the Panjab. So another terrace (T. IV) was formed in Kashmir as well as in the Potwar. But in the former it consists of gravels, while in the latter it is composed of loam, sand and gravel.

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*Fourth Glaciation Terrace IV*

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And it is presumed that, as previously during the end of the Interglacial Period, the Potwar must have undergone an uplift, causing the earlier terrace to tilt. The fourth terrace is 40 ft. high in the Sohan and 90 ft. in the Indus.

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*Evolved Sohan Industry*

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So far tools have been reported from two sites viz. Pindi Gheb and Dhok Pathan which may be assigned to this terrace. Technologically, the tools seem to be a further development of the Levalloisian noticed in the Late Sohan Industry. The flakes are now thinner and slender, more blade-like; hence it is regarded as Upper Palaeolithic or Evolved Sohan. The lowest terrace (T.V.), 20 ft. above the present stream, was formed during comparatively recent times (or Holocene).

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Thus we observe a fine correspondence between the climatic cycle in Kashmir and the foothills of the Himalayas forming the Potwar plateau and the evolution of man and his tools. In summary, then, when colder conditions obtained in the hills and higher altitudes, the plains were covered with gravels and silts; whereas under warm, temperate conditions, the ice retreated from the hill slopes to still higher altitudes, and this caused erosion on the plains. This phenomenon is also comparable to those witnessed in the Alps. Thus the following correlation is proposed.a

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a In the last column, the words within brackets are based on the correlation suggested by ZEUNER, F. E. *Dating the Past*, (London, 1952), p. 275. ZEUNER also proposed an alternative explanation based on astronomical theory. According to this, the glacial phases of the Western Himalayas would be regarded as the local fluctuations of solar radiation and the influence of the Mediterranean pluvials. Further he thinks that the sequence of five terraces following the Boulder Conglomerate suggests a sequence of glacial phases similar to those of the Alps, sub-dividing the major glaciations. If the "interglacial" terraces are interpreted as representatives of less intense glacial phases, then the first and second terraces would correspond to Penultimate Glaciation (PGI₁) and PGI₂, and the third to three stages of the Last Glaciation.

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| Age | N. W. Panjab | Kashmir | Climate | Europe |
| Upper Pleistocene | Terrace 4 (Loam silt) Terrace 3 (Erosional) Terrace 2 (Potwar loess) | Moraine Terrace 4 Moraine Terrace 2 | IV Glacial III Interglacial III Glacial | Wurm (or Last Glacial) Riss (Penultimate Glaciation) |
| Middle Pleistocene | Terrace 1 (Erosional) Boulder Conglomerate | Upper Karewas Karewas gravel | II Interglacial II Glacial | Mindel (Ante-Penultimate Glaciation) |
| Lower Pleistocene | Pinjor Tatrot gravel | Lower Karewas Moraine I | I Interglacial I Glacial | Günz |

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The first traces of man occur in the 2nd Glacial period. But these are very scanty. It is from the end of 2nd Interglacial that tools of different facies or character begin to appear in large numbers and go on changing through the subsequent 3rd Glacial and Interglacial times.

Industries

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We shall see now these tools of various periods in more detail. They fall into five major tool assemblage or industries. (I) Pre-Sohan, (II) Early Sohan, (III) Late Sohan, (IV) Chauntra Industry, (V) Evolved Sohan. (See Fig. 4)

Pre-Sohan Industry

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The tools which constitute the earliest Palaeolithic Culture in India consist of large flakes made from crude split pebbles. All are rolled. The upper surface is generally unworked except for occasional marginal scars, whereas the undersurface shows the primary flaked surface with flat bulbs, but large well-developed cones; the striking platforms are simple, unfaceted. There is no secondary working, but the edges are worn out either by nature or by use.

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Such tools are found near the top of the Boulder Conglomerate at Malakpur, Adial, Chauntra, Kallar, Chaomukh and Jammu in Potwar, south-east of Rawalpindi.

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So far DE TERRA has illustrated only one tool of this industry. Since he also refers to a similar industry from the Narbada, but does not illustrate it, a similar tool from the Maheshwar area is here illustrated from the Deccan College Collection.

Early Sohan Industry

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This industry consists of a large number of tools made on split pebbles (or pebble halves) and comparatively small number of flakes, the material comprising varieties of fine-grained quartzite as well as smooth greenish grey Panjab trap.

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EARLY PALAEOLITHIC SITES IN NORTH WESTERN PUNJAB

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Fig. 4 Early Palaeolithic Sites in N.W. Panjab Patination and the state of wear divide these tools into three groups, called A, B, C. Though there is no stratigraphic evidence to support this classification, it appears that Group A, which is heavily patinated and much rolled, is the earliest, Group B though deeply patinated is unworn, and Group C is less patinated and fairly fresh.

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Among all these groups, there are pebble tools, scrapers, cores and flakes and a few proto-hand-axes. But the first predominates and the characteristic method of flaking them, generally from underside up and not both faces or sides of the pebble, makes the Early Sohan primarily a pebble-tool industry,^4 though some how an impression has been current that the Sohan is a flake industry.^5

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*Pebble Tools : Choppers*

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For the pebble tools, which are either (i) "flat-based" or (ii) "rounded" as described by PATERSON, MOVIUS has proposed the name "choppers". In the former—flat-based variety—the flakes have been struck upward in such a way as to form a thick, steep cutting edge. This edge is either convex, straight and rarely pointed, but never concave. It is further marked by secondary retouch, either on one side or both sides, so that we have single or double-sided choppers.

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The "rounded pebble tools" differ from the others not only in shape, but in the method of flaking. The flakes have been struck from the original surface of the pebble and not from the flat under surface. However, the cutting edge is made from one side only, and hence both these varieties of pebble tools or choppers, are really 'unifacial', though it is worth observing that among the second sub-group not only is the edge concave, but in one case (No. 11), the tool has taken the shape of a proto-handaxe. In very rare cases, both the ends are worked, with the result that the tools form an inverse, double-ended chopper with a rough parallelogram-shaped section.

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*Chopping Tools*

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Pebble-tools, having rounded pebble back and a jagged, wavy or w-shaped edge worked from both sides by alternate flaking are called 'chopping tools' by MOVIUS. These are in a sense 'bifacial' tools.

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*Flake Tools and Cores*

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There are no flakes in Group A. In Group B we have primarily flakes which in many cases retain the cortex on the upper surface and the platform is unaffected or not prepared, and the angle with the flake surface is comparatively high. However, Group C exhibits flakes which show extensive primary flaking and even simple faceted striking platform. Both these techniques are suggestive of a "Proto-Levalloisian" or "prepared core and faceted platform" technique. Corresponding to both these types of flakes there are "Clacton-like" and tortoise type cores. The former are roughly discoidal or elongated in shape and flaked almost all over.

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⁴ Cf. MOVIUS, Hallam, L., "Pebble-Tool Terminology in India and Pakistan," *Man in India*, Vol. 27, p. 150, and "The Lower Palaeolithic Cultures of Southern and Eastern Asia," in *Transactions of the American Philosophical Society*, Vol. 38, Pt. 1, (Philadelphia, 1948,) pp. 349 and 377-79.

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⁵ KRISHNASWAMI, V. D., *A.I.* No. 3, 1947, p. 23, and BOSE, N. K., *JASB* (Letters), Vol. XXI, p. 74, and SANKALIA, H. D., "Is the Sohan a Flake Industry?" in *JASB* (Science), Vol. XXII, 2 (1957), p. 161. Cf. also SUNDARA RAJAN in *A.I.*, No. 17, 1961, p. 72.

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*Late Sohan Industry*

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This is stratigraphically and typologically divisible into (1) Late Sohan A and (2) Late Sohan B.

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*Late Sohan A*

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The tools of this industry occur in the basal gravel of T.2 which belongs to the Third Glacial age. A large majority of the tools comprise pebble tools and Clacton-like flakes which characterize Early Sohan. But we find besides, a small number of flakes and cores. The former are skilfully flaked on the upper surface, implying a clear preparation of the core. A few parallel-sided blades and elongated flakes also appear, which strengthens the general impression that the Late Sohan A is definitely "Levalloisian" in character and falls into the Middle Stone Age or Palaeolithic Period in the early part of the Upper Pleistocene.

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*Late Sohan B*

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This industry found at the bottom of the thick Potwar loessic silt of the Third Interglacial or Glacial (?) stage continues the Levalloisian tradition noticed in Late Sohan A. Nearly 50 per cent of the flakes show faceted striking platforms and their upper surfaces are carefully trimmed. Though no retouched specimens are found, the flakes and cores, barring pebble tools, remind one of the Late Levalloisian of Western Europe.

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The Late Sohan Culture was very wide-spread in the Panjab, as it has been recorded from no less than 21 sites.

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*Evolved Sohan Industry*

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Movius gave this name to the assemblage of tools from Dhok Pathan, a site near Pindi Gheb, and belongs probably to the Fourth Glacial Age. The tools are not much different from those of the Early and Late Sohan, though comparatively smaller. One new type of tool "is a kind of awl made on a small oval pebble flaked on both surfaces at one end to form a sharp point." Since this recalls a typical tool of Series II or Middle Stone Age of the Peninsular India, it is reproduced here.

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*The Hand-Axe Industry*

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It was mentioned earlier that a few tools—hand axes or bifaces—in a heavily rolled condition are found at some four sites in the Sohan Valley. (i) at a site near Rawalpindi in the gravels of the Second Interglacial Period (T. 1), (ii) at Chauntra in deposits of the Third Glacial (T. 2), (iii) at Adial on the surface, (iv) at Balwal, near Chakri, in the gravels of the Third Glacial (T. 2), which were derived from those of T.1, (v) at Gariala, near Attock in the Indus valley, in the gravels of T.2.

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Stratigraphically the tools at the first site are thus the earliest and here alone they are found unmixed with those of the Sohan culture. At Chauntra, Adial and Balwal, the bifaces are found in association with Early and Late Sohan tools, whereas at Gariala alone, a very rolled cleaver was found. From this it would appear that the hand-axe culture had first perhaps an independent existence in the Panjab. Since then, it is found in similarly dated deposits, it is not possible to say which culture is earlier—the Hand-axe or the Sohan—excluding of course, the earliest Pre-Sohan Flake Industry.

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As far as the tools—hand-axes, cleavers, and flakes—are concerned it is important to note that both the primitive looking hand-axes—heavy, massive, crudely worked and pebble-butted—and the better, more refined with regular outline, flatter flake scars and the cortex completely removed, are found together as elsewhere in India; and that even the better hand-axes of superior—recalling Middle Acheulian—technique are found in the earliest deposits. Hence the distinction between the hand-axes into Abbevillian and Acheulian is only typological, and has no basis in stratigraphy. However, it is also possible that beautiful ovates, and heart-shaped hand-axes from Chauntra are indeed later.

Age and Culture Complex

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Besides these hand-axes and occasional cleavers, there do occur a few cores, discoidal cores and crudely retouched flakes, some with plain striking platform. These, however, form a normal complement of the hand-axe culture in India and Africa, and now, as is being realized, in Western Europe as well. Thus the Panjab hand-axe culture is stratigraphically of the Middle Pleistocene age and typologically belongs to the great Lower Palaeolithic Hand-axe Culture.

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It together with the Sohan Culture seems to have survived all through the Third Glacial and later climatic phases in the region, albeit with some improvement in technique and form, which unfortunately are not so well documented stratigraphically as in the Late Sohan.

Description: Illustrated Tools

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The illustrated tools are briefly described: (See Fig. 5)

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*Pre-Sohan, Second Glacial*

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1. Large massive flake with plain unfaceted striking platform at a low angle and with well-developed cone. The central upper surface is unflaked, but large flakes have been removed from the sides. The secondary work on the edges is believed to be later. From the top of the Boulder Conglomerate, Second Glacial at Kallar. Quartzite, rolled.⁶

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⁶ DE TERRA and PATERSON, op. cit., pp. 303-05, pl. XXXIII, 2.

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2. Large triangular flake with well-developed cone now partly flaked. From the upper surface one large flake has been previously removed while the flake formed a part of the core; the rest has cortex. The edges have been boldly retouched. From the Narbada at Maheshwar. Dark brown quartzite. Illustrated here for comparison with the pre-Sohan flake.

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*Early Sohan Pebble Tools, Second Interglacial*

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3. "Flat-based pebble tool made on a portion of a pebble having one side flat or nearly so. From this surface flakes are struck off steeply toward the upper rounded surface, resulting in strong working edge," which is slightly convex. Flaking both "free" and "step."⁷ Such a type of pebble tool is called "Chopper" by Dr. Movius.⁸

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⁷ Ibid., p. 306, pl. XXXIV.

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⁸ MOVIUS, op. cit., p. 378.

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4. "An elongated oval pebble with flat cleavage or flake surface" from which flakes have been struck upward. Chopper.⁹

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⁹ DE TERRA and PATERSON, op. cit., p. 306, pl. XXXIV, 4.

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1

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1

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2

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2

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7

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3

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3

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6

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6

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4

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4

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5

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5

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Fig. 5 Pre-Sohan and Early Sohan types of tools 5. Half of a flatish oval pebble flaked from one surface (lower) only, halfway around the periphery. The angle of this flaking varies from 20° to 65° to the undersurface.¹⁰ Movius states that in this and other cases the flakes have been struck from the original pebble surface, rather than from a flat platform. From the drawing this does not appear to be so. Chopping tool.¹¹

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¹⁰ DE TERRA and PATERSON, op. cit., pl. XXXV, 5.

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¹¹ MOVIUS, op. cit., p. 379.

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1

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2

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3

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4

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5

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Fig. 6 Early Sohan Flakes and Cores

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6. Another variety of the above; here the flaking is taken almost around the periphery.¹² Chopping tool.

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¹² DE TERRA, op. cit., pl. XXXV, 4.

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7. "A flat oval pebble is flaked from one surface at one end" from "opposite sides so as to produce a point". Proto-hand-axe of Movius.¹³

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¹³ MOVIUS, op. cit., p. 379.

Early Sohan Cores and Flakes

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1. This is included both by DE TERRA and MOVIUS among "Flat-based pebble tools,"¹⁴ but could as well be regarded as a "Discoidal type of core". Compare for example, DE TERRA, Pl. XXXVI, 1.

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¹⁴ DE TERRA, op. cit., p. 306, pl. XXXIV, 8.

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2. Discoidal core from which three or four large and one or two small flakes have been removed, with a patch of cortex in the centre.¹⁵

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¹⁵ Ibid., p. 307, pl. XXXVI, 5.

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3. A flake having unfaceted platform, and the angle with the under surface wide. Upper surface partly flaked.¹⁶

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¹⁶ Ibid., p. 307, pl. XXXVII, 6.

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4. Proto-Levalloisian core, flat with under surface cortex and striking platform simply prepared at each end by the removal of two or three small flakes.¹⁷

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¹⁷ Ibid., pl. 307, XXXVIII, 5.

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5. Levalloisian type of flake with low angle and faceted platform, bulb erased.¹⁸

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¹⁸ Ibid., pl. XXXVIII, 2.

Late Sohan A Cores and Flakes, Third Glacial

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1-2. Discoidal Cores. "Flattened circular pebble flaked all around the periphery alternatively from each surface, resulting in a diamond-shaped cross section, with a wavy edge." Sometimes a patch of cortex in the centre as in No. 2.¹⁹

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¹⁹ DE TERRA, op. cit., p. 309, pl. XI, 2, 5.

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3. Levalloisian type of core on a flat pebble with faceted platform, though it is not fully prepared as in true Levallois core.²⁰

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²⁰ Ibid., p. 309, pl. XXXIX, 5.

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4-5. Core on a flat pebble with flakes struck off at both ends and sides.²¹

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²¹ Ibid., p. 309, pl. XXXIX, 1.

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6. A triangular flake with convergent flake scars on upper surface and little retouch.²²

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²² Ibid., p. 311, pl. XLI, 3.

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7. A roughly oval flake with traces of cortex and convergent flake scars on the upper surface. Margins are partly retouched in such a way as to suggest a hollow scraper-and borer.²³

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²³ Ibid., p. 310, pl. XLI, 10.

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8. An oval flake with convergent flake scars on the surface and a number of side scars indicating previous preparation on the core.²⁴

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²⁴ Ibid., p. 310, pl. XLI, 9.

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9. A blade or elongated flake of Late Sohan B culture. According to PATERSON, "these flakes have certain resemblances to the late Levallois of Europe."²⁵

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1

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2

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6

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3

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4

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9

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7

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8

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5

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Fig. 7 Late Sohan Cores and Flakes *Chauntra Industry, Third Interglacial? (See Fig. 8)*

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1

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2

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7

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6

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3

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4

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5

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1 Pointed ovate hand-axe on a flake, the upper surface well-chipped by step flaking, leaving a patch of cortex near the butt. The under surface has not been retouched except a little near the edge.²⁵ 2 Cordate type hand-axe. "Late Acheulian."²⁶ 3 A fine blade.²⁷ 4 This is described as "a flake with convergent primary flaking,"²⁸ but in fact looks like a core of this type. 5 This is also described as "a flake with convergent primary flaking."²⁹ 6 Discoidal core of Late Sohan type.³⁰

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²⁵ De TERRA, op. cit., p. 310.

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²⁶ Ibid., pl. XLIII, 5.

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²⁷ Ibid., pl. XLIII, 4.

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²⁸ Ibid., p. 310, pl. XLIII, 2.

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²⁹ Ibid., pl. XLIII, 1.

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³⁰ Ibid., pl. XLIII, 3.

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*Evolved Sohan, Fourth Glacial*

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7 An awl made on a pebble by flaking on both surfaces at one end so as to form a sharp point.³¹

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³¹ Ibid., p. 311, pl. XLIV, 9.

East Panjab

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During the war, it was not possible to examine the other river valleys of the Panjab. After partition the areas already known went to Pakistan. Fortunately chance discoveries have opened up a promising field of inquiry in Eastern Panjab. *(See Fig. 9)*

Sirsa Valley

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The first is the site of Nalagarh³² on the Sirsa river, a tributary of the Sutlej in the foot-hills of the Simla Himalayas, not very far from Rupar and from the Bhakra Nangal Project, Hoshiarpur District.

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³² SEN, D., "Nalagarh Palaeolithic Culture", Man In India, Vol. 35 (1955), pp. 177-84.

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The palaeolithic sites were first discovered by Mr. OLAF PRUFER in 1951 on the terraces of the right bank of the Sirsa. These are generally concentrated on the south and south-east of Nalagarh, but are also found on the western side. SEN'S later observations indicate three terraces approximately at the height of 70 ft., 40 ft. and 10 ft. respectively from the present stream level. The tools have been found on the first two terraces. On the Upper terrace, the gravel is at places cemented, while on the Middle terraces it is loose and has a thin cover of silt.

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The tools are made of light coloured quartzite and consist of pebble tools and flake tools. There is not much typological difference between the tools from the Upper and Middle terraces, though the tendency is for the flake tools to predominate and on the whole they become finer.

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The pebble tools are made on rounded water-worn pebbles and include primarily choppers and scrapers. It is interesting to note that "the flakes are This image is blank and contains no text to transcribe.

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Fig. 10. Panoramic view of the "terraces" near Guler on the Banganga, East Panjab.

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PALAEOLITHIC SITES IN THE SIRSHA & BEAS-BANGANGA VALLEY, EAST PUNJAB. AREA OF MAP

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PHYSIOGRAPHY OF THE SINGRAULI BASIN(U.P.)

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PALAEOLITHIC LOCALITIES (I, II & III) DESCRIBED

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Fig. II

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SCALE OF MILES

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struck from the original pebble surfaces" as in some of the tools in the Sohan. They (the choppers) are further marked by "two directional alternate flaking." This is in contrast to what one knows about the Early Sohan. The scrapers are flaked on one side only. One tool, No. 12, is described as an "awl". It is said to be "flaked all over and had a notch below the working point."35 Both the name and the description suggest a highly advanced tool³⁶ not characteristic of the Early Sohan.

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The associated flakes show nothing special about them. Both—the pebble tools as well as the flakes—typologically resemble the Early Sohan of the north-west Panjab, but it cannot be said whether the Nalagarh industry belongs to the Second Interglacial or not, without much further work in the region.³⁶

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³⁶ Since writing this, the writer had an opportunity to visit Nalagarh and therefore could say that the region deserved an intensive survey.

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In 1954, Dr. Y. D. SHARMA³⁷ reported more tools from the same valley and from another Sohan, a tributary of the Beas, near Daulatapur. They have been called "Late Sohan", but in the absence of any further report nothing can be said about these tools.³⁸

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³⁷ I.A.R., 1954-55, p. 58.

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³⁸ Efforts were made to study these tools, but unfortunately these could not be located, either at New Dehli or Nagpur.

Beas and Banganga Valleys

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Then in 1955, Shri B. B. LAL,³⁹ found Sohan type of tools in the Beas and Banganga valleys in Kangra District, East Panjab. He also noticed five terraces at Guler and elsewhere, and tried to correlate the tools with the terraces. Later a joint expedition organized by the Government of India and assisted by the Deccan College, the M. S. University of Baroda and the Geological Survey of India re-examined the area for some three weeks in 1957.

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³⁹ "Palaeoliths from the Beas and Banganga Valleys," A.I. No. 12, pp. 58-92.

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There is no doubt that at Guler, Dehr and at Kangra there are a number of terraces. Those at Guler, for instance are at a height of 565 ft. (T.1), 375 ft. (T.2), 150 ft. (T.3), 90 ft. (T.4) and 30 ft. (T.5) respectively. T.1 yielded only unifacial "choppers", while T.2 these as well as "chopping tools" and one pebble-hand-axe, a core and six Clactonian flakes and proto-Levalloisian flakes, while T. 3 gave similar material but without the proto-Levalloisian flakes.

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The tools thus are of the Early Sohan type, though it must be said that the percentage of genuine tools is indeed very small,⁴⁰ and many of the choppers on pebbles and flakes might be just pebbles and flakes.

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⁴⁰ This impression was confirmed when the writer along with B. SUBBARAO re-examined the collection, now in the Safdarjang Museum, New Delhi, with the facilities kindly supplied by Shri LAL and Shri GHOSH.

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Further south-westwards the Ganga-Yamuna basin has not yet been studied. The writer had noticed terraces at Dehra Dun and huge boulder spread as well as sections, and it is not improbable that a careful search will yield the types of tools first described.

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³⁴ SEN, op. cit., p. 184.

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³⁵ This indeed recalls the "borer-cum-scraper" of Series II or the Middle Palaeolithic of Peninsular India. See, Figs. 88-89.

Uttar Pradesh

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Southwards are the large flat alluvial plains, made by the Ganga and its tributaries by washing the Himalayas. These, however, abut on the older rock formation of the peninsular mass viz. the Kaimur Hills, a little south of Banaras and now forming the Mirzapur District. Here COCKBURN⁴¹ had discovered palaeolithic tools from the Singrauli basin in the last century (1888). DE TERRA⁴² after his study of the Himalayan cycle in 1935 had suggested that investigations might be carried out in this region, because the two great geological formations—the Himalayas and the Peninsular—met there and he expected that this feature might reveal contact between the Sohan and the Hand-axe cultures and also throw light on the past climate and tectonic movements. Accordingly it was examined for a short while by ZEUNER and KRISHNASWAMI in 1949 and the results of the latter's study are published.⁴³

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⁴¹ JRAI, XVII (1888), pp. 57-65.

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⁴² DE TERRA and PATERSON, op. cit., p. 318.

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⁴³ KRISHNASWAMI, V. D. and SOUNDARARAJAN, K. V., "The Lithic Tool-Industries of the Singrauli Basin, District Mirzapur," A.I., No. 7, (1951), pp. 40-65. A few further discoveries are reported in I.A.R. 1959-60., p. 48.

Singrauli Basin

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The Rihand, the Bichi Nala and other rivers of the Singrauli basin, like those of the Peninsular India, exhibit a two-fold cycle of aggradation consisting of (i) lower gravel (mostly pebbles) and silt, followed by another cycle of smaller and finer gravel and silt, the first resting on the Talchir beds of green laminated shales and soft sandstones. (*See Fig. 12*)

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It is the lower gravels which yield tools made of coarse-grained grey and brown quartzite. These comprise primarily (i) crude hand-axes on pebble as well as fine ovate type hand-axes on flakes, (ii) cleavers, (iii) cores, (iv) choppers and chopping tools, (v) Levallois and proto-Levallois flakes. Evidently it is a mixed industry and since all the tools come from one and the same layer, it is difficult to say that the pebble tools forming choppers were the earliest and the hand-axe etc. later and the Levallois flakes still later. It is, however, inferred by the authors that the few choppers and the proto-Levallois flakes suggest Sohan influence on the pre-existing hand-axe culture.⁴⁴

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⁴⁴ Ibid., p. 48.

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Some of the hand-axes and the cleavers are of a much more advanced type recalling those from Attirampakam, near Madras and evolved Acheulian. And in several areas, Giddalur and Gangapur near Nasik, for instance, these are associated with Levallois flakes. Thus the so-called Choppers and proto-Levallois flakes seem to form an integral part of the hand-axe-cleaver culture.

Yamuna Valley

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Palaeoliths have recently been reported from Bariyari, 14 miles to the east of Kausambi on the right bank of a tributary of the Yamuna in Banda District.⁴⁵

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⁴⁵ I.A.R., 1955-56, p. 4. The writer had an opportunity to examine the collections at Allahabad in 1959, owing to the courtesy of Professor G. R. SHARMA. A careful resurvey is necessary before arriving at any conclusion.

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[Figure: Diagrammatic section of the Rihand river midway between Kota and Pipri

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[Figure: RIVER BAITARANI - RAMLA ORISSA

Bihar

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Largely due to its geological make up and want of field work, Bihar has hitherto given few glimpses of its Stone Age cultures, though from the earliest historical times it has dominated Indian History. Half or nearly half of the State consists of flat alluvial plains formed by the Ganges and its tributaries. It is a new land. The older land lies southward. It is the famous Chota Nagpur plateau, the home of the Mundas and other aboriginal tribes, primeval forests, and ancient rock formations, which now supply some of the most important raw material like coal, iron, copper, manganese, mica.

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The plateau is a meeting point of the oldest rock formations like granite and gneiss and the comparatively younger Vindhyan sandstones, and the volcanic basalt. Since the last were deposited the land is undergoing sub-aerial denudation which is also accentuated by erosion during the monsoon. At places there is a thin cover of laterite. The major drainage system is from north-west to south-east, though a few small tributaries flow from north to south. To the former belong the Suvarnarekha, Brahmani and Baitarni; to the latter Kharkai, Sanjai and smaller streams like Kolhan, Iligara, Gamurgara, Roru.

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Since the last century, the plateau is divided into four districts—Palamau, Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Singhbhum.

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All these districts have occasionally yielded tools of various Stone as well as Copper Ages, but it is only very recently that some definite idea can be had of the earliest Stone Age, viz. the Palaeolithic. Those reported by BEECHING, BALL, and ANDERSON⁴⁶ and even FEARNSIDES⁴⁷ in absence of proper geological context and description cannot be assigned to this period, though from ANDERSON'S drawings—which are indeed excellent for the time (1917)—there is no doubt that there are some genuine palaeoliths (Pl. II, Nos. 21-24) in his collection. And if the skull of a horse which he found in the huge solid clay deposit at a depth of 18 ft. from the surface overlooking the Binjai river, does indeed belong to a fossil (wild) horse, then the region gains an added significance. For the tools might be dated with fossil evidence.

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⁴⁶ ANDERSON, C. W., JBROS, III, 1917, pp. 344-62 and Pls. I-IX.

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⁴⁷ A single tool called a "biface" was found from a loose deposit, near Hat Gamharia in 1938. It is cited by SEN (see, foot-note 48). However, there is no true "loess" in the region, and so what is described as such seems to be a thick silt deposit.

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