An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c12.s1.2

v1.c12.s1.2

Due to the paucity of materials susceptible to radiometric dating, Indian prehistoric chronology, despite the ¹⁴C dates now available, continues to be based largely on palaeontological and stratigraphical evidence. Lower Palaeolithic [4.2] artefacts both from the sub-Himalayan river terraces of the n.-w. and the basal alluvial deposits of peninsular India cannot be dated earlier than the late Middle or early Upper Pleistocene [9.8]. This dating is based partly on their stratigraphic occurrence and partly on a few associated index fossils, e.g. *Hippopotamus namadicus* and *Sus namadicus* for the Middle and *Elephas maximus*, *Equus caballus*, etc., for the Upper Pleistocene [15.1]. Recently, however, extrapolating from U/Th dates for corals and beachrock from s. Saurashtra it has been possible to date the Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from a fluvial gravel overlain by a fluvio-marine limestone in the Hiran valley to a period prior to 120000 B.P. [cf. 4.2].