An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c14.s8.t2: 9.8.2 Pleistocene
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c14.s8.t2
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9.8.2 Pleistocene
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The Quaternary system in India has a far more varied development than all the earlier geological systems. It covers nearly 650000 sq km of n. India under river deposits (Ganga-Yamuna basin). Further there are long stretches of contemporaneous ice deposits in the Himalayas, desert and lateritic, littoral, lacustrine, riverine and subserial accumulations in other parts of the country.
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Although the Pleistocene glacial studies in the sub-Himalayan areas were initiated a 100 years ago the work of Dainelli really laid the foundation for the proper understanding of the glacial succession in the n.-w. Himalayas, when a fourfold glacial succession was recognized in the mountains flanking the Kashmir basin—a record presumed to be parallel to that of the Alps in Europe.
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De Terra and Paterson who conducted systematic investigations in the Kashmir basin and the Potwar plateau endorsed the fourfold glacial sequence worked out earlier. They did not find any Stone Age site within the Kashmir basin, though such sites were discovered in the valley of the Sohan [4.2], a tributary of the Indus river in the Potwar region of Pakistan. A series of five terraces [9.9] was recognized on the Sohan; the topmost surface cut into the Boulder Conglomerate was placed in the Second Glaciation (i.e. in Mid-Pleistocene). The successive lower terraces thus belonged to Second Interglacial (T₁), Third Glacial (T₂), Third Interglacial (T₃), Fourth Glacial (T₄) and Postglacial (T₅). Lithic industries have been found on the terraces [4.2].
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Recently doubts have been raised about the fourfold division of the Quaternary glaciation in the sub-Himalayan region. In the Swat valley in Pakistan which falls in the same physiographic zone, three glaciations have been traced originating at altitudes of 3660 m or more and terminating at altitudes as low as 1770 m. Later work in the LIDDAR valley (Sankalia, 1974) has established the lowest glacial limit at 2140 m during the Quaternary, its remnants being preserved in the form of glaciofluvial deposits at PAHLGAM (Pahlgam formations). Lower Palaeolithic tools are found in association with this deposit [4.2].
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The important Quaternary units of n.-w. India are the Upper Siwaliks (semilacustrine and fluvial formations) and glacial and glaciofluvial formations. On the basis of palaeontological evidence the lower parts of the Upper Siwaliks, represented by the Pinjor Series, and the lower parts of the exposed *karewas*, known as lower *karewas*, are of the Lower Pleistocene Age. These lower *karewa* beds have yielded fossil leaf impressions of *Berboris ceratophylla* G. Don., *Hedera helix* Linn., *Betula utilis* D. Don, *Quercus incana* Roxb., *Viburnum stellulatum* Wall. Vell. aff., *Rhamnus purpurea* Edgew. and *Indigofera hebepetala* Benth. Similarly fossils like *Cervus*, *Rhinoceros*, *Bos*, *Sus*, *Elephas hysudricus*, *Equus Sivalensis*, *Sivatherium* and *Giraffa* emphasize the warm climatic characters. The climate during the Lower Pleistocene was in general more warm and moist. As mentioned above there is no convincing geological evidence to establish the Quaternary glaciation at altitudes lower than 2140 m in the whole of the sub-Himalayan region.
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The upper layers of the Upper Siwaliks (fanglomerates and boulder beds) and of the *karewas* (fanglomerates and semilacustrine fluvial beds known as upper *karewas*), glacial and glaciofluvial deposits (Pahalgam formations) and fluvial formations in the Kashmir basin—all suggest a distinct change in the depositional environment after the Lower Pleistocene. Tectonic movements have certainly played a great role in bringing out this change. As pointed out by de Terra, 1939, the uplift of the Pir Panjal by about 1520 to 1820 m caused change in the climate of the Kashmir valley. It is during this phase that the Pahalgam moraine seems to have been deposited in the LIDDAR valley. The fluvial boulder conglomerates observed downstream of Ganeshpur and up to the confluence of the LIDDAR with the Jhelum near Islamabad have been derived from the Pahalgam moraine. The overlying clay/sand formations suggest stability in the tectonic conditions and possibly indicate yet another climatic change in the valley.
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The section most crucial for the correlation of glacial and non-glacial deposits in the e. Kashmir valley is at Sombra. On palaeontological grounds the lowermost bone-bearing limestone breccia has been dated to the Lower Pleistocene by Badam, 1973, and to the Middle Pleistocene by Roy. Recent work however shows an absence of lower *karewa* formation over the bone bed; instead it is overlain by the typical upper *karewas*, and thus the whole sedimentary sequence falls more in conformity with that observed at Pahalgam on the LIDDAR in particular and in e. Kashmir in general. The boulder beds of Bhawan, Krungus and Pahlgam therefore seem to be of Middle Pleistocene age. The Lower Palaeolithic tools found at Pahalgam [4.2] could thus belong to the Middle Pleistocene only.
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The Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh is another potential area in the sub-Himalayan tract for attempting correlation between the glacial sequence and early human cultures. The BANGANGA river draining this region is a tributary of the BEAS which originates in the snow-clad inner Himalayan ranges. The most impressive morphological feature of the area is the series of high river terraces cut into the Siwalik rocks. They occur not only in the BANGANGA valley but along all the major and subsidiary streams in this region. On these terraces of the BANGANGA are found Lower Palaeolithic tools [4.2]. The question is whether these terraces are related to the successive glacial and interglacial phases of the Pleistocene of the Himalayas. It may be recalled that the Sohan valley has the same geomorphic situation and according to de Terra and Paterson such terraces and consequently the associated Stone Age culture are interrelated. A detailed investigation in the BANGANGA valley has now shown that the series of five or more terraces of the river does not contain the typical glacial morainic deposits as thought earlier and that these terraces are cut into fluvioglacial cones formed by the fluvial processes in this monsoonal periglacial zone of the sub-Himalayas and their high relief is due to intense tectonic activity of the area. Although some relationship does exist between them and the Pleistocene glacial sequence of the area, its exact nature has not as yet been understood in the absence of suitable dating material. As stated above the terraces cut into the Upper Siwaliks are stratigraphically of the late Middle Pleistocene to the Upper Pleistocene. A more or less identical sequence of terraces has been noticed in the MARKANDA river, a tributary of the GHAGGAR near Nahan in Himachal Pradesh, and this discovery confirms the observations made in the BANGANGA valley. Geomorphological studies carried out all along the sub-Himalayan region have also endorsed the view that the Kangra and MARKANDA valleys were never subjected to direct Pleistocene glacial action and the high terracing on the streams in this region is a result of Pleistocene and post-Pleistocene tectonic activity.
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Much of the details of Pleistocene deposits is deeply buried in the Ganga plain under a thick alluvium. The exposed sections of the BELAN, a tributary of the Yamuna, show on fossil evidence Upper Pleistocene deposits; the Stone Age industries [4.2] on typological grounds also support this deduction.
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De Terra and Paterson first recognized a series of sediments in the NARMADA river yielding animal fossils and Stone Age tools. The best sections of these deposits were noticed between Hoshangabad and Narsinghpur. They comprised three units (groups) each consisting of gravel or conglomerate at the base overlaid by silt or clay, while at the bottom of the whole sequence was laterite. On faunal basis de Terra considered the basal conglomerate as equivalent to the Second Glaciation (Middle Pleistocene). Subsequent work on this valley by several scholars has suggested variation in this stratigraphic order of the deposits, but the main features do not show much difference.
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There have been attempts to read the sequence of the NARMADA sediments in terms of Quaternary climatic changes wherein the conglomerate has been identified as the result of intense wet phase followed by silt indicating a dry phase. There would thus be a succession of wet and dry climatic phases. The Stone Age culture associated with the respective deposits [4.2] would then seem to have flourished in such environments. It should however be remembered that these so-called wet and dry phases do not denote very high and very low rainfall periods (respectively pluvials and interpluvials) as understood in the African context. Only the basal laterite perhaps denotes pluvial conditions.
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The Quaternary history of Rajasthan is complex. The Aravallis divide Rajasthan approximately into two parts, of which w. Rajasthan is mostly a desert [9.2] and the rivers are completely filled with sands hiding the earlier Quaternary deposits, while in e. Rajasthan rivers like the Chambal and Banas have preserved the deposits which yield Early Palaeolithic tools [4.2]. The sequence and characters of the Pleistocene deposits in w. Rajasthan are not much different from those of peninsular India and show the same features of aggradation and degradation and absence of fossil record. The results obtained by geomorphic and sedimentological studies [7.4] indicate an arid climate during the early Quaternary times as revealed at Budha Pushkar when the area was occupied by Lower Palaeolithic people. In the late Quaternary, between about 20000 and 40000 years, when the Middle Palaeolithic [4.3] cultures were prevalent the climate was humid as deduced from the buried soils, as well as from well-integrated drainage system revealed by photogeological studies and by the occurrence of rolled gravels in the present desertic region. In the subsequent period this region experienced extremely arid conditions during which the dune activity got intensified. The palaeontological evidence also supports this Late Pleistocene arid phase. This was followed by an arid phase to which belong the Upper Palaeolithic [4.4] cultures.
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The subsequent change was towards less arid conditions and the Mesolithic man settled on the dunes formed in the earlier dry phase [4.5]. Some authors have traced a different sequence of humid and dry phases during the Late Quaternary culminating into the present arid to semi-arid climates.
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The Quaternary in peninsular India, particularly that of the c. region, is marked dominantly by fluvial processes. Far removed from the sub-Himalayan glacial and periglacial zones and lying s. of the Tropic of Cancer, this region never witnessed glaciation any time during the Pleistocene. However the effect of the n. glaciation must have been felt in the area causing variation in the amount of rainfall-and developing land-forms entirely due to fluvial processes of degradation and aggradation. The exact relationship of the glaciation and pluviation (high rainfall) changes during the Quaternary is not yet firmly established.
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The plains of c. Gujarat are built of coalescing alluvial fans brought down by the rivers flowing from the hills of Rajasthan and c. India. The present channels of the rivers are cut deeply into the alluvium and show clear signs of recent rejuvenation and most of them have developed river terraces. Two or three fossil soil horizons are also noticed in the sections indicating geomorphic changes during the late Quaternary. The ¹⁴C assay of the *caliche* nodules from the illuvial zone of the buried soil suggests that the soil (upper part of the Older Alluvium) was in formation 18000 to 24000 years ago. The soil may have begun forming several thousand years earlier. In w. Gujarat the Quaternary formations in the Sabarmati, Mahi, Orsand, Karjan, etc., consist of gravel conglomerates overlain by reddish silt and on the top occurs yellow sandy silt occasionally showing loessic characters. The gravels are non-fossiliferous but have yielded Lower Palaeolithic tools [4.2]. On the basis of Palaeolithic typology the deposits can be dated to the late Middle or Upper Pleistocene.
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Recent work on the Saurashtra peninsula on the raised coral reefs and beach rock has established that the fossil beaches and coral now lying between 2 and 6 m above the monsoon high-tide level are remnants of past glacio-eustatic high sea levels and have not emerged due to any tectonic uplift of the coast at least during the last 12,0000 years. Accordingly the ¹⁴C and Uranium-Thorium dates of high sea level in this coast would be c.
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120000, 30000 and 6000. Another view is that the past levels of 2 and 6 m need not necessarily be due to eustatic changes and tectonic forces may have played a stronger role in the Early Quaternary period.
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More recent work on the miliolites [9.7] of the Saurashtra area carried out by Marathe *et al.*, 1976, has established at least two major transgressions approximately belonging respectively to 120000 and 30000 years which gave rise to the formation of two types of miliolites designated as M₁ and M₂. Underlying the M₁ and in the fluvial deposits are found Lower Palaeolithic Acheulian tools [4.2]. This possibly is the earliest date (late Middle Pleistocene or early Upper Pleistocene) of the Acheulian culture in the peninsular area. M₁ overlies the Lower Palaeolithic tools and is itself covered by another fluvial deposit which yields Middle Palaeolithic tools and is subsequently capped by M₂. The question of the genesis of miliolite is equally important. Although two divergent views—aeolian or marine—have been expressed the detailed work in the valleys of the Hiran and Shingoda has shown that at least in parts of s. Saurashtra the miliolites occurring up to 75 m above sea level are of fluviomarine origin and thus provide clear-cut evidence of the changing relationship between land and sea during the Quaternary even though the precise glacio-eustatic chronology in the world framework is not possible at this stage.
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Considerable work has been done in w. Maharashtra which forms an integral part of the Deccan plateau of peninsular India comprising the W. Ghats and valleys of the GODAVARI, Bhima and Krishna. The present courses of the rivers generally show rejuvenated characters. Quaternary formations in w. Maharashtra consist of variously consolidated, at places fossiliferous, alluvial silts and gravels, interbedded locally with colluvial silts, gravels and sands. These fluvial deposits are at places as thick as 40 m, e.g. in the Mula valley in Dt Ahmadnagar, and are mostly of the late Pleistocene age. The sequence of sediments is one of aggradation repeatedly alternating with erosion. This mechanism of processes is perhaps due to mild tectonic movements and climatic changes. The tectonic changes were mostly of epirogenic type and the climatic changes include fluctuations in the rainfall pattern. The rainfall probably departed from the present mean annual figures by 35 to 40%. The region has yielded Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic tools [4.2-4]. It is only from this region we have some definitive ¹⁴C dates for Middle and Upper Palaeolithic tools. Both these cultures prolifically developed during 39000 to 15000 years B.P.
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On the faunal evidence the exposed NARMADA alluvium has been dated to 120000 to 60000 years. It should however be mentioned that these estimates of Quaternary dates are of the deposits exposed in the river valleys or encountered in the trenches dug during dam constructions of the river. The borings in the valleys like those of the NARMADA and TAPTI have reached 150 to 200 m below the present river-bed levels and it is quite likely that at least a part of these unexposed deposits date back to the Middle Pleistocene and possibly even to the Early Pleistocene. A ¹⁴C date for Middle Palaeolithic tools from the c. Narmada near Narsinghpur is 32000 years B.P. Some deposits exposed in certain geomorphic situations as high-level gravels seen on the GODAVARI cannot be dated precisely due to lack of proper dating materials.
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Further s. in the GHATAPRABHA and MALAPRABHA rivers, which contain rich Palaeolithic sites [4.2], the Quaternary deposits have not yielded any fossil evidence to date the deposits precisely. The Older Alluvium in these valleys is made up of bouldery, pebbly or sandy pebbly gravels and associated silts. The phenomena of aggradation, erosion and consequent rejuvenation are conspicuous features of the region. As the region is far away from the sea, it is least affected by the Pleistocene sea-level changes. The neo-tectonics and lesser climatic changes are therefore the only factors responsible in shaping the Quaternary land-forms.
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The BILLASURGAM caves formed in the limestones in Dt Kurnool contain a deposit yielding Upper Pleistocene fauna. Similar fauna and Upper Palaeolithic [4.4] tools have been found in some other caves, viz. Muchchhatta CHINTAMANIGAVI VAGU in the same area. Stray finds of fossils dating to the Middle Pleistocene have been reported from Ariyalur (*Equus namadicus*) and to the late Pleistocene from Tirunelveli (*Elephas hysudricus*) in Tamil Nadu.
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In the Tirunelveli coast of Madras the microlithic [4.5] sites located on the fossil sand-dunes (*teris*) [9.5] have been dated to *c.* 4000 B.C., belonging to the Late Atlantic transgressive phase. [See SAWYERPURAM].
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Stratigraphic studies at the very rich Palaeolithic sites at ATTIRAMBAKKAM, POONDI, VADAMADURAI and NEYVELI in the Tamil Nadu coastal areas were initiated by de Terra and Paterson, 1939, when the terrace system of the Kortalayar river was examined. The correlation of the POONDI terrace sequence with that of the NARMADA as well as of Gujarat has been attempted establishing the aggradation and erosional phases due to fluvial processes augmented by the sea-level changes in the area during the Penultimate Glaciation. Later excavation at the Palaeolithic sites of this area has proved the existence of four terrace surfaces at elevations of 73, 45, 30 and 15 m above the present sealevel, all of them containing tools. These marine terraces may possibly be dated to the Mid-Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene periods. The Mid-Pleistocene date is based upon the faulting of the Cuddalore formation of the Late Tertiary period.
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Work on the Gulf of Mannar coast shows that during post-Glacial (Holocene) period there appears to be a more positive indication of a 3 m rise in the sea level between 5000 and 2500 B.P.
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Unlike the glaciation and pluviations in the inland area the coastal areas witnessed sea-level changes during the Quaternary [9.10]. Such changes may be either worldwide or local; if they are worldwide they are called eustatic. The changes caused by transgression and regression of sea on land are found preserved in the coastal areas in the form of high-level sea-beaches, beach-rocks, coastal fossil dunes and the geomorphic forms like marine plantation surfaces, ria-type valleys of the streams, wave-cut caves, platforms, etc. Occasionally prehistoric cultures are found in association with these deposits; thus they provide important evidence for dating the cultures radiometrically or stratigraphically.
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The coastal tract between the TAPTI and Ulhas rivers near Bombay has been only superficially explored with brief references to littoral concrete deposits (Pascoe, 1962). There is also evidence that the once-flourishing ports like NAGARA and Nala Sopara are now silted up and lie well beyond the reach of the present tides indicating Holocene sea-level changes. This region has preserved fluvial terrace sequences similar to those observed in peninsular India and more or less similar type of cultural evidence has been obtained from the Pleistocene deposits. Yet these terraces have not been correlated with any of the eustatic changes observed in that region.
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In the Konkan coast the occurrence of fluvial gravels on lateritic cliff at an elevation of 30 m or more in s. Ratnagiri, Goa and parts of Karwar, the occurrence of the same feature at or below the present level and the evidence of beach-dune complex rocks at various heights (—2 m to +3 m) indicate changes in the relationship of land and sea during the Quaternary but the details are still wanting.
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In Orissa on the basis of the studies on laterites and the fluvial processes the Lower Palaeolithic tools have been placed in the middle stages of Mid-Pleistocene and the Mid-Palaeolithic to Upper Pleistocene. The basal fossiliferous deposits at Makramatia and Mahulia consisting of shale and limestone were earlier believed to be of Miocene Age but now at least some fossils have been dated to the Lower Pleistocene.
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Some late Pleistocene deposits containing fossils have been reported from the Brahmaputra valley of Assam and from Bankura in W. Bengal; the former has yielded *Elephas namadicus*.
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Pollen-analytical studies of coastal mangrove swamp and tidal deposits or nullahs flowing into estuaries hold out a great potential for evaluating transgressive and regressive phases of the sea level. The work near Bombay by Vishnu-Mittre and Guzder has however not yielded any positive results due to lack of sufficient pollens.
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Coastal areas from the TAPTI s. words comprising the Ulhas near Bombay and the coastlines of Konkan, Karwar, Goa and Kerala thus present a varied picture of Quaternary history. As compared to the inland regions cultural development in this tract is very poor, and no apparent relationship between the Quaternary formations or land-forms of that period and the cultures has yet been seen. The fluvial processes that operated in the immediate vicinity of the coasts also do not throw much light on this problem.
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This review of the Quaternary history of India highlights some of the most intriguing characteristics of this land-mass. In the sub-Himalayan region the terraces which seem to have been occupied during prehistoric times have been cut into the Boulder Conglomerates and the tectonic activities which imparted tilts and mild folding of them and their subsequent erosion causing a flight of terraces. Thus the earliest Stone Age industries in the Himalayan region should be placed in the Upper Pleistocene. The only exception is the tools found at PAHALGAM in Kashmir valley which occur in possible Middle Pleistocene deposits. The Plio-Pleistocene boundary [9.7.1] has no direct relevance with the prehistoric cultures of India as no industries have yet been found in the Lower Pleistocene deposits.
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In India the Quaternary evidence is properly and adequately preserved in the arid and semi-arid tracts like Rajasthan, Saurashtra and the Deccan comprising the GODAVARI and Krishna basins. They hold a great potential for palaeoclimatic studies. The cultural development also can be traced in these regions and there is ample scope for tying them up with palaeoclimatic and geomorphic events. Saurashtra and parts occurring near the Tropic of Cancer are climatically sensitive and the tectonic activities were not severe.
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The distribution in India of prehistoric [14.1.1] cultures clearly shows the preference for semi-arid tracts like s.-e. parts of w. India and the Deccan plateau. These areas did not witness drastic climatic changes and were relatively more stable tectonically than the coastal or sub-Himalayan tracts. The monsoonal, i.e. seasonal, characteristic of climate of this subcontinent had been maintained throughout the Pleistocene period since the initiation of this type of climate in the Tertiary period. During the prehistoric period the occurrence of suitable raw material could have been one of the factors for inhabiting favourable spots which could also satisfy the requirements of animal and vegetable food. Be that as it may, on the whole environment does not seem to have had any dominant hold on the prehistoric settlers in India, for their sites are found in almost all parts of India having contrasting physiographic and climatic settings.
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Badam, G.L., 1973, in *Bull. Deccan College Res. Inst.*, 33, pp. 21-40 (for Pleistocene fossils). De Terra, H., & Paterson, T.T., 1939, *Studies on the Ice Age in India & Associated Human Cultures*, Washington, p. 499. Joshi, R.V., 1973, in *Bull. Deccan College Res. Inst.*, 33, pp. 101-16 (for Quaternary in the sub-Himalayas). Joshi, R.V., Rajaguru, S.N., Pappu, R.S., & Bopardikar, B.P., 1976, in *World Archaeology*, 5 (for the Liddar valley). Pappu, R.S., 1973, in *Bull. Deccan College Res. Inst.*, 33, pp. 173-92 (for peninsular India). Pascoe, E.H., 1965, *Manual of Geology of India & Burma*, 3, Delhi. Rajaguru, S.N., 1969, in *Quaternalia*, 11, pp. 241-53. Rajaguru, S.N., & Guzder, S.J., 1973, in *Bull. Deccan College Res. Inst.*, 33, pp. 193-207 (for sea-level changes and arch. sites). Sankalia, H.D., 1974, *Prehistory & Protohistory of India & Pakistan*, Poona. For sites and river valleys see respective entries in vol. II.—R.V. JOSHI