An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s2.2

v1.c9.s2.2

It is now clear that early man, recognized by his artefacts, had penetrated into all regions of India of diverse physiography, climate, vegetation and to some extent animal life. Palaeolithic sites have been found in periglacial sub-Himalayan areas like Kashmir and the Kangra valley; in arid or semi-arid tracts of Rajasthan and Kutch; in heavy-rainfall areas of Assam and thickly forested regions of Bihar; and in coastal areas like Konkan, Saurashtra and Tamil Nadu. They occur in practically all the river basins in peninsular India and in rock-shelters like GUDIYAM in Tamil Nadu. This wide distribution of the Lower Palaeolithic assemblages has raised many new problems but has at the same time removed such notions as that certain regions were not congenial to early man's habitation, either because they were very heavily forested, rain-fed, snow-clad or under the sea, or because they did not possess suitable raw material for tool-making.