An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c34.293

v2.c34.293

The discovery of an agate flake at **PAITHAN** (19°28'; 75°23'), in 1863 and of an intact skull of *Elephas namadicus* at **NANDUR MADHMESHWAR** (20°00'; 74°05') in 1904, both in alluvial deposits, established the existence of Quaternary formations in the upper Godavari valley in Maharashtra. Later the discovery of handaxes and cleavers in a cut-off trench of the **GANGAPUR DAM** near Nasik by Sankalia in 1951 disproved the long-held belief that due to lack of suitable raw material (quartzite) and the presence of dense forests, the Deccan Trap region of the peninsula was not inhabited by early man during the Palaeolithic period [4. 2-4]. Subsequent archaeological, geological and palae- ontological investigations in the upper Godavari valley by Joshi, Corvinus, Rajaguru and Badam have estab- lished conclusively that the Godavari valley was occu- pied by man since the terminal mid-Pleistocene or early Upper Pleistocene.