Pleistocene Geoarchaeology of Thar Desert

Abstract

The antiquity of early humans in the central part of Thar Desert goes back to the Terminal Early Pleistocene (~0.8 Ma). This culture, technically known as Acheulian, continued in the entire Middle Pleistocene. By and large the climate was semi-arid with dominance of C4 vegetation. The arrival of new cultural trait, known as the Middle Palaeolithic, is dated around early Late Pleistocene (~100 ka). This culture was adapted to relatively more arid climate than during the preceding Middle Pleistocene. The vegetation was largely C4 type with patches of C3 type in favorable geomorphic niches. On the whole the early hunting and food gathering prehistoric communities survived in disorganized autochthonous drainage, playas, wet lands and pond environments. So far there is no evidence of the existence of palaeolithic cultures in later part of the Late Quaternary (~30 to 10 ka). Key words: Palaeolithic archaeology, palaeoenvironment, geomorphology, calcrete.