Soanian lithic occurrences and raw material exploitation in the Siwalik Frontal Zone, northern India : a geoarchaeological perspective

Abstract In the Himalayan foothills of northern India, evidence of widespread hominin occupation since at least the late Middle Pleistocene has been known since the early 20th century and indicates varied patterns of land-use and intraregional mobility. This lithic evidence primarily belongs to the Soanian industry, representing some of the highest concentrations of Paleolithic assemblages in the Old World based exclusively on pebble and cobble clasts. This body of evidence also signifies interregional dispersal from peninsular India or northern Pakistan, leading to environmental preferences that spread quickly through hominin populations in the region within a relatively short timespan. While rich in its technological repertoire, the Soanian industry is poorly- understood regarding site selection and raw material exploitation over time. Recent efforts demonstrate that Soanian sites on Siwalik frontal slopes between two major rivers vary considerably in their artifact quantities regardless of abundant raw material sources found across the landscape. Most of the assemblages suggest raw material transport distances of three kilometers or less from the localized sources. Geoarchaeological investigations at the richest known Soanian site, Toka, reveal dynamic evidence of pre- and postdepositional site formation including the exploitation of quartzite pebbles and cobbles by Pleistocene hominins from terrace and streambed contexts within a 1 km 2 radius. Some field observations also disprove claims made by previous workers, of artifacts eroding out of late Pliocene exposures of the Upper Siwalik Tatrot Formation around Toka.