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Middle Palaeolithic Occupation in the Thar Desert During the Upper Pleistocene: the Signature of a Modern Human Exit out of Africa?

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Middle Palaeolithic Occupation in the Thar Desert During the Upper Pleistocene: the Signature of a Modern Human Exit out of Africa? Quaternary Science Reviews 77 (2013) 233e238 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Quaternary Science Reviews journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quascirev Short communication Middle Palaeolithic occupation in the Thar Desert during the Upper Pleistocene: the signature of a modern human exit out of Africa? James Blinkhorn a,*, Hema Achyuthan b, Michael Petraglia c, Peter Ditchfield c a PACEA, Université Bordeaux 1, Bâtiment B18, Avenues des Facultes, Talence Cedex, France b Department of Geology, Anna University, Sardar Patel Road, Chennai, India c School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK article info abstract Article history: The Thar Desert marks the transition from the Saharo-Arabian deserts to the Oriental biogeographical Received 4 March 2013 zone and is therefore an important location in understanding hominin occupation and dispersal during Received in revised form the Upper Pleistocene. Here, we report the discovery of stratified Middle Palaeolithic assemblages at 31 May 2013 Katoati in the north-eastern Thar Desert, dating to Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5 and the MIS 4e3 Accepted 12 June 2013 boundary, during periods of enhanced humidity. Hominins procured cobbles from gravels at the site as Available online 5 July 2013 evidenced by early stages of stone tool reduction, with a component of more formalised point produc- tion. The MIS 5c assemblages at Katoati represent the earliest securely dated Middle Palaeolithic occu- Keywords: fi e Middle Palaeolithic pation of South Asia. Distinctive artefacts identi ed in both MIS 5 and MIS 4 3 boundary horizons match Upper Pleistocene technological entities observed in Middle Palaeolithic assemblages in South Asia, Arabia and Middle Thar Desert Stone Age sites in the Sahara. The evidence from Katoati is consistent with arguments for the dispersal of Hominin dispersal Homo sapiens populations from Africa across southern Asia using Middle Palaeolithic technologies. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The Palaeolithic archaeology of the Thar Desert is predominately known from the results of surface surveys, which indicate repeated The path of hominin dispersal from Africa to Asia is commonly associations between humid landforms, such as palaeochannels illustrated as a coastal corridor (e.g. Stringer, 2000; Field and Lahr, and pedogenised dune deposits, and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts 2005). However, recent field investigations in the Sahara and the (Allchin et al., 1978; Misra et al., 1982; Raghaven and Courty, 1987; Arabian Peninsula have begun to illustrate how Middle Stone Age Blinkhorn, 2012). Secure and reasonably well-dated evidence for and Middle Palaeolithic populations expanded along continental hominin occupations in the Thar Desert during the Upper Pleisto- corridors during periods of enhanced humidity (Armitage et al., cene is limited to the site of 16R Dune (Misra and Rajaguru, 1986; 2011; Drake et al., 2011, 2013; Dennell and Petraglia, 2012). The Raghavan et al., 1989). At this large sand dune, overlooking Did- Thar Desert (Fig. 1), which ranges across western India and south- wana Lake, a Middle Palaeolithic occupation horizon is constrained eastern Pakistan, is part of the mid-latitude arid belt, which appears by dates of 80e40 ka, with non-diagnostic occupations stretching to have shared similar palaeoenvironmental responses to global back to ca 180 ka (Gaillard, 1993; Achyuthan et al., 2007; Singhvi climatic change through the Upper Pleistocene. Hominin coloni- et al., 2010; Blinkhorn, 2013). Here, we report the initial results of sation of the central Thar may have been impossible during periods an excavation at Katoati, ca 50 km from 16R Dune, which have of increased aridity, effectively preventing continental routes of identified Middle Palaeolithic occupations in Marine Isotope Stage dispersal through this region (Field et al., 2007). However, the (MIS) 5 and at the boundary between MIS 4 and 3. presence of dense networks of palaeo-channels across the Thar Desert (Gupta et al., 2011) suggests continental routes of dispersal 2. The Katoati study site may have existed during periods of enhanced humidity. Katoati is located in Nagaur District, Rajasthan in the north- eastern Thar Desert at (E7411 035.4400,N2713019.3800). The Jayal Formation, a tectonically uplifted boulder-conglomerate horizon * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ44 7850035415. (of Early or Pre-Quaternary origin) overlying a ferricretised sand- E-mail address: [email protected] (J. Blinkhorn). stone basement, provides the major source of topographic relief in 0277-3791/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.012 234 J. Blinkhorn et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 77 (2013) 233e238 Fig. 1. a) Map indicating the position of Katoati and the Thar Desert with respect to contemporary Middle Palaeolithic sites in southern Asia; b) Map indicating the position of Katoati in relation to other Palaeolithic sites in the north-eastern Thar Desert. J. Blinkhorn et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 77 (2013) 233e238 235 the immediate surroundings. Previous studies on the Jayal boulder landscape, and is interpreted as evidence of a sheetwash erosion beds have identified Late Acheulean assemblages in excavated event. Beneath this pebble line there is a dramatic increase in the contexts at Jayal and Chhajoli (Misra et al., 1980, 1982). Late proportion of CaCO3 present within the sediments. An OSL age of Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts have been identified 61 Æ 9 ka dates the base of S3, ca 3 m below surface, which marks on the surface of the boulder beds (Misra et al., 1980, 1982), and the lowest aeolian deposits identified. gravel spreads downslope. To the north of the Jayal Formation ex- Strata 4, 6 and 8 comprise medium sands supporting occasional ists a suite of fluvial deposits overlain by aeolian sediments. gravels and rare cobbles. These three strata are separated by S5 and Reconnaissance survey of the sedimentary deposits at Katoati S7, which comprise medium sands with very rare gravel inclusions. identified stratified cultural horizons with abundant lithic assem- The OSL age of S4 is 48 Æ 11 ka, while two fragments of ostrich blages. Initially, a small collection of sixteen single-platform, multi- eggshell (S. camellus) from S4 are dated to >57.9 ka BP (OxA-25897) platform, radial and Levallois cores was made from pebble and and >62 ka BP (OxA-25898) by AMS radiocarbon dating. Although gravel deposits in the upper fluvial deposits. The stratigraphic po- the OSL ages from S3 and S4 are inverted, their error ranges overlap, sition of the cores corresponded with a sample of ostrich eggshell they are statistically indistinguishable, and the ages are also (Struthio camellus) AMS radiocarbon dated to 45.35 Æ 0.65 ka BP consistent with the AMS dates. As we suggest below, this dates to (OxA-19407). A test excavation (KAT1) was subsequently conducted the period during which there is a change from fluvial to aeolian to recover a larger sample of lithic artefacts and to study their deposition, which probably occurs at Katoati around the transition sedimentary context. between MIS 4 and 3 ca 60 ka. This is corroborated by the OSL age of KAT1 is situated within the fluvio-aeolian deposits, where a 77 Æ 18 ka for S5. The base of fluvial activity exposed through gully exposed a deep, stratified sequence. A 3 m wide step-trench excavation dates to 95.6 Æ 13.1 ka. The fluvial sediment sequence is was excavated to a depth of 4.48 m (Fig. 2), revealing eight sedi- interpreted as having been formed as sand and gravel bars within mentary strata (S1e8), five of which are dated using Optically or at the edge of a braided stream. Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) (Table 1; see Supplementary Stable isotope analyses of pedogenic carbonates indicate a information). The two uppermost deposits, which occur to a change in floral composition between periods of aeolian and fluvial depth of 1.3 m, are aeolian dune deposits, with limited evidence for deposition. Pedogenic carbonates from the fluvial sediments (S4e pedogenesis or carbonate formation. An OSL age of 12 Æ 4 ka dates 8) returned d13C values of w0&, suggesting 80e90% of vegetation the sediments at the base of S2. In the top of S3, a thin pebble line is of the site comprise C4 plant types. In contrast, 60e70% C4 plant observed, which is laterally extensive across the immediate coverage is suggested by results from S3 between 2 and 3 m depth Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the sediment profile at KAT1 displaying eight strata (labelled S1eS8); the position of OSL samples locations are indicated by solid black circles with associated age estimates (ka); 0.1 m horizon yielding ostrich eggshell marked ‘X’; sampling location for sedimentary analyses is highlighted on the left of the profile. The results of % CaCO3 and stable carbon isotope analyses are presented to the right. 236 J. Blinkhorn et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 77 (2013) 233e238 Table 1 OSL ages and supporting De and dose rate data for the sediment samples from KAT1. Depth from Strata Lab sample U (ppm) Th (ppm) K% Wt. mean Equivalent Dose rate Wt. mean Age (ka) surface De (Gy) dose (De) Gy (Gy/ka) age (ka) 1.25 m 2 LD-1087 1.7 12.1 1.3 28 Æ 9 2.3 Æ 0.1 12 Æ 4 2.87 m 3 LD-1089 1.5 11.3 1 120 Æ 16 2.0 Æ 0.1 61 Æ 9 3.30 m 4 LD-1088 1.5 11.8 1 97 Æ 20 2.0 Æ 0.1 48 Æ 11 3.85 m 5 LD-1090 1.5 9.9 0.8 133 Æ 30 1.7 Æ 0.1 77 Æ 18 4.40 m 8 LD-1149 1 Æ 0.01 3.2 Æ 0.03 0.56 Æ 0.01 109.43 Æ 14.90 1.14 Æ 0.01 95.6 Æ 13.1 of wÀ2&.
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