Beyond Handaxes: Investigating Lower Palaeolithic Cultural Variability in South-East India

Abstract

Here, we present the results of recent investigations into spatio-temporal variability in Lower Palaeolithic technologies in India. The research focuses on the diverse technological strategies adopted in SE India that continue from the Lower Palaeolithic through the transition to the Middle Palaeolithic. The arguments for diversity and change in lithic technologies are primarily constructed around evidence from the site of Attirampakkam (ATM), Chennai, Tamil Nadu where a very early Acheulian presence (~1.07–1.7 Ma) has been recorded, succeeded by transitions and the establishment of an early MP culture (beginning around 385 ± 64 ka). The MP culture prevailed at the site until 172 ± 41 ka. To situate the cultural trajectories reconstructed at Attirampakkam in a wider regional context, research was undertaken at the nearby site of Sendrayanpayalam (SEN). This research project led to the discovery of stratified horizons containing a sequence of Lower Palaeolithic assemblages. This paper focuses on the different horizons identified at the site of SEN, and explores aspects of the Lower Palaeolithic that differ in terms of assemblage structure and technology between the two sites. We present a preliminary introduction to the different methodologies adopted and emerging results from the research program. We analyse supporting evidence from the diversity of lithic reduction sequences encountered in the stratigraphy, and interpret hominin behavioural variability at the site. We note that the technological sequences observed at ATM and SEN are similar to those reported from Africa and in Eurasia, where they have been linked to significant behavioural change related to the timing of successive population dispersals out of Africa.