Middle Palaeolithic in India

Flashcards covering the distribution, environment, chronology, and cultural complexes of the Middle Palaeolithic period in India.

Middle Palaeolithic Chronology

The period occurring during the Upper Pleistocene, dated between $1,05,000$ and $40,000$ years ago, with C-14 dates in Maharashtra between $39,000$ and $17,000$ years BP.

Ratnagiri

The only district in Maharashtra where the Middle Palaeolithic industry has not been found.

Bos nomadicus

A wild ox fossil from the Middle Palaeolithic period discovered at Kalegaon.

Elephas antiquus

A wild elephant skull fossil discovered at Chandoli.

Crypto-crystalline Silica

The primary raw material for Middle Palaeolithic tools, consisting of types like Agate, Jasper, and Chalcedony, which offer a smoother fracture than granular quartzite.

Neanderthal

The ancestral human being associated with the Middle Palaeolithic period.

Levallois Technique

A tool-making method based on a prepared core, also known as a Tortoise core, used during the Middle Palaeolithic.

Soan Culture Complex

Discovered by De Terra and Paterson (1935) in terrace T4, this complex is characterized by thin Clactonian flakes and few Mousterian flakes in the Soan Valley.

Central Culture Complex

Located in the Narmada Valley and Bhimbetka Cave, this complex yielded tools from the 5th layer of Bhimbetka's upper strata.

Luni Culture Complex

A Rajasthan-based complex excavated by Misra at the sites of Didwah, Vagon, and Kadmali.

Nevasian Culture Complex

A complex named by Sankalia found in the Godavari and Pravara river valleys, following the Mousterian tradition and featuring thin leaf points.

Southern Culture Complex

A Tamilnadu-based complex including sites like Vadamadurai (T2) and Attirampakkam (T3), characterized by flake tools and long blade-like flakes.

South Coastal Complex

Located in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, this complex is notable for its enormous number of borers.

Kurnool-Chattisgarh Complex

A local development in highland regions featuring plenty of Mousterian tools adapted for forest environments.

Eastern Culture Complex

Found in the Belan river valley, Singhbhum, and West Bengal, this complex is distinguished by the use of flake tools, scrapers, burins, and borers.

Scrapers

Commonly made from prepared cores, these tools were used throughout India to work hard tropical wood in forested environments.

Nevasian leaf point

The only well-developed missile point characteristic of the Middle Palaeolithic, found specifically within the Nevasian culture.

Middle Palaeolithic Subsistence

A lifestyle of hunting and gathering where the environment favored the collective hunting of big game animals.