South Asian Stone Age

The broad prehistoric period in South Asia when communities used stone tools, encompassing regionally varied Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic traditions.

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Lower Paleolithic: The earliest Paleolithic phase, marked by large-core stone tools such as hand axes and cleavers. Its handaxe traditions define some of the oldest widely documented South Asian tool industries.
Attirampakkam: An archaeological site in Tamil Nadu, India, with long sequences of Paleolithic stone tools. Its dated assemblages document technological change in the region over an unusually long span.
Homo erectus: An extinct human species that lived across parts of Africa and Eurasia from roughly 1.9 million years ago. Early stone-tool traditions in South Asia are often discussed in relation to this species' wider dispersal.
Lithic analysis: The study of stone artifacts to infer how they were made, used, and discarded. It lets archaeologists distinguish tool traditions even when written records are absent.
Out of India theory: A family of hypotheses proposing that modern humans originated in or dispersed outward from the Indian subcontinent. It conflicts with the prevailing African-origin model and is not supported by mainstream genetic evidence.
Middle Paleolithic: A Paleolithic phase characterized by prepared-core techniques and flake-based stone tools. Its flake industries mark technological change between early handaxes and later microliths.
Mehrgarh: A Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlement in Balochistan, occupied from the seventh millennium BCE. Its early farming and village remains illuminate the region's transition to settled life.
Out of Africa theory: A model holding that modern humans originated in Africa and later dispersed across the world. South Asian prehistoric sites help trace routes and timing of modern human dispersal.
Stratigraphy: The study of layered deposits and their sequence, used to establish relative archaeological chronology. Layer order helps place South Asian artifacts before or after ash, sediments, and other remains.
Middle Paleolithic transition in South Asia: The regionally varied shift from Lower Paleolithic technologies to Middle Paleolithic flake industries. Its chronology and causes remain debated because sites and dating evidence differ across the subcontinent.