Posted on 07/13/2013 6:39:24 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The subject of how and when the earliest dispersal of modern humans out of Africa into Eurasia occurred has long been in dispute among scholars. A number of recent studies have raised new finds with different interpretations and sometimes conflicting results.
Now, scientists investigating a site in the Thar Desert of northeastern India have uncovered stone artifacts that indicate the presence of humans, possibly modern humans, as much as 95,000 years ago in an area that once was wetter than it is today. Their analysis and conclusions, published June 12, 2013 in the scientific journal, Quaternary Science Reviews, have added new fuel to the debate about the timing and route of dispersal of humans out of Africa into southern Asia, including the even bigger question.........What species were they?
The international team of scientists, led by James Blinkhorn, Post-Doctoral Fellow with the Université Bordeaux in France, excavated a 3 meter wide step-trench to a depth of 4.48 meters at the site of Katoati, a site where previous surveys indicated the presence of stone artifacts and the potential for stratified sediments for detailed archaeological investigation and study. Their excavation revealed eight sedimentary strata, most of which were dated using the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating technique, a methodology for measuring doses from ionizing radiation, most often applied to dating ancient materials in geological sediments. Stone artifact assemblages were recovered from most of the sediment layers, including comparatively large collections from three of the layers, including the two earliest (oldest) layers in age, going back to as much as 95,000 years ago.
(Excerpt) Read more at popular-archaeology.com ...
A NASA satellite image of the Thar Desert, with the India-Pakistan border superimposed. The desert is at the center left of the image; the Indus River and its tributaries are to the left side of the desert, and the dark green line at the bottom center of the image is the Aravalli Range. [Wikimedia Commons]
Would it be possible for me to be added to your ping list, please?
Thanks for the article post, but...
It mentions “an assemblage”. Is that just the finished tools — or does it include debitage?
As far as this lithicist is concerned, any article about “stone tools” that does not include photos of same is worthless.
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