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Bishnupriya Basak ¹, G. L. Badam ¹, Anupama Kshirsagar ¹, S. N. Rajaguru ¹

Affiliations
1 Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune 411 006, IN

Abstract

The authors present an integrated data on the Quaternary studies carried out during the 1993-95 field seasons in a lesser known area, the Tarafeni Valley in Midnapur District, West Bengal. Microliths primarily made on chert, quartzite have been found in association with colluvial deposits formed more or less contemporaneously with underlying nodular calcrete of pedogenic Oligin. Occurrence of several vertebrate fossils on the surface of the calcrete at Dhuliapur indicates Late Pleistocene age of the artefact bearing colluvial deposits. The formation of pedogenic calcrete in a sub-humid environment, with an average annual rainfall of 1600 - 2000 mm, suggests the presence of semi-aridity in Late Terminal Pleistocene period.

Keywords

Palaeoenvironment, Tarafeni Valley, Late Quaternary, Vertebrate Fossils, West Bengal.

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Bishnupriya Basak ¹, Pradeep Srivastava ², Sujit Dasgupta ³, Anil Kumar ², S. N. Rajaguru ⁴

Affiliations
1 Department of Archaeology, Calcutta University, Kolkata 700 073, IN
2 Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun 248 001, IN
3 Formerly at Geological Survey of India, Kolkata 700 016, IN
4 Formerly at Deccan College, Yerwada, Pune 411 006, IN

Abstract

Microlithic industries, a technology associated with modern humans, as defined by the production of microblades have been found in different parts of the Indian subcontinent with the earliest date being 48 ka. The present communication reports on recent archaeological excavations of these industries from a colluvial context located in the pediment surface of Precambrian hills in Purulia, West Bengal. These are dated to 34-25 ka by optically stimulated luminescence dating and are the earliest dates for microlithic industries in eastern India. To our knowledge such dating does not exist for any prehistoric site in Bengal. The context of the sites - hill-slope colluvium - is also unique and a rarity in the subcontinent. These findings add additional inputs to the knowledge of these industries, providing supporting evidence to their antiquity.

Keywords

Colluvium, Excavation, Microlihic Industries, Modern Humans.

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