Skull Cap of an Early Man from the Narmada Valley Alluvium (Pleistocene) of Central India

Sonakia, A.; Kennedy, Kenneth A. R.

doi:10.1525/aa.1985.87.3.02a00060

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The only known pre-modern fossil in South Asia was recovered from the central Narmada river valley, at Hathnora (Sonakia 1985). The taxonomic status of the calvarium is still disputed, as it was originally classified as Homo erectus by its discoverer, and later identified as 'archaic Homo sapiens' (Kennedy 2000).…”

Section: Hominin Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of Africa: new hypotheses and evidence for the dispersal ofHomo sapiensalong the Indian Ocean rim

Petraglia

Haslam

Fuller

et al. 2010

Annals of Human Biology

159

104

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The dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa is a significant topic in human evolutionary studies. Most investigators agree that our species arose in Africa and subsequently spread out to occupy much of Eurasia. Researchers have argued that populations expanded along the Indian Ocean rim at ca 60,000 years ago during a single rapid dispersal event, probably employing a coastal route towards Australasia. Archaeologists have been relatively silent about the movement and expansion of human populations in terrestrial environments along the Indian Ocean rim, although it is clear that Homo sapiens reached Australia by ca 45,000 years ago. Here, we synthesize and document current genetic and archaeological evidence from two major landmasses, the Arabian peninsula and the Indian subcontinent, regions that have been underplayed in the story of out of Africa dispersals. We suggest that modern humans were present in Arabia and South Asia earlier than currently believed, and probably coincident with the presence of Homo sapiens in the Levant between ca 130 and 70,000 years ago. We show that climatic and environmental fluctuations during the Late Pleistocene would have had significant demographic effects on Arabian and South Asian populations, though indigenous populations would have responded in different ways. Based on a review of the current genetic, archaeological and environmental data, we indicate that demographic patterns in Arabia and South Asia are more interesting and complex than surmised to date.

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Section: Hominin Fossilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Out of Africa: new hypotheses and evidence for the dispersal ofHomo sapiensalong the Indian Ocean rim

Petraglia

Haslam

Fuller

et al. 2010

Annals of Human Biology

159

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, these tribes could represent ancient human populations. Further, the presence of archaeological skeletal materials in the region suggests continuous human habitation since Paleolithic times (Sonakia, 1985;Misra, 1992;Kennedy, 2000). Linguistically, some Proto-Australoid tribes inhabiting the area are affiliated with an Indo-European language, which they might have acquired in recent times.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Microsatellite diversity reveals the interplay of language and geography in shaping genetic differentiation of diverse Proto‐Australoid populations of west‐central India

Gaikwad

Vasulu

Kashyap

2005

American J Phys Anthropol

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Microsatellite diversity was analyzed in four Proto-Australoid tribes, including Indo-European (Marathi)-speaking Katkari, Pawara, Mahadeo-Koli, and Dravidian (Gondi)-speaking groups of Maharashtra, west-central India, to understand their genetic structure and to identify the congruence between language and gene pool. Allele frequency data at 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci in studied tribes was compared with data of 22 Indo-European- and Dravidian-speaking caste and tribal populations using heterozygosity, allele size variance, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), G(ST) estimate, PC plot, and Mantel correlation test. Our results demonstrate that "Gondi" tribes comprising the Madia-Gond, a hunter-gatherer population, and the agriculturist Dheria-Gond harbor lower diversity than "Marathi" tribal groups, which are culturally and genetically distinct. Katkari, a hunter-gatherer tribe, showed greater diversity and the presence of a large number of unique alleles, genetically distinct from all others except the Pawara, supporting their old cultural links. The agriculturist Pawara tribe represents a splinter subgroup of the Bhil tribe and has experienced gene flow. The Mahadeo-Koli, an agriculturally oriented tribe, displayed significant heterozygote deficiency, attributable to the practice of high endogamy. The Proto-Australoid tribal populations were genetically differentiated from castes of similar morphology, suggesting different evolutionary mechanisms operating upon the populations. The populations showed genetic and linguistic similarity, barring a few groups with varied migratory histories. The microsatellite variation clearly demonstrates the interplay of sociocultural factors including linguistic, geographical contiguity, and microevolutionary processes in shaping the genetic diversity of populations in contemporary India. This study supports the ethno-historical relationships of Indian populations.

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“…indet. from Hathnora in the Narmada valley of central India, found in 1982 in deposits reported to be Middle Pleistocene (Sonakia, 1984(Sonakia, , 1985a(Sonakia, , 1985b, pre-dates the Darra-I-Kur hominid temporal bone fragment found in 1966 in northeastern Afghanistan in association with a Mousterian-type lithic industry and radiocarbon dated a t 30,000 1,900-1,200 years B.P. (Gx1122) (Dupree, 1972).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper pleistocene fossil hominids from Sri Lanka

Kennedy

Deraniyagala²,

Roertgen

et al. 1987

American J Phys Anthropol

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Between 1978 and 1983 hominid skeletal remains were collected from the cave sites of Batadomba lena and Beli lena Kitulgala in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). These are the most ancient specimens of anatomically modern Homo sapiens found thus far in South Asia, radiocarbon dates placing them in the Upper Pleistocene. Morphometric analysis of the remains of some 38 individuals from the two sites indicates that these populations were characterized by medium stature, moderate to pronounced cranial and postcranial robusticity, medium-size permanent tooth crown measurements, prognathic alveolar facial proportions, and low incidence of osseous and dental pathological conditions. Comparisons of these ancient Sri Lankans with other prehistoric skeletal series from South Asia and elsewhere support the hypothesis that muscular-skeletal robusticity was a significant physical adaptation of earlier hunting-foraging populations. A trend towards reduction of sexual dimorphism and development of more gracile body form and smaller teeth appears to have accelerated with the socioeconomic transition to food-production strategies involving agriculture and pastoralism and refinement of technologies for food procurement and preparation, as documented by morphometric studies of later prehistoric inhabitants of South Asia.

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Skull Cap of an Early Man from the Narmada Valley Alluvium (Pleistocene) of Central India

Cited by 29 publications

References 3 publications

Out of Africa: new hypotheses and evidence for the dispersal ofHomo sapiensalong the Indian Ocean rim

Out of Africa: new hypotheses and evidence for the dispersal ofHomo sapiensalong the Indian Ocean rim

Microsatellite diversity reveals the interplay of language and geography in shaping genetic differentiation of diverse Proto‐Australoid populations of west‐central India

Upper pleistocene fossil hominids from Sri Lanka

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