The Middle Palaeolithic

The distribution of Middle Palaeolithic sites in South India roughly parallels that of the Lower Palaeolithic. For the first time, there was an expansion into southern Tamil Nadu, as also the first occupation of rock shelters such as Gudiyam in the Allikulli hills of Tamil Nadu, and the karstic cave of Belum in Kurnool district. In the Hunsgi-Baichbal complex, settlements expanded outside the valley floor into the surrounding plateaux. In the Kaladgi basin, in the Ghataprabha-Malaprabha complex, most Middle Palaeolithic sites occur in the same locales as the Acheulian, in the semi-arid lower reaches of the valley and much less than in the subhumid middle and upper reaches, and proliferate in regions with good development of chert formations. In the Krishna-Tungabhadra Doab, for the first time, hominins entered the savanna woodland zone.

There are very few chronometric dates for what is termed the Middle Palaeolithic in India. Nandipalle in the Sagileru basin (1.11-1.26 m in clayey silts; from gastropod shells) dates to 23 670 ± 640, 690; (half-life 5568 ± 30 years) and 24 360 ± 660, 710 (halflife 5730 ± 40) (PRL -293). However, the Indian Middle Palaeolithic is in general bracketed between 150 kyr BP to around 30 kyr BP.

Stratigraphically, most such sites in southern India are surface collections, often found in a mixed context with the Acheulian. However, stratified sites show that they overlie Acheulian horizons, and occur in a wide range of sedimentary contexts. In most areas, sites occur in finer fluvial gravels, termed gravel II, and sometimes separated by fine sediments from gravels bearing Acheulian artifacts (e. g., Sagileru complex and Kurnool complex). In the Hunsgi-Baichbal complex, they occur in a brown silt overlying the Acheulian, and often associated with it. In the Ghataprabha-Malaprabha complex, sites occur on the eroded surface of high-level gravels, in alluvial or channel gravel beds, on the surface of pediments, in talus and colluvial deposits, and as surface sites near raw material. In the Lakhmapur complex, Middle Palaeolithic tools were identified in black clays, palaeovertisols (unit II) resting uncomfortably over a nodular laterite (unit III), as also in the top of the unit III, but are reworked. In another complex, tools were noted in laterite (unit III) resting on the top of an indurated portion of the section (unit IV), along the distal margins of a pediment slope. In the Middle Krishna valley, sites were in association with high-levelgravels and the first major occupation of this region occurred owing to the abundance of raw material in these gravels. The unique occurrence of Middle Palaeolithic artifacts in red beds at a depth of 3.2 m is noted at the site of Ramayogi Agraharam, along the Visakhapatnam coast, Andhra Pradesh. In the Kortallaiyar river basin, Tamil Nadu, artifacts occur eroding out of ferruginous gravel deposits, and on the surface of eroded bedrock. At Attirampakkam, tools are noted in layer 2, a fine ferruginous gravel.

Over most of South India, quartzites continued to be used, with a preference for fine-grained rocks. Some regions witnessed a shift toward siliceous raw materials (chert, jasper, quartz) available in the form of nodules eroding from chert veins, outcrops, river, and high-level gravels. This is seen in the Krishna-Tungabhadra basin, the Cuddappah complex, and the Kurnool region, where there is the additional use of indurated shale, slate, quartz, and basalt; as also in the Hunsgi-Baichbal basins, and sites in the Kaladgi basin. Regional variability within complexes is also noted. Thus, in the Sagileru complex, while quartzites continued to be used, a complete switch to siliceous raw materials is seen at the site of Vemula. Similarly, in the Krishna-Tungabhadra Doab, distinct regional variability is seen in the use of quartzite, chert, and jasper at different sites. At Ramayogi Agraharam, khondalites were used.

The Middle Palaeolithic is generally characterized by a predominance of flake tools: scrapers, borers, and points, along with a continuation of handaxes (which become diminutive), and chopper-chopping tools. However, tools were also made on chunks and nodules, and many authors note a decline in standardization and refinement of tools as compared to the Acheulian. The prepared core technique and blade techniques predominate along with use of simple flakes and minimal retouch, although along the southeast coast the Levallois element is thought to be negligible. In excavated sites such as Kovalli, evidence of the prepared core technique was noted with predominance of cores and debitage and fewer scrapers, borers, scrapers-cum-borers, and points. At a number of sites, tools were on nodules as well as on flakes struck from nodules. Shouldered tools, tanged points and miniature handaxes, blunting on flakes and flake blades are also noted at several sites. With the exception of the Gunjana complex of sites (with a high percentage of handaxes), scrapers and points predominate in most regions. In the Kortallaiyar river basin, hominins exploited locally available raw material sources (cobbles, pebbles, thermal fracture flakes) in an expedient manner, with minimal retouch and trimming. Prepared core and blade techniques are noted as also a continuation of tool types and techniques associated with the Acheulian.

Inferences on behavior are sporadic. In the Krishna-Tungabhadra Doab, sites are classified into base camps and transient sites, or factory sites. Similarly, Kovalli in the Kaladgi region is designated as a factory site. In the Kortallaiyar basin, technological strategies and assemblage composition along with studies of site-formation processes were used to infer site functions and suggest possible alternate mobility patterns across the landscape.