Soanian

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Soanian
Geographical rangeIndian subcontinent[1]
PeriodLower Paleolithic
Dates500,000 – 125,000 BP[2][3]
Type siteSivalik region[1]
Major sitesSivalik Hills[1]
Preceded byAcheulean
Followed byMousterian

The Soanian is an archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic in the Sivalik Hills of the Indian subcontinent.[1][4] Contemporary to the Acheulean, it is named after the Soan Valley in Pakistan.[5] Soanian sites are found along the Sivalik region in present-day India, Nepal and Pakistan.[6] Soanian artifacts were manufactured on quartzite pebbles, cobbles, and occasionally on boulders, all derived from various fluvial sources on the Siwalik landscape. Soanian assemblages generally comprise varieties of choppers, discoids, scrapers, cores, and numerous flake types, all occurring in varying typotechnological frequencies at individual sites.[7] Excluding some localities in the Soan Valley of Pakistan, the site complex of Guler (Beas Valley) and Toka in India, and the Arjun-3 site in Nepal, Soanian and similar assemblages rarely comprise more than a few dozen artifacts. Most occur in nondatable surface contexts and may be classifiable as off-sites or non-sites, with stray artifacts strewn randomly across Siwalik landscapes.[8][9][10] The closest morphological parallels to this outside of South Asia are found in the neighboring regions of Tajikistan and Iran.[11]

Findings[]

Map of the Indian subcontinent showing important sites of the Soanian culture.

The term "Soan Culture" was first used by Hellmut De Terra in 1936,[12] but D. N. Wadia had identified the presence of these archaeological implements in 1928.[13] Further archaeological research was conducted by Stephen Lycett in order to determine the morphometric assessment of the Soanian techno-complex. The result of this experiment concluded that the Soanian techno-complex contains a Mode 3 Levallois technique core component.[4]

At Adiala and Khasala Kalan, about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Rawalpindi terrace on the bend of the river, hundreds of edged pebble tools were discovered. At Chauntra in Himachal Pradesh, hand axes and cleavers were found. Tools up to two million years old have been recovered. In the Soan River Gorge, many fossil bearing rocks are exposed on the surface. 14 million year old fossils of gazelle, rhinoceros, crocodile, giraffe and rodents have been found there. Some of these fossils are on display at the Pakistan Museum of Natural History in Islamabad.

See also[]

The Paleolithic
↑ Pliocene (before Homo)
hide
Lower Paleolithic
 (c. 3.3 Ma – 300 ka)
Middle Paleolithic
 (c. 300–50 ka)
Upper Paleolithic
 (c. 50–12 ka)
↓ Mesolithic
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References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Gwen Robbins Schug; Subhash R. Walimbe (13 April 2016). A Companion to South Asia in the Past. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 39–. ISBN 978-1-119-05547-1. Quote: “Soanian and Soanian‐like assemblages are known throughout the entire Siwalik or Sub‐ Himalayan region, from Pakistan to northeast India including Nepal...”
  2. ^ Petraglia & Allchin 2007, pp. 5–6.
  3. ^ Murray, Tim (1999). Time and Archaeology. London: Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-415-11762-3.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Lycett, Stephen J. (2007). "Is the Soanian techno-complex a Mode 1 or Mode 3 phenomenon? A morphometric assessment" (PDF). Journal of Archaeological Science. 34 (9): 1434–1440. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.11.001.
  5. ^ "Pakistan: The lesser-known histories of an ancient land".
  6. ^ Chauhan, Parth R., An Overview of the Siwalik Acheulian & Reconsidering Its Chronological Relationship with the Soanian – A Theoretical Perspective.
  7. ^ Paterson, T.T., Drummond, H.J.H., 1962. Soan the Palaeolithic of Pakistan.Department of Archaeology, Government of Pakistan Karachi.
  8. ^ Pande, B.M., 1968. A note on two paleoliths from Guler, District Kangra(Himachal Pradesh). Curr. Sci. 37 (19), 558-560.
  9. ^ Foley, R., 1981. Off-site archaeology: an alternative approach for the short-sited. In: Hodder, I., Isaac, G., Hammond, N. (Eds.), Patterns of the Past: Studies in Honour of David Clark. Cambridge University Press, Cam-bridge, pp. 157-183.
  10. ^ Dunnell, R.C., Dancey, W.S., 1983. The siteless survey: a regional scale data collection strategy. In: Schiffer, M.B. (Ed.), Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, 6, pp. 267-287.
  11. ^ Davis, R.S., 1984. The Soan in Central Asia? Problems in Early Palaeolithicculture history. In: Kennedy, K.A.R., Possehl, G.L. (Eds.), Studies in the Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology of South Asia. Oxford & IBH Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp. 23-32.
  12. ^ Hellmut De Terra (1969). George Grant MacCurdy (ed.). Early man: as depicted by leading authorities at the International symposium, the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, March 1937. pp. 267–. ISBN 978-0-8369-1184-8. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  13. ^ Kenneth Oakley (30 April 2007) [1964]. Frameworks for Dating Fossil Man. Transaction Publishers. pp. 224–. ISBN 978-0-202-30960-6. Retrieved 16 October 2011.

Further reading[]

External links[]


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