Chapter 23

ANTIQUITY OF ACHEULIAN CULTURE IN UPLAND

MAHARASHTRA: A GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL
APPROACH
Sushama G. Deo, Sheila Mishra, Sharad N. Rajaguru and Savita Ghate

INTRODUCTION
Though Acheulian artefacts have been discovered in 1863, the problem of the antiquity of
the Acheulian culture in India eluded prehistorians,.palaeoanthropologists and Quaternary
geologists for a long time (Pappu 2001). Based on concepts and techniques developed in
European and African assemblages, and in the absence of absolute dates Prehistorians in
India attempted to sub-divide Indian assemblages in two major categories, "Early" and
"Late", on the basis of typology. Acheulian artefacts in the Peninsular India have been
found in the context of fluvial, fluvio-lacustral, colluvial and aeolian sediments. Artefacts
have also been discovered in rock shelter debris and in regoliths capping rocky pediments.
Sometimes, animal fossils and rarely human fossil bones (as at Hathnora in central Narmada
valley) have been found in association with Acheulian artefacts. In spite of presence of
large number of sites, very few primary and semi-primary sites have been well excavated.
For example, primary context rock shelter sites like Bhimbetka (Misra 1985). Adamgarh
in Madhya Pradesh (Joshi 1978), primary sites ofPaisra in Bihar (Pant and laiswall991),
Hunsgi and Isampur in Karnataka (Paddayya 1977,1997), Chirki on Pravara in
Maharashtra (Corvinus 1981, 1983) have added new data on cultural aspects of Late and
Early Acheulian assemblages, though without any definite statement of exact chronology,
excepting the site of Isampur (Paddayya, et al., 2002).
In the second half of 20th century, Zeuner (1963) and Wainwright ( 1964) tried to establish
relative stratigraphy of Acheulian artefacts found in gravel beds of Sabarmati river in
Gujarat and from the rivers Narmada and Chambal in central India. They studied three
palaeosols preserved within 20-25 cm thick fluvial and fluvio-aeolian deposits in the cliff
sections of Sabarmati, Mahi and the Narmada in the Central Gujarat and suggested that
these soils formed during the interstadial phases of the Last Glacial period. Based on this
they proposed a date of Late Middle Pleistocene or Early Upper Pleistocene for Acheulian
artefacts found in the alluvial plain of Central Gujarat. This was probably one of the first
scientific attempts to place Acheulian industry of Western India in a global Quaternary
stratigraphy.
Antiquity ofAcheulian Culture in Upland Maharashtra: A Geoarchaeological Approach 293

Later Rajaguro (1970) an~ Covrinus (1971) attempted to date Acheulian artefacts
preserved in alluvial deposits of Upper Godavari basin in Upland Maharashtra on the basis
.of a few C-14 dates obtained on drift wood and mollu:scan shells in the lower levels of
30 m thick cut-off sections of the Mula dam site in the Godavari valley, Nirgudsar d.am site
in the Bhitna valley and Dhoro dam in the Krishna valley. As these dates wen." less maR
40 ka SP, and as there were no major erosional disconformities in these alluvial sections,
it was argued that the. Acheulian artefacts found in the basal gravels may not be older than
the Early Late Pleistocene or the Terminal Middle Pleistocene. Badam;s (1979) detailed
palaeontological studies of vert.ebrate bones found in these alluvial fills more or less
confmnRajaguru and CQrvinus' views. Williams and Clarke (1995) multidisciplinary
studies in the Son valley in Madhya Pradesh alSo did not suggest high antiquity of Acheulian
culture in Peninsular India.
The major breakthrough in dating Acheulian sites in this region was the application of
Th-Ur series method to date 'Miliolite Fonnatioo' in Saurashtra (Baskaran, el al., 19891.
travertine. ca1cretised sandstone and animal bones from alluvial fills of the Krishna, Bhima
and Godavari valleys at Yedurwadi. Karnataka and at Nevasaand Bod in Maharaslma.
(Kale. et ai., 1988) (Table 1). In spite of the technical limitations of the application of
Th-Ur series dating techniques for the material which are not within the closed depo$itional
environmental system. archaeologists realbed that at some Acheulian sites like
Umrethi in GuJarat, Nevasa in Maharashtra. and Kaldevanhalli. Sadab and Yedurwadi
in KlUllataka. are of the Middle Pleistocene age and cover a time range from >350 ka to
-150ka B.P. Misbra (1992) arguedthattheTh-U dates indicate that all sites fqrwhkh the
method was applied are essentially beyond 350 ka,
Further, discovery of acidic volcanic ash (tephra) layers in close association with an
Acheulian artefact bearing alluvial deposits, at Bori in Kukdi vaUey in district PUne
and subsequent dating of the tephra by Ar39-Ar40. K-Ar method and also by Fission
Track method. indicated that the Acheulian could belong to the basal Middle Pleistocene
(-670ka BP)(Mishra, ~t al., 1995, Horne, et 01.• 1993).
Westgate, et al.• (1998)raised strong objections for a date of 670 ka ofthe Bori tephra, Qn
the ground that the dating was based on whole rock sample and also on the basis of their
detailed geochemical studies of tephra in alluvial deposits of the Puma. Narmada and Son
and Bori. They suggeste.d a d.ate of 75 ka for the Bori tephra on ~eochemical correlations
with well-dated tephra of the Central Narmada andwirh the Youngest TQba Tephra (¥IT)
of Sumatra islands. in Indonesia. Fission Track date with very wide margins of error on
Puma tephra (which is not associated with artefacts) was used to argue against the Bon
tephra date. Westgate, et al., also. suggested that the Acheulian artefacts found in association
with the tephra are pu,rely ill a secondary context and therefore, dating of Acheulian site of
Borl to 670 ka is wrong.
294 Human Origins, Genome and People of lndi~l

Table 1: Well dated Acheulian sites in Peninsular India.

Sit~ Geomorphic Material Dating Approximate t?eference

Conte.xt dated method date
Didwana Fossil dunes Aeolian UTicorrec(!l'd >39.0 ka Raghavan,
(Rajasthan)' and associated sand and Th-Ur series at aI., (1989)
calcretes pedogenic
calcrete
Umrethl MUiolite Whole rock Th-Ur series >190 ka Bhaskaran,
(Gujarat) (calcan:mite) of miliolite et al., (1986)
and matrix
based channel
gravel

Hathf"lora Malrix based Fine over Palaeomagns- Laie Middle Venkata Rap
(Madhya channel bank tism Pleistocene, etal., 1997;
Pradesh) gravel + sediment <Brunches Tiwari and
animal fossils (silt + clay) normal) Shai,19.97
+ human bone.s

Nevasa Matrix b'ased Ground Th-Ur series >350 ka Atkinsons, et

(Maha- channel water ai" (1990)
rashtra) graVer c.~rbonate
context

Bori Overbank silt Tephra Ar-Ar Fission -650 ksand Mishra, st fj/"
(Maha- + clay and (Volcanic ash) Track and 75 lia (1995);
rashtra) channel gravel geochemical (chemical) Westgate
e"t al., (1998)
"

Yedurwadi Overoanksilt + Ground water Th~Ur serie$ >350 ka Kal~, et al.,

(Kamataka) claY;!lnd carbonate (1986)
channe.1 graver

KaldevanhalJi Tranvertine Tranventine Th~Ur series -170 ka Szabo, et a/.,

(Kamataka) (fossil spring (1990)
tuffa)
.
Sadab Gravies + Elephas sp. T'h-Ur series -300 ka Szabo .et a/.,
(Kamataka) animal fossils m.olar (1990)
>

In view of these problems related to the chronology of Acheulian site of Bori, we carried
out detailed geoarchaeological inVestigations on another Acheulian site of Morgaon in
District Punc, Maharashtra (Fig, I), where the tephra and the Acheulian assemblages occur
in dose association in fluvial deposits. OUf geoarchaeological investigations at Morgaon
not only support an early antiquity of the Acheulian assemblage at Bari butahio probably
indicate the pres~nce of Acheulian culture even during the Early Pleistocene, In this short
eommunication we have summ.arised the Bori findings and give some details on
geoarchaeological aspects of the site of Morgaon.
 Hhimbetka Adampm
R. Narmada

.
N.

1'.0

Fig. 1: Acheulian Sites in peninsular India.

OBSERVATIONS
1. Bari (19°7'N 74°5'E)
Kale. (1986) discovered the Acheulian site of Bori. The site is preserved in alluvial
deposits containing tephra lenses exposed on either banks of river Kukdi,a northerly
tributary ofrJver Bhima in district Pune (Fig. 2).
The river Kukdi is an allocthonous river, having its major catchments in the Western Ghats
with annual rainfall greater than 2500 mttl. Morphogenetically the source region of the
Kukdi lies in Selva zone, i.e., in the semi-arid/arid zone while the Bori proper is in the
semi·arid zone (Jog. et al.. 2003). The Kukdi flows in a wide shallow rocky valley with
well.developed pediments and inselbergs fanned on basaltic rocks of the Cretaceous-
Eocene age. Colluvial and alluvial sediments not exceeding 10-15 min exposed sections,
disconformably cap basaltic rocks, which at places are weathered for sev.eral metres deep.
In the present paper we have briefly described various lithological units as observed in
exposed cliff' sections on either banks of the Kukdi and also on the basis of examinati.on of
freshly dug wells within the alluvium around Bori where lateral extent of fluvial deposits
is less than 1.5 kill on either banks.
 HUlNJn OrigitU. G«nomft lAnd PftOp/ft of India

-
L

FIg. 2: Tephra at Bari.

Calcareous yellow silt with some rubble and gravel horizon~ restJ on bedrock and
continues unto the divides, especially the northern divide. These appear to be part of the
"Chandanapuri Formatioo", described by Kale, eJ aI., (1993). Bedrock incision bel.ow the
base of the Chandanapuri Formation has fonncd a small basin JS m deep, which is filled
with compact brown silt and black-fissured clay. Sandy pebbly gravels and tephra form
lenses in ItYS unit.
The tephra varies in thickness from 5 cm to -2 meter. The thin tephra layers (5 cm) occur
around 3 to' above the present cbannel level. The lower tephra is thicker (-0.8 cm to 2 m)
and has developed pedogenic chatacters in upper 30 em portion . Well-dcveJoped pink
(10 YRI2) blocky pads in upper pan grades to pure greyish white (10 YRl8) tephra in lower
part. Hacmatite segregates are also observed in upper part. which is tough and compact.
The thicker, pedogenised lower tephra thus has preserved signatures of post-dcpositional
weathering. Difference in elevation of tephra layers is due to palaeo I;»ank topography of the
Kukdi . TIle tephra primarily is of aeolian origin a.nd is preserved in over bank sediments of
Anliquity of Acheulilll1 Culture in Upland Maharaslttra: A Geaarchaeological Approach 297

the Kukdi. The pure whitish tephra is rich (90 to 92%) in angular and sub-angular glass
sherds and pumice. Accessory minerals include quartz. sandidine feldspar and occasional
zircon and biotite. Refractive index of glass sherd is 1.525 to 1.545. Pure glass sherdsare
unweathered while, upper part of the tephra indicates weathering of soft minerals like
biotite and sanidine feldspar (Karmalku, et ai., 1997), Recently, Chen st al.• (2003)
studied Bari teprha by EMP (Electron Microprobe) and found that biotite shows distinct
signs of weathering. In comparison. the tephra from the Puma valley in district Akola.
Maharashtra is unweathered.
There are two litho units, which have complex cut and fiU relationship with each other. The
most common litho unit is represented by yellowish brown sandy silt moderately calcretised
by; ground water and pedogenic carbonates. This litho unit also contains lenses of sandy
pebbly gravels which are at times cross bedded and have yielded good number of microliths
on chalcedony, molluscan shells and a few fragmentary pieces of ostrich egg shells, which
are dated to around 26 ka B.P. (Mishra, etal., 2003). This litho unit overlies the brownish
silts and fissured clays with tephra and cobbJy pebbly gravel lenses. This unit has been well
investigated.
As stated in the Introduction, there is a strong controversy over the age of the 'Bori
Tephra'. Tephra at Bori is exposed at 5 localities in the Kukdi channel upstream and
dGwnstream of Bari village, over a distance of about 10 km (Fig. 3). The largest artefact
assemblage is from a locality just downstream of Bari (locality 4), where more than 192
artefacts. mainly small flakes, but including a number of Trihedral handaxes were recovered
in situ from a gravel bed (Fig. 4). This gravel is seen to cut into a small remnant of the
tephra and so post-dates the tephra. The clay overlying the artefact bearing gravel also has
,a thin tephra layer so that we have earlier interpreted the gravel as immediately following
the tephra fall. The tephra filled. in the pre-existing channel, following which gravel was
deposited as a short lived event due to temporary destruction of forest cover on the valley
slopes of the Kukdi (Mishra, et ai., 1995). As this gravel deposition was of short du'ration,
a tusk (1.2 m long) and many un abraded artefacts ranging in size from 2.2 to 10.6 em on
bas,att ,and dolerite could get well preserved, in a semi-primary context. At Lac 5, the
farthest downstream, an unabraded Kombewa flake was found in situ in clay 1.5 m below
the tephra. while at Lac 3, on the bank opposite Bori, at Bori Khurd, a spherical. hand sized
nodule was fou!ld in clay underlying the tephra in well digging. This most probably is a
manuport. At Locality 1, the farthest upstream, a battered nodule of rare {achy Iitk trap and
an abraded flake were found in a thin gravel veneer sandWiched between bedrock and
alluvium (>10 m thick), which is capped by the tephra. Early Acheulian artefacts in semi~
primary context therefore are well associated with the Bon tephra. occurring both above
and below it. Correlation of the tephra with YTT dating to 75 ka can be ruled out on the
basis of the archaeology, as Early Acheulian most probably dates to the basal Middle
Pleistocene at least (Mishra. et al., 1995). Archaeological evidence thus support the
298 Human Origiiu, Genome and People 0/ India

hypothesis that the tepbra at Bori is closely 'Associated with Acheulian artefa'c ts preserved
in semi-primary context in alluvial deposits.

/
,

19°1' N

- Tephrn
3
N
... ~ If")
I ~m 74'1 5" E ,

Fig. 3: Tephra at Bori.

Fi~ 4: Stone tools from Borl.

Antiquity of Acheuliall Culrl4re in UpIIJ/1d Maha rashtra: A Geoarchaeoiogical Approach 299

2, Morgaon (15°17' N 74°18 ' E)

The Acheulian site of Morgaon is being excavated since 2001. The Acheulian artefacls on
the surface were first discovered in 1989 (IAR 1989). Subsequently, discovery of volcanic
ash (Kale, el at.• 1993) from the site ofMocgaon. district Pune, was made. The 'association
of volcanic ash with artefact bearing strata established the importance or"this site.
The Acheulian site of Morga on (Fig. 5) is pres'c rvcd in alluvial deposits exposed on the left
bank of the river Karha, a northerly tributary of the river Nica which joins the trunk stream
Bhima in district Punc. The Kaeha originates 40 km upstream of Morgaan and drains
into denudational surfaces with an clevati90 varying from 800 to 600 m ASL. The Karha
i~ an autochthonous river in a semi-arid rocky basin with annual rain fan of about 500 mm.
Tbe basin is within the chronic drought zone with mean annual water deficiency of -1000
mm (Gadgil. 2002). Geologically. the basin is covered by varieties of basalt of the
Cretaceous-Eocene age. Mapping done recenrly by the Geological Survey of India and
Khadri, el oJ., (1999) show that the basalts belong to the youngest eruptive phase of the
Deccan volcanic activity, whicb have pockets of olivine rich flowli., technically known as
picrites. which anoears to have been lateritised durin2 the Earlv Tertiary period (RaiagUfu.
et,

Artefacts from ploughed field

.
Morgaon
"

FIg. 5: Morgaon Acheulian site.

300 Hunlan Origins, Genome and People of India

As in the Kukdi valley, the alluvial cover is not more than 20 m thick and the lateral extent
on either banks of the Karha and its tributaries is less than 1.S km. The description of the .
fluvial deposits is based on exposed cliff sections, shallow dug wells in alluvium and
through small-scale exca':ation of Acheulian artefact bearing fluvial deposits (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6: Morgaon excavated site.

(a) Pre-Acheulian Cobbly-Pebbly Gravel with Laterite Ironstone

This gravel is rich in cobbles and pebbles (about 25 em) of compact basalt. ]1 is matrix
supported, un imbricated. unsorted. ungraded and is moderately [0 strongly cemented by
calcium carbonate of ground water origin. The gravel is unstratified in the lower portion
and is moderately cross-bedded in the upper part. The gravel is rich in corestones of bas all
with maximum diameter of 80 em. It abo contains minor «5%) proportion of lateritic
ironstone. which is rich in iron oxide (62%). Size of laterite ironstone varies from 40 em
to 2 em and they are sub-rounded to sub-angular. The gravel is totally free of calcrete
clasts. COTcstones of basalt are strongly to moderately .weathered, while basalt pebbles
have developed thin (<5 mm) weathering rind. A few laterite pebbles are encrusted with'
siliceous chalcedony or glassy material.
The gravel varies in thickness from -! m to 7 10 and invariably rests on weathered basalt at
a height varying from modern channel level of the Karha to 5 m above the same. Isolated
outcrops of the gravel occur at Saswad. Jejuri and Morgaon covering 28 km longitudinal
Antiquity 0/Aclzeulian Culture in Upland Malumuhtra: A Geoarcl!aeolagical Approach 301

stretch of the river. The gravel seems to have been deposited in hyper-concentrated stream
flows in a landscape where laterite ironstone cover was a part of regol ith. which was totally
free from calcrete. Thus the gravel is relict and misfit in the present landscape, which is
devoid of laterite but rich in calcretised regolith. It is therefore, suggested that the gravel
has been deposited in an environment less dry than the present one. This gravel is capped ~
reddish brown silt-clay unit particularly around Morgaon.

(b) Reddish Brown Slit-Clay Unit

This litho unit consists of brownish sill-clay with lenses of volcanic ash (tephra) and of
pebbly sandy gravels. It is 1 to 4 m thick and restricted to 3 square km around Morgaon.
The basal silt is strongly calcretised. compact and has yielded fossilized bones ofBos sp.
The associated clay is dark brown in colour, fissured and almost devoid of calcrete.
Powdery calcrete is found only along fissures. Preliminary clay mineralogical studies
indicate that both silt and clays are dominated by montmorillonite group of clay minerals.
Gravels associated with this unit are differentially cemented, moderately sorted (pebble to
granule grade), crudely stratified and rich in litho clasts of compact basalt with thin
«2 mm) development of weathering rind. Calcrete clasts are less than 5%, and lateritic
ironstones, derived from the pre-Acheulian gravel are less than 2%.
The tephra lenses vary in thickness from 0.2 to 0.5 m and are whitish in basal part and
yellowish in upper part. The tephra lenses are well preserved in the contact zone of silt and
clay_ The tephra is almost continuously exposed for a stretch of 2 km downstream of
Morgaon. Field occurrence of the tephra is similar to that of BorL It occurs as lenticular
beds with varying thickness (0.2 to 0.5 m) and fonns a channel fill with relief around 3 m.
It is first exposed on the right bank after which the river cuts through it and the exposure
continues on the left bank. The drainage represented by the tephra filled channel has a
slightly more northerly orientation than the present Karha. The tephra occurs both in
reddish brown calcretised silt and also in brown-fissured clay that has a gradational contact
with the reddish brown silt.
In order to understand the weathering pattern of the tephra we took a small trench (2 m) on
the left bank of the Karha (Fig. 7). A well-cemented sandy pebbly gravel. about 1 m thick.
disc.onformably caps tephra bearing silt-clay unit. The basal 5 cm thick tephra is greyish
white in colour and loose. It grades to yellowish brown silt, which is mixed with tephra
partiCles and is affected by the process of ground water and pedogenic calcification. The
latter aspect is indicated by calcic rhizo..concretions along with thin bands (-2 rom) of pure
calcite. Along with rhizoliths, rare examples of pseudo-flowery calcite concretions are also
observed in the upper part of the ash bed. Total thickness of the ash bearing silt is 30-35
em. This ash unit rests on dark brown silty clay witb well-developed vertic features. The
clay unit was traced to a depth of 1 m. Like tbe Bori tephra. the tephra of Morgaon is pure
only in the basal part and has been affected by pedogenesis and reworking in the upper part.
302 Human Ori:sins. Genome and People of Inc/in

Fig. 7: Morgaon exposed tephras .

The tephra bearing silt. day unit seems to have been deposited in near channel over bank
flood plain environment, characterized by seasonal flooding, cumulitic calcic pedogenesis
.tllJ I,) j :1:-(' 'trong tlooo surges as indicated by the presence of gravel lenses . The silt unit
":: .. IU,,:, I ·,.!ndy pebbly gllvcllllt1l .... ith inkr . l:.t::ning ,)f~i1t clay he:dsrich in Acheulian
. lrt(!raClS nil the lefl ban~ , '.1 11w K. .llh.!, l km J\\\\nstr~Jllllif Murguon.

(c) Acheulian Artefact Bearing Sandy Pebbly Gravel with Lenses of

Brownish Silt and Clay
The description of this cultural litho-unit is primarily based on our small-scaleexcavations
and also on freshly dug trenches in the surrounding area by local authorities of the
Government of Maharashtra 'as a drought relief work. The sandy pebbly gravel (with an
average size of 8 em) is clast supported, differentially cemented by calcium carbonate. at
times cross-bedded. mQderately sorted yet ungraded and rich in litho clasts of compact
basalt. Thi.:k!lt~~ vafl\::' fwm 30cm 10 1. 5 rn max. l'mportion of calcrete clasts is lesstnan
51,~ and ft!Ji.:posih:J hltcriti..:: ironstolles ar~ less thun J%-.. Clasts of amygdaloidal basalt,
whkh forms the bedrock iIi lhi!. area, (lfe sub-ungular and weathered and are of minor
proportion . Dark brown silly~clay lens~s with a Ihicknt!ss of 80 cm (as observed in
excavated trench) are primarily non-caJcareous , while yellowish-brown silt is affected by
caJcretisarion. Field characters of this litho unit indicate that fluvial sediments have been
deposited in riffle-pool environment dominated by flash floods in a low sinuous stream .
Antiquity of Ar.:heulirlll Cldture- in Up/lind Mohamshtrn : A Geoarrhaeological Approach 303

The pre-depositional bedrock topography is uneven and has discordant relationship with the
present channel of the Karha.
Occurrence of cores lanes. as big as 45 cm. Acheulian artefact ranging in size from 3 em to
40 cm raise some questions on the degree of in situ character of basalt corestoncs and or
Acheulian artefacts made on compact basalt (Fig. 8). Both corestones and anefacts are
moderately (0 weakly weathered and have brownish patina and are found to be
concentrated in the contaCt between basal gravel and the weathered basah. A few artefacts
have also been found within the brownish clay. Majority of artefacts are unabraded
(Fig. 9), All these features indicate that artefacts are not in n secondary or re-deposited
context. The artefact bearing gravel is disconformabJy capped by gravel. silt and clay,
deposited by the aggrading Karha during the Late Quaternary (-40 ka onward). These
deposits are rich in calcrete clasts and devoid of corestones and lateritic ironstones. Gravels
are differentially cemented by calcium carbonate and has preserved rich assemblage or
microliths on chalcedony, A few c-14 dates on molluscan shells and ostrich' e:ggshells
indicate an age of 22- 26 ka of microlith bearing sheet gravels. In this communication we
have not included details of depositional environment at' these Late Quaternary fluvial
deposits. which are ubiquitously present in the Karba basin.

Fig. 8: Morgaon Corestone regolith.

304 Hunl42n Origins, Genome and People of II/ilia

Kombewa core
Fig. 9: Morgaon Acheulian tools.

Against this litho-stratigraphical background of Acheulian bearing g ravel s and tbe tephra
bearing silt clay deposits, an artempt will be made to develop a chronological framework
for the site of Morgaon in Ihe following section.

DISCUSSION
There are two major issues involved in establishing the antiquity of Acheulian assemblages
preserved in f\!Jvialdeposlls at Bon and Morgaon. One is the original contex.t of Acheulian
assembl3ges and the olher is the probable chronology of the tephra at Bori and Morgaoo.
As staled earlier the Ba rl assemblage has been dated to 0.67 Ma (Mishra, et al., 1995) on
the basis of Ar4D-Ar39 dating of the associated tephra. But. this date has not been accepted
by o ther scientists. (Westgate, et al., 1998) after geochemical studies of the tephra. It has
also been argued that the Acheulian assemblage at Bari is in a re-deposited secondary
context, without giving any details on taphonomy of artefacts.

Our geoarchaeological studies at Bori and Morgaoo have estahlished that Acheulian
assembJages are in semi-primary context and are therefore in situ in fluvial deposits. On
typotechnolog ical grounds these assemblages are of Early Acheulian cultural tradilion. In
view of in situ nature of Early Acheulian assemblage it is difficult [0 ac(:ept 3 date of'S ka
for the tephra at Bori where it is 11 part and parceJ of [he deposit containing anefacls.
Antiquity 0/ Achtwlian Culture i,1 Upland Maha,a.Jhtra: A Genarcilaeological Approach 305

Recently, we . discovered a \-'ery interesting geomorphic context of the lephra and the
Acheulian artefacts, A few Acheulian artefacts were found in a regolith with corestones of
basalt at Rajbag. 2 km nortb of Acheulian site of Morgaon (Deo. et aJ., 20(4). The regolith
is about 80 cm thick and consists of rubble with eorestones on basalt iIt a silty sandy
mattix, weakly cemented. The regolith is found to be covering whitish silty powdery
carbonate with tephra particles (Fig. 10). similar to size and shape of the tephra particles
at Morgaoo, The powdery carbo.nate is 30 em thick and rests OD closely jointed we.a(hered
basalt. The tephra bearing carbonate occurs as a part of pediment regolith at an elevation
of 615~18 m ASL. more or less at the same elevation o f tephra bed at Morgaon.

c.·applng the ter.h,,,,

Fig. 10: Rajbag tephra capped by regolith and Acheulian artifacts.

Recently Chen, et al .• (2003) carried out chemical and isotopic studies on tephra layers
from Bori. Morgaan and Centrallndia and have attempted to revise (he chronology of these
tephra layers, Their study is based on the stratigraphy of tephra layers in ODP (758) core
from Indian Ocean, They determined the degree of weathering pattern ofbiotile mineral by
Electron Microprobe analycical method and found out values of FeO/MgO and Ti02
weight percentage. Owing to high degree of alteration the tephra from Morgaon could not
be properly studied. The tephra from Bori was found to be similar 10 01T(O.8 Ma) eruptive
event from Toba. while the Central Indian tephra. appears to be correlated with MIT
(0.5 Ma) and YTT (75 ka) events, These studies, though of preliminary nature, certain ly
indicate that tephra deposits from the Indian Peninsular river basins are of different ages
and not necessarily of the YTT (74 ka) event as argued by Westgate, et at,. (1998).
306 Human Origins, Genome and People of India

Majority of Acheulian sites such as Nevasa, Yedurwadi, Hunsgi in Upland Deccan have
been dated by Th- Ur series method to the Middle Pleistocene (170 ka BP to> 3S0 ka BP).
Ar-Ar and Fission Track dating of the tephra atBori indicated an age of around 670 ka SP
or even earlier. Recent attempts of dating primary context Acheulian site of Isampur by
ESR method suggest an Early Pleistocene age for the Acheulian culture in the Upland
Deccan. Our detailed geoarchaeoiogica.l studies, of Acheulian sites of Bori and Morgaon
and preliminary geochemical and isotopic investigations of tephra from Central India and
Upland Maharashtra, strongly indicate that Acheulian sites of Upland Maharashtra are
associated with the tephra much older than 75 ka and are likely to be of at least basal
Middle Pleistocene or even of Tenninal Early Pleistocene.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are grateful to Prof. V.N. Misra, Retired Director and Prof. K. Paddayya, Director,
Deccan College, Pune for financial assistance and logistic support. We also thank
Prof. V.D. Gogte, Joint Director. Deccan College, Pune for providing X-Ray mineralogical
data. We highly appreciate academic discussions with Drs. Chen and Yoshi. Taiwan
University, Taiwan during our short field trip in Upland Maharashtra in November 2003.
Thanks are due to Dr. Nitin Karmalkar and Dr. Makarand Kale. Department of Geology.
University ofPune for petrographic studies of tephra samples particularly from Morgaoo.
We also appreciate help received during e;<cavutions at Morgaon from Sonali Naikand
Riza Abbas, Research Scholars, Deccan College, Pune.

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