Stone Technology in Late Pleistocene India: A new perspective on the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa

智人从东非的一个小基地向全球扩散是人类进化的一个关键过程，了解这种扩散的性质和时间是考古学研究的中心焦点。大多数科学家认为，人类在200-150 kya（千年前）在非洲形成。然而，围绕着我们的祖先随后从非洲大陆扩散的时间和性质，有相当多的争论，遗传学证据表明大约80-50 kya，阿拉伯和印度的考古学证据表明更早的估计可能回到100 kya。最近的研究表明，南亚是了解智人扩散的关键地区，因为它是非洲以外第一个被占领的地区之一，并且早期人口急剧膨胀。“南迁”假说认为，从非洲迁移出来的路线是沿着南部海岸线，穿过南亚，然后到达澳大利亚，这说明澳大利亚的占领早于欧洲。然而，与其他地区相比，南亚的殖民化研究相对较少。本研究考察了印度北方主要遗址的考古记录。这项研究详细研究了我们的祖先制造石制品的方式，这些石制品是他们用来打猎、收集植物食物和制造其他工具的。通过研究工具的制造过程，我们可以在世界不同地区的人类群体之间建立联系，并试图在没有骨骼证据的情况下追踪人类的传播。重要的是，通过比较我们的智人祖先与他们在印度取代的古代人类物种制造的工具，我们可以看到他们在行为和适应南亚条件方面的差异和相似之处。许多人都知道关于欧洲现代人取代尼安德特人的争论，但很少有人知道世界其他地区也发生了同样的过程，包括南亚。这项研究旨在收集有关石头技术的数据，使我们能够更好地重建印度次大陆的更替过程，从而更深入地了解人类扩散所涉及的地理变化。

The global dispersal of Homo sapiens from a small base in East Africa was a critical process in human evolution, and understanding the nature and timing of this dispersal is a central focus of archaeological inquiry. Most scientists agree that humans speciated in Africa some 200-150 kya (thousand years ago). However, considerable debate surrounds the timing and nature of our ancestors' subsequent dispersal from the African continent, with genetic evidence suggesting a date of ~80-50 kya, and archaeological evidence from Arabia and India suggesting earlier estimates back to perhaps 100 kya. Recent research demonstrates that South Asia is a critical region for understanding the Homo sapiens dispersal, as it was one of the first areas outside Africa to be occupied, and saw dramatic early population expansion. The 'Southern Dispersal' hypothesis posits that the route of movement out of Africa was along southern coastlines through South Asia and then onwards to Australia, accounting for occupation in the latter pre-dating that of Europe. However, the colonisation of South Asia has seen relatively little research when compared to other regions.This study examines the archaeological record of key sites in northern India. The research looks in detail at the way our ancestors manufactured the stone artefacts that they used to hunt, collect plant foods and manufacture other tools. By examining the process of tool manufacture we can draw links between human groups in different parts of the world and attempt to track the spread of humans even in the absence of skeletal evidence. Importantly, by comparing the tools made by our direct Homo sapiens ancestors to those of the archaic human species that they replaced in India, we can look at differences and similarities in their behaviour and adaptations to South Asian conditions. Many people are aware of debates over the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans in Europe, but few are aware that the same process occurred in other parts of the world, including South Asia. This study aims to gather data on stone technology that will allow us to better reconstruct the process of replacement in the Indian subcontinent, providing greater insight into the geographical variation involved in human dispersal than is currently available.