Soanian
The Soanian is an archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic in the Sivalik Hills of the Indian subcontinent.[1][4] 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]
| Geographical range | Indian subcontinent[1] |
|---|---|
| Period | Lower Paleolithic |
| Dates | 500,000 – 125,000 BP[2][3] |
| Type site | Sivalik region[1] |
| Major sites | Sivalik Hills[1] |
| Preceded by | Acheulean |
| Followed by | Mousterian |
Dating and historical significance
The historic dating of Soanian culture is one that has been debated by scholars due to artefacts being often found in undatable surface contexts.[12] It is a culture developed by ancient extinct humans; homo erectus.[13] Its artefacts are often found near those of Acheulian culture, which is a homo-sapiens culture that took place around the same sub-Himalayan culture zone.[13] There is currently no evidence of the two cultures ever crossing path and is believed to have existed in different timeframe.[13] There are currently two main interpretations towards the pre-historic timeframe occupied by the Soanian culture. One sees the Soanian culture as a period that took place in three connecting intervals throughout Middle Pleistocene period (774,000 to 129,000 years ago).[14] The other sees the Soanian culture as a period of single distinct technological culture that may have existed earliest from the Holocene period (11,700 calendar years before) with some artefacts actually belong to the Harapan culture.[12][15]
Findings
The term "Soan Culture" was first used by Hellmut De Terra in 1936,[16] but D. N. Wadia had identified the presence of these archaeological implements in 1928.[17] 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) |
| ↓ Mesolithic |
References
- 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...”
- Petraglia & Allchin 2007, pp. 5–6.
- Murray, Tim (1999). Time and Archaeology. London: Routledge. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-415-11762-3.
- 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.
- "Pakistan: The lesser-known histories of an ancient land".
- Chauhan, Parth R., An Overview of the Siwalik Acheulian & Reconsidering Its Chronological Relationship with the Soanian – A Theoretical Perspective.
- Paterson, T.T., Drummond, H.J.H., 1962. Soan the Palaeolithic of Pakistan.Department of Archaeology, Government of Pakistan Karachi.
- Pande, B.M., 1968. A note on two paleoliths from Guler, District Kangra(Himachal Pradesh). Curr. Sci. 37 (19), 558-560.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Soni, Vidwan Singh; Soni, Anujot Singh (2013-12-08). "New Observations on the Age and Context of Soanian Tools Found in Post-Urban Harappan Sites and Along WTH Se Asian Type Tools on the Mid-Holocene Terraces in the Nw Sub-Himalayas". Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association. 32. doi:10.7152/bippa.v32i0.13603. ISSN 1835-1794.
- Mohapatra, G. C. (1990). "Soanian-Acheulian Relationship". Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. 49: 251–259. JSTOR 42930294.
- "Pleistocene Epoch | Plants, Animals, Climate, Ice Age, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- "Holocene epoch | Causes, Effects, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- 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.
- 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
- Dani Ahmad Hasan (1964). "Prehistoric Pakistan" (PDF). Asian Perspectives. 7: 183–188.
- B. B. Lal (1964). "A Decade of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology in India, 1951–1960". Asian Perspectives. 7 (1–2): 144–159.
- Hellmut De Terra (1969). Early man: as depicted by leading authorities at the International symposium, the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, March 1937. Ayer Publishing, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. pp. 263–. ISBN 978-0-8369-1184-8. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- J. Armand (1979). "The Middle Pleistocene Pebble Tool Site of Durkadi in Central India". Paléorient. 5: 105–144. doi:10.3406/paleo.1979.4242.
- J. Armand (1985). "The Emergence of the Handaxe Tradition in Asia, with Special Reference to India". In V. N. Misra, Peter S. Bellwood (ed.). Recent advances in Indo-Pacific prehistory: proceedings of the international symposium held at Poona, December 19–21, 1978. BRILL. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-90-04-07512-2. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- V. A. Ranov; D. Dorj; Lu Zün-E (1999). Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson (ed.). History of civilizations of Central Asia. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 45–. ISBN 978-81-208-1407-3. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- Kenneth Oakley (30 April 2007). Frameworks for Dating Fossil Man. Transaction Publishers. pp. 223–. ISBN 978-0-202-30960-6. Retrieved 21 August 2011.