Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the Indian subcontinent before and after the Toba super-eruption.
The Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) eruption, which occurred in Indonesia 74,000 years ago, is one of Earth's largest known volcanic events. The effect of the YTT eruption on existing populations of humans, and accordingly on the course of human evolution, is debated. Here we associate the YTT with archaeological assemblages at Jwalapuram, in the Jurreru River valley of southern India. Broad continuity of Middle Paleolithic technology across the YTT event suggests that hominins persisted regionally across this major eruptive event.
Petraglia
Michael
M
Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK. m.petraglia@human-evol.cam.ac.uk
Korisettar
Ravi
R
Boivin
Nicole
N
Clarkson
Christopher
C
Ditchfield
Peter
P
Jones
Sacha
S
Koshy
Jinu
J
Lahr
Marta Mirazón
MM
Oppenheimer
Clive
C
Pyle
David
D
Roberts
Richard
R
Schwenninger
Jean-Luc
JL
Arnold
Lee
L
White
Kevin
K
D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D002980:Climate; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D015186:Hominidae; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D018707:Volcanic Eruptions