title: Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago.
abstract: Genetic studies of South Asia's population history have led to postulations of a significant and early population expansion in the subcontinent, dating to sometime in the Late Pleistocene. We evaluate this argument, based on new mtDNA analyses, and find evidence for significant demographic transition in the subcontinent, dating to 35-28 ka. We then examine the paleoenvironmental and, particularly, archaeological records for this time period and note that this putative demographic event coincides with a period of ecological and technological change in South Asia. We document the development of a new diminutive stone blade (microlithic) technology beginning at 35-30 ka, the first time that the precocity of this transition has been recognized across the subcontinent. We argue that the transition to microlithic technology may relate to changes in subsistence practices, as increasingly large and probably fragmented populations exploited resources in contracting favorable ecological zones just before the onset of full glacial conditions.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, United Kingdom. michael.petraglia@rlaha.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petraglia
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clarkson
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boivin
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haslam
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Korisettar
authors.forename: Gyaneshwer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chaubey
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ditchfield
authors.forename: Dorian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: James
authors.forename: Sacha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Toomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kivisild
authors.forename: Jinu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koshy
authors.forename: Marta Mirazón
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lahr
authors.forename: Mait
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metspalu
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arnold
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology / Q000379:methods; D001208:Asia; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004463:Ecology; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011158:Population Growth; D013019:South Africa
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial