A recent article
in Nature titled "Early Middle Palaeolithic culture in India around 385–172 ka
reframes Out of Africa models" has caused quite the uproar in news media in India and around the world, as it debunks the long-believed theory that complex tool-making emerged in the subcontinent after an influx of modern Homo Sapiens
from Africa approximately 130,000 years ago. In fact, tools found at Attirampakkam, a site in Tamil Nadu, have been luminescence dated to 385,000 years old.
South Asian Archaeology spoke to the team, comprising Dr. Shanti
Pappu, Dr. Kumar Akhilesh, Professor Yanni Gunnell and Professor A.K. Singhvi
via email; and their answers have been consolidated. Drs. Shanti Pappu and Kumar
Akhilesh are from the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education, India. The site was
dated by Professor A.K. Singhvi and his team from the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, and the geomorphology is being studied by Professor Yanni Gunnell,
Université de Lyon, Department of Geography, France.
