Pre-Quaternary hominin settlements in Asia: Archaeology, bio-lithostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy evidences at Masol, Siwaliks, Northwestern India

The National Museum of Natural History, Paris, the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS/UMR 7194 and 8148) and the Society for Archaeological and Anthropological Research, Chandigarh, conduct paleontological and archaeological surveys in a sub-Himalayan territory well known for its Upper Pliocene fossiliferous deposits and named the Quranwala Zone. Since 2007, the team is investigating this formation in the Masol anticline and has collected four fossils with marks of butchery as well as numerous lithic artifacts. In this paper we show the first chopper extracted in stratigraphy from the deepest fossiliferous layer at more than 2.6 Ma as shown by the undisputable magnetostratigraphy, we describe the lithostratigraphy of the excavation, the techno-typology of the chopper and compare it with the collection of its locality and two other major paleonto-archaeological sites of Masol. The characteristics of this Masol lithic assemblage do not match those of the early Lower Pleistocene African Oldowan (2.55 Ma), but they are similar to those of the Chinese lithic industry of Longgupo (2.5 Ma). These activities open new perspectives regarding the phylogenetic and geographical origins of these Asian hominins as well as on their descendants, and justify the pursuit of surveys and test pits in the Quranwala zone.