JURRERU VALLEY ROCKSHELTERS

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

One of the Jurreru Valley rockshelters (MIRACLE 2010: 9) or, perhaps, inhabitable caves, which has been identified as a site relevant to Pleistocene archaeology / zooarchaeology (note 1).– – – – – Blinkhorn, James, Haslam, Michael, Ditchfield, Peter, & Fuller, Dorian (2010): Landscape Reconstruction for the Jurreru Valley: The Pre-Toba Palaeoenvironmental Scene.- Special Leverhulme Conference: The Toba Super-Eruption - a critical moment in human evolution, Oxford, 20-21st February 2010 (Oxford: Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art & Culture) Conference abstract (toba.arch.ox.ac.uk/confabs.pdf accessed 2011.10.29): Numerous sites in the Jurreru Valley, south India, contain ash deposits resulting from the Youngest Toba Tuff eruption 74,000 years ago. These deposits have effectively sealed the pre-Toba landscape, including evidence of hominin activity and details of palaeoenvironment. To investigate this landscape, a total station survey was undertaken to provide precise topographic data rearding this buried surface and the location of archaeological and geological sites. Macromorphological studies of sediment profiles give evidence for the depositional environments at and around the archaeological sites of JWP3 and JWP22, where archaeological deposits relating to the pre-Toba period have been identified. Isotopic analysis from sediment samples from JWP3 provide data regarding the gross make up of floral communities, based upon the ratio of isotopes relating to C3 and C4 plants, and offers a broad indicator of climatic change. Palaeobotanical analysis of tree and leaf fossils/casts identified at a number of sites offer a much more direct view of the biotic communities of the Jurreru valley prior to the Toba eruption. Geospatial data is used to integrate these different strands of palaeoenvironmental evidence to contextualise the pre-Toba archaeological sites. The topographic study is also used to suggest the immediate impact the deposition of YTT ash had upon the Jurrer valley landscape. The results of this study suggest that: i) woodland environments were slowly giving way to grassland communities; ii) archaeological sites appear to be situated to exploit a body of standing water; iii) ash deposits had a significant impact upon valley floor topography. Clarkson, Chris (2010): Evidence for Hominin Continuity Before and After the Toba Super-eruption in Southern India: The Jurreru Valley Sequence.- Special Leverhulme Conference: The Toba Super-Eruption - a critical moment in human evolution, Oxford, 20-21st February 2010 (Oxford: Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art & Culture) Conference abstract toba.arch.ox.ac.uk/confabs.pdf (accessed 2011.10.29): Recent excavations in the Jurreru Valley of southern India have revealed hominin occupation both immediately before and after the eruption of the Toba volcano 74,000 years ago. These Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from multiple sites demonstrate ongoing use of the valley for at least the period ~80-40 kya. Tchnological analysis of the lithic artefacts indicates strong continuities in flaked stone technology and raw material use pre and post Toba. Comparative analysis of core technologies from Africa, India, South-East Asia and Australia indicate that the Jurreru pre and post-Toba core assemblages can be classified with modern human industries in Africa at around the inferred time of dispersals out of Africa as well as the earliest undisputed modern human occupations in South-East Asia and Australia.Crowther, Alison, Blinkhorn, James, Haslam, Michael, Clarkson, Chris, & Shipton, Ceri (2010): Landscapes, Jwalapuram Locality 9 Rockshelter and Modern Human Behaviour.- Special Leverhulme Conference: The Toba Super-Eruption - a critical moment in human evolution, Oxford, 20-21st February 2010 (Oxford: Centre for Asian Archaeology, Art & Culture) Conference abstract toba.arch.ox.ac.uk/confabs.pdf (accessed 2011.10.29): The Jwalapuram Locality 9 rockshelter (Jurreru Valley, Kurnool District) preerves the longest dated microlithic sequence in India, extending back at least 35,000 years and continuing into the Holocene. Here we present the stratigraphic and chronometric framework for the lithic technological sequence of 50,000+ artefacts, along with non-lithic artefacts, fauna, palaeoenvironmental indicators, human skeletal remains, and preliminary lithic functional analysis. These data are considered from three perspectives: (a) the spatio-temporal context of the wider Jurreru Valley sequence and landscape; (b) the theoretical issues surrounding the concept of modern human behaviour; and (c) the paradigmatic implications of the demographic and dispersal patterns indicated by early microlithic industries in South Asia.erves the longest dated microlithic sequence in India, extending back at least 35,000 years and continuing into the Holocene. Here we present the stratigraphic and chronometric framework for the lithic technological sequence of 50,000+ artefacts, along with non-lithic artefacts, fauna, palaeoenvironmental indicators, human skeletal remains, and preliminary lithic functional analysis. These data are considered from three perspectives: (a) the spatio-temporal context of the wider Jurreru Valley sequence and landscape; (b) the theoretical issues surrounding the concept of modern human behaviour; and (c) the paradigmatic implications of the demographic and dispersal patterns indicated by early microlithic industries in South Asia.