The Earliest Inhabitants of South and Southeast Asia and China

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Evidence for hominins before 1 Ma across the vast expanses of the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, mainland and island Southeast Asia, and China is at present very thin on the ground. The most important fossil hominin evidence comes from Java, Indonesia, and the main archaeological evidence is from the Nihewan Basin, North China. There is also a small amount of controversial evidence from Pakistan and South China. After a long period of chronological uncertainty, the earliest generally accepted evidence for hominins in East Asia in both Java and North China now dates to ca. 1.6 Ma. As seen below, opinion remains divided over claims for older evidence from Pakistan and South China. The evidence from South Asia, Java, and China will be considered in turn. SOUTH ASIA (INDIA, PAKISTAN, NEPAL, AND BANGLADESH) The environment of northern India and Pakistan differed in two important respects from that of Southwest Asia. The first is that South Asia lies within the area of the summer monsoon, and consequently, most rain falls in summer instead of in winter and spring. Over much of northern India and Pakistan, the average annual total is ca. 500–1000 mm, of which two-thirds falls between July and September. In the eastern Himalayas and Northeast India, totals can be much higher, and at least 3 m of rain may fall in the monsoon (see Chapters 1 and 3).