Media coverage
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Media coverage
Title Human occupation of northern India spans the Toba super-eruption ~74,000 years ago Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet Science Media type Print Country/Territory United States Date 24/02/20 Description India is located at a critical geographic crossroads for understanding the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa and into Asia and Oceania. Here we report evidence for long-term
human occupation, spanning the last ~80 thousand years, at the site of Dhaba in the Middle Son River Valley of Central India. An unchanging stone tool industry is found at Dhaba
spanning the Toba eruption of ~74 ka (i.e., the Youngest Toba Tuff, YTT) bracketed between ages of 79.6 ± 3.2 and 65.2 ± 3.1 ka, with the introduction of microlithic technology ~48 ka.
The lithic industry from Dhaba strongly resembles stone tool assemblages from the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Arabia, and the earliest artefacts from Australia, suggesting
that it is likely the product of Homo sapiens as they dispersed eastward out of Africa.Producer/Author Mike Price Persons KE Westaway