Rethinking the Evolutionary History of Hominin Populations in South Asia

In the past several decades, there have been profound changes in our understanding of the evolutionary history of hominin populations, with new insights on a range of topics, such as on the relationship between environmental variability and hominin demographic changes and the timing and routes of dispersals from Africa to Asia, The Indian subcontinent plays a key role in contributing to general theories about our evolutionary history given the range of ecosystems and the unique blend of behavoural information. The author has been involved in developing a number of working hypotheses about the evolution of hominin populations in South Asia from primary examination and study of the environmental, fossil and archaeological record. The aim of this presentation is to evaluate the overall record of South Asia and to examine how well a series of hypotheses have held up given recent controversies, debates and new knowledge. New and fresh propositions are needed to situate the splendid evolutionary record of South Asia into our wider evolutionary story.