Palaeolithic Period in Rajasthan

Chronology and Tool Technology

The Palaeolithic period in Rajasthan spans three broad phases, each associated with characteristic stone tool industries and site locations:

Phase	Date Range	Tool Type	Key Material	Representative Sites
Lower Palaeolithic	c. 600,000–100,000 BCE	Handaxes, cleavers	Quartzite	Luni basin, Didwana
Middle Palaeolithic	c. 100,000–30,000 BCE	Flakes, scrapers	Quartzite, chert	Budha Pushkar, Rohira
Upper Palaeolithic	c. 30,000–10,000 BCE	Blades, burins	Chert, silicified limestone	Jayal (Nagaur), Luni basin

Source: V.N. Misra, "Stone Age Cultures of Rajasthan," Indian Archaeology — A Review 1971–72; Archaeological Survey of India

Key Palaeolithic Sites

Didwana (Nagaur District)

The salt lake area around Didwana has yielded one of Rajasthan's richest assemblages of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic tools. Surface collections and limited excavation recovered handaxes, cleavers, and Levallois-type flakes in quartzite. Didwana's significance lies in its demonstration that early hominids used the salt lake margins — a resource-rich micro-environment — as habitation zones.

Luni River Basin

The Luni River drainage, covering parts of Jodhpur, Pali, and Barmer districts, contains the most extensive Palaeolithic scatter in Rajasthan. R.V. Joshi's surveys (1960s) identified tool-bearing gravel terraces along the Luni's tributary streams. The tools occur in three gravel terrace levels corresponding to the three Palaeolithic phases. The Luni system connects Rajasthan's Palaeolithic record to broader South Asian patterns documented across the Sabarmati and Son rivers.

Budha Pushkar (Ajmer District)

Budha Pushkar, located near the historical Pushkar lake complex, yielded Middle Palaeolithic flake tools from terrace deposits. The site links prehistoric occupation with one of Rajasthan's most ancient ritual landscapes — the Pushkar lake valley has been sacred since at least the early historic period (mentioned in Mahabharata).

Rohira (Sirohi District)

Rohira is a Middle Palaeolithic site with blade-flake tools associated with an arid Banas tributary terrace.

Climatic Context

Rajasthan's Palaeolithic record is shaped by the region's oscillating climate — periods of relative humidity (wet phases) alternating with hyper-aridity. During wet phases, the Luni and Banas systems flowed more strongly, creating gravel bars and riverbeds that concentrated raw flint and quartzite. Human occupation clustered near water sources and tool-stone outcrops. The hyper-arid phases (c. 70,000–60,000 BCE, corresponding to the Toba supervolcano event globally) likely depopulated much of Rajasthan temporarily.

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