Mountain environment and early human adaptation in NW Himalaya, India: A case study of Siwalik Hill Range and Leh valley

Prehistoric sites are reported from the entire length and breadth of India. Most of these are surface sites, and invite less attention and significance compared to the few sites that are buried. The systematic excavation of prehistoric sites has contributed to the understanding of typo-technological evolution in the backdrop of time and space. However, the early artifact bearing sites in Himalaya beyond the Indo-Gangetic plains, although open-air sites, hold significance in terms of understanding the extent of human colonization in Himalaya in relation to climate. The sporadic evidence of early humans in the Siwalik ranges of Jammu and along the Indus River in the Leh valley undoubtedly confirm the advent of early humans to this geographical realm when most of the area had tectonically stabilized and the more-or less present day landscape and ecology had developed in the region, with ameliorated climate for early human settlement.