| Abstract: |
The Late Pleistocene fossil record for modern human origins is fairly sparse in South Asia. With the exception of a limited number of remains from India, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan, the hominin skeletal evidence for the affinities of the populations entering into and inhabiting this region between marine isotope stage (MIS) 7 and MIS 3 is minimal. The archaeological evidence for the timing and route of dispersals into South Asia together with genetic data suggest a southern dispersal route by modern humans from Africa in the Late Pleistocene, but diagnostic fossil hominin remains dated to this period are virtually nonexistent. The purpose of this study is to interpret the morphology of the few Late Pleistocene hominin fossils from South Asia within the context of the Southern Dispersal Hypothesis that is currently supported by archaeological and genetic data. A synthesis of the fossil, archaeological, and genetic data suggests that South Asia was peopled by hominins dispersing out of Africa some time between MIS5a and MIS 3 via a southern route. Molecular signatures from populations living in East-Southeast Asia are also found in India and have coalescence dates to the end of the Late-Pleistocene, indicating that gene flow has shaped the morphology of modern humans in South Asia. The relationship between archaic and modern humans in the region is more equivocal, and well-dated, well-preserved fossil evidence from the late-Middle and early-Late Pleistocene is needed in order to evaluate those population dynamics.
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