The region of South Asia, located between the prepared core-based technologies in the west and simple core technologies in the east, is crucial in the modern human dispersal routes. The nature and chronology of initial modern human presence in the region and associated lithic technologies – microlithic vs the Middle Palaeolithic prepared core technology – are debated between the coastal and continental routes of dispersals. Recent research, however, has pushed back the antiquity of Middle Palaeolithic technology in the region to 385 ± 64 ka, suggesting the possibility of local innovation. However, the age mentioned above is isolated spatially and requires further studies to support the local innovation model. Our research in the Paleru river basin, Andhra Pradesh (SE India), have identified several Palaeolithic sites in a stratigraphic context. We present the results of a systematic examination at the Hanumanthunipadu (Andhra Pradesh) site, where the deepest of three geomorphologically distinct phases of the sedimentary sequence contained Palaeolithic artefacts. The fine-grained sediments in the sequence, p-IR-IRSL dated to > 247 ± 32 ka, yielded Middle Palaeolithic artefacts that imply South Asian Middle Palaeolithic assemblages may be a part of local innovations that emerged from the preceding Late Acheulian technologies.

南亚地区位于西方已准备好的核心技术和东方简单核心技术之间，是现代人类传播路线的关键。该地区最初现代人类存在的性质和年表以及相关的石器技术 - 微石器与旧石器时代中期准备的核心技术 - 在沿海和大陆扩散路线之间进行了辩论。然而，最近的研究将该地区旧石器时代中期技术的古老程度推迟到了 385 ± 64 ka，这表明了当地创新的可能性。然而，上述时代在空间上是孤立的，需要进一步研究以支持本地创新模式。我们在安得拉邦（印度东南部）的帕莱鲁河流域进行的研究已经确定了地层背景下的几个旧石器时代遗址。我们展示了在 Hanumanthunipadu（安得拉邦）遗址进行的系统检查结果，其中沉积序列的三个地貌不同阶段中最深的一个阶段包含旧石器时代的人工制品。该序列中的细粒沉积物 p-IR-IRSL 的年代大于 247 ± 32 ka，产生了旧石器时代中期的人工制品，这意味着南亚旧石器时代中期的组合可能是先前阿舍利晚期技术出现的局部创新的一部分。