300,000-Year-Old Elephant Butchery Sheds Light on Early Hominin Behavior
The discovery of elephant fossils and tools in India offers a rare glimpse into the lives of ancient hominins and extinct megafauna.
A Remarkable Discovery
In the late Middle Pleistocene, approximately 300,000 to 400,000 years ago, early hominins in the Kashmir Valley encountered the massive Palaeoloxodon, an extinct genus of elephants. A groundbreaking study reveals how these hominins utilized tools to extract marrow from the remains of these prehistoric giants, marking the earliest evidence of butchery in India. These findings provide critical insights into human adaptation, cultural practices, and the ecological dynamics of ancient South Asia.
The Pampore Site: A Hidden Window to the Past
The fossils, uncovered near Pampore in 2000, include bones from at least three Palaeoloxodon elephants alongside 87 stone tools. However, the circumstances of the animals’ deaths and their interactions with early humans were unclear until now.
“Who are these hominins? What are they doing on the landscape, and are they going after big game or not?” asked Advait Jukar, vertebrate paleontology curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
Recent research confirmed evidence of marrow extraction, marking the first documented butchery of large animals in India from this era.
Hominin Activities: Butchery Without Hunting?
The tools found at Pampore, made of non-local basalt, suggest early humans transported raw materials over long distances before crafting them onsite. Analysis of the fossils revealed marrow-extraction marks, but no spear points or other direct evidence of hunting.
One mature male Palaeoloxodon showed signs of a chronic sinus infection, which may have weakened it, leaving it vulnerable to natural death or environmental challenges like soft sediments near the Jhelum River.
“Early humans exploited the carcass, but whether they hunted the elephant or scavenged it after natural death remains unclear,” researchers concluded.
Palaeoloxodon: The Extinct Giants of Eurasia
The Pampore elephant remains were identified as Palaeoloxodon turkmenicus, a species previously known only from a fragmentary skull in Turkmenistan. Palaeoloxodon, which originated in Africa a million years ago, dispersed into Eurasia, evolving unique traits such as an enlarged forehead crest.
“This specimen provides a critical intermediate step in Palaeoloxodon evolution, helping us understand how the genus migrated and diversified,” Jukar explained.
The Pampore fossils also included rare intact hyoid bones, offering a unique opportunity to refine the taxonomy of the genus, as Palaeoloxodon teeth alone cannot reliably distinguish species.
Broader Implications for South Asia’s Prehistory
The Indian subcontinent’s sparse fossil record has long posed challenges for understanding early human activity in the region. The Narmada human fossil, discovered in 1982, is the only confirmed hominin fossil from the region, displaying traits from both archaic and modern species.
The Pampore findings expand this narrative by providing direct evidence of hominin interactions with large megafauna.
“Up until now, there hasn’t been direct evidence of humans feeding on large animals in India,” Jukar noted.
This discovery also suggests that additional evidence of butchery or other human activities may lie waiting to be uncovered, requiring more comprehensive surveys and collection efforts.
Cultural and Evolutionary Significance
The butchery at Pampore highlights how early hominins exploited their environment for survival. The process of extracting marrow reflects the advanced cognitive and tool-using capabilities of these ancient humans.
“The ability to process large animal remains is part of the broader narrative of hominin adaptability, innovation, and ecological mastery,” the study emphasized.
Additionally, the discovery underscores the importance of interdisciplinary research in piecing together the fragmented history of early human life in South Asia.
Conclusion: A Call for Further Exploration
The Pampore site is not only a testament to the ingenuity of early hominins but also a reminder of the untapped potential in South Asia’s fossil record. These findings illuminate a pivotal moment in human evolution and provide a foundation for future studies into how early humans navigated and thrived in diverse environments. As Jukar aptly stated,
“You need to survey and collect everything—shattered bone fragments, overlooked tools—because they might hold the key to understanding ancient human life.”
The research was published in Quaternary Science Reviews1 and the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology2.
Bhat, G. M., Ashton, N., Parfitt, S., Jukar, A., Dickinson, M. R., Thusu, B., & Craig, J. (2024). Human exploitation of a straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon) in Middle Pleistocene deposits at Pampore, Kashmir, India. Quaternary Science Reviews, 342(108894), 108894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108894
Jukar, A. M., Bhat, G., Parfitt, S., Ashton, N., Dickinson, M., Zhang, H., Dar, A. M., Lone, M. S., Thusu, B., & Craig, J. (2024). A remarkable Palaeoloxodon (Mammalia, Proboscidea) skull from the intermontane Kashmir Valley, India. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2024.2396821