ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evidence for the human colonisation of the Oriental Realm of South Asia. The absence of human skeletal material before 40,000 years ago seriously restricts our understanding of when and how often our species entered South Asia before this time. The main landmarks are that blade assemblages in north Pakistan occurred ca. 45,000 years ago, and microlithic ones in peninsular India ca. 45,000 years ago, and around 48,000 years ago in Sri Lanka. Recent evidence from Sri Lanka shows a remarkable adaptation by Homo sapiens to living in rainforest as early as 45,000 years ago, in which arboreal monkeys and squirrels were the main prey. Before that time, little can be said with certainty about when our species first entered South Asia.
