71-8 The Pampore Elephant: Pleistocene elephant butchery site, Kashmir Himalaya, India

Session: The Geodynamic Evolution of the Himalaya: From Mountain Building to Modern Seismicity and Climate Change (Posters)

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Abstract:

The elephant skull was buried with 87 stone tools used by prehistoric humans, and all the materials were excavated in August 2000 by a team of researchers under the leadership of G. M. Bhat, then at the University of Kashmir. Stone tools in association with Pleistocene elephant remains were recovered from Pampore, from channel deposits in the Pampore Member of the Upper Karewa Group of sediments, of Middle Pleistocene in age.

From the size, the wisdom teeth and a few other telltale features of the skull, it is evident that the animal was a majestic bull elephant in the prime of its life, but the lack of a well-developed skull crest, particularly in comparison with other mature male skulls from Europe and India, indicates the discovery of a different species.

The skull’s features conform best with another obscure skull from Turkmenistan studied in the 1950s, which was proposed to represent a distinct species, Palaeoloxodon turkmenicus. By measuring protein decomposition in the tooth enamel of the Kashmir Palaeoloxodon skull, and examining stone tools buried alongside the elephant remains the Kashmir skull dates to the Middle Pleistocene period 300,000 - 400,000 years ago, very similar to the estimated age of the Turkmen skull.

Three elephant bone flakes were identified, linking human intervention with elephants at the site. The small lithic assemblage is in fresh condition with some refitting artefacts, both suggesting minimal post-depositional movement. Most of the artefacts consist of flakes, flake tools and cores, but with several points and blades suggestive of an early Mode 3 prepared core technology. This might indicate a late Middle Pleistocene age for the site. Further dating evidence using amino acid racemisation on elephant tooth enamel is consistent with this age. The association of stone tools with humanly-modified elephant remains is rare, while prepared core technology is currently scarce further north or east in Asia in the late Middle Pleistocene. The significance of the discovery is reflected in the wider context of Middle Pleistocene elephant-human interaction.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-8701

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