Belan - Deoghat Section

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MEMOlfiS GEpLOGICAL SOCIETY OF INDIA

No. 32. PP. 282-308


Quaternary Geology and Prehistoric Environments in the
Son and Bela Valleys, North Central India
M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE!
Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies. University of Adelaide.
Adelaide. South Australia 5005. Australia
I Fonnerly. School of Earth Sciences. Macquarie University.
New South Wales 2109. Australia
Abstract
Four widespread alluvial formations ranging in age from Middle Pleistocene to Holocene have
been identified. described. mapped and partially dated in the Son and Belan valleys of north central
'India (covering parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh). The three oldest formations are capped
by aeolian deposits of very fine sandy clay which appear to be slightly to substantially reworked
loess. These three formations' contain reworked as well as primary-con.text Lower. Middle and .
Upper Palaeolithic stone tools. The youngest formation is of Holocene age and contains primary-
context Neolithic artefacts. Beneath the Late Pleistocene Baghor Formation is a buried channel-fill
of volcanic ash which was erupted from Toba volcanic caldera in nonhern Sumatra 75 kyr ago.
Introduction
For twenty or so years prior to 1980, the late Professor G.R. Sharma and his
colleagues from Allahabad University had identified and mapped a large number of
Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Son and Belan valleys of Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in north central India (Shaima et al. 1980; Sharma and
Clark 1983). This pioneering work deserves high praise: the survey area was vast,
poorly served by access roads, with large tracts of dense thorn scrub. Some of the more
detailed maps dated from the last century. Air photos were not available and so were
never used. In 1980 systematic excavation of selected Lower, Middle and Upper
Palaeolithic sites in the Son valley was initiated by G.R. Sharma in collaboration with
a team from Berkeley directed by Ptofessor J. Desmond Clark (Sharma and Clark
1983; Kenoyer et al. 1983). Working very closely with the archaeologists, M.A.J.
Williams was responsible for describing and sampling a number of key Quaternary
stratigraphic sections (Fig. 1) and for attempting to reconstruct the allu vial history of
the Son and Belan during the 1980 and 1982 field seasons (Williams and Clarke 1984;
Clark and Williams 1986, 1990).
The following account is distilled from this preliminary and mostly unpublished
fieldwork and from subsequent radiometric dating and sedimentological analyses.
Sillll 1'1. ,/( _-I- to K......".,
__ '-.,.____ I
I
I i
--/

V
">
AmIlia
I "-! 9 -- "
(, 4 'Meln Belan ' ,/
i / - SeotiN

/' \$> Deoghat (( 5

5km
,1-- J 82'O!)
------:". ---'-' "-"----'.-.::..'
'II 1882 plllogl." aectiana
82"15'
, ." Kymero ,-
\ _'fang
I, G4''':1'I'/
!', {I G4,;",{f)
\ Bighor SIte. II '--i.'" ,r r,
________ 1II:::as: to1
__ "'._. 'Nala
--- - -
Ie- _.- iil1' _ - c.mp;; Ge , ... 7 '",3:.ll10 ""C:>-HAWAI. - -Me",;'r','- Gl.L-., G12',
.
.s Bighor Bi h ,--'---
o. /!"" ..... _/, c:.tiar
/-
.q;.
-;
<,.,
'1
,/
p 5km
Fig. 1: Location maps of stratigraphic sections discussed in the text
1
I

10
c::
;l>-
I
;}
n
fi

2


284 M.AJ. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
One feature of Indian Palaeolithic archaeology noted at this time by both Jacobson
(1975) and Paddayya (1977) was an undue preoccupation with fossil bones and stone
artefacts recovered from alluvial gravels. The theoretical dangers of this approach are
fairly evident. Apart from the fact that gravels are not easy to date except in a relative
sense, there is no guarantee that the bones and stone tools are of one age, even when
they appear relatively unabraded. The identification of three gravels (designated I, II,
III in ascending stratigraphic order) in both the Belan and Son valleys, associated
respectively with Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages (Sharma
1975), was a useful initial working model. Unfortunately, image and reality were
sometimes confused, and observations became clouded with circular reasoning. A
gravel could be assigned a relative age on the basis of included artefacts; and artefacts
could be dated according to whether they belonged to gravel I, IT or Ill.
It was also very rare to find all three gravels in a single stratigraphic section, and
field inspection of particular gravels soon revealed that they were highly complex, with
substantial vertical and lateral facies variations, making it increasingly difficult for the
stratigrapher to accept that there were only three gravels. Little further progress seemed
possible until the gravel chronology had been replaced by an alluvial stratigraphy
defined and dated independently of the archaeology, and based upon accepted tenets
of stratigraphic mapping.
Results of the 1980 Season's Geological Programme

The outcome of the first season's stratigraphic work in the Son valley (Williams
and Royce 1982, 1983) was the recognition of four main alluvial fonnations (Fig. 2)
which, for the sake of simplicity, are here called A,B,C and D (for actual fonnation
names see Table 1).
3. Terminal Pleistocene
sands and clays
Lower Proterozoic
metasediments
1. Middle Pleistocene
gravels and clays
Present-day channel
sands and pointbars
of River Son
2. Upper Pleistocene gravels,
sands and clays
Fig. 2: River terraces and Quaternary geological fonnations in the middle Son valley, Madhya Pradesh, north
central India (after Clark and Williams 1986: Fig. 3)
THE QUATERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA 285
Table I: Quaternary alluvlll formations in the Sorp valley
I
A. Sihawal Formation
Middle Pleistocene colluvial-alluvial clayeygtavels and fanglomerates with Lower Palaeolithic artefacts.
Capped by generally sterile grey and yellow mottled very fine sandy clay of aeolian provenance.
B."Patpara Fonnation ,
(?)Late Middle to early Upper Pleistocene fluviatile red-brown clayey fine gravels, gravelly clays and
granule sands with "transitional Lower to Middle Palaeolithic artefacts.
,
C. Baghor Formation'
Upper Pleistocene to Early HolQ!:!ene fluviatile pale yellow-brown coarse sands and calcreted gravels
merging laterally into and/or capped by horizontally-bedded silts and clays. Some Middle Palaeolithic
artefacts near base, but mostly Upper Palaeolithic. with surface and near-surface concentrations of Mesolithic
and younger material.
D. Khetaunhi Formation
Middle to Late Holocene fluviatile fine sands, silts and clays. Neolithic artefacts.
Note: Between Formations C and D there are minor remnants of an end-Pleistocene/earliest Holocene dark clay
with fresh Upper Palaeolithic and blade-cores.
The oldest Formation (A) consists of local pediment gravels capped by several
metres of archaeologically sterile aeolian clay. In and on the gravels are fresh and
abraded Lower Palaeolithic bifaces of Late Acheulian aspect.
. Disconformably over A is Formation B: an upward-coarsening sequence of red-
dish-brown gf&velly clays and gravelly sands in which are interstratified Late Acheulian
to Middle Palaeolithic artefacts, often quite fresh and sharp. The eroded surface of B
is the base of Formation C.
Formation C is perhaps of greatest stratigraphic and archaeological interest. Near
the main river it consists of two distinct members. The Coarse Lower Member consists
of cross-bedded and planar-bedded sands and gravels which contain Middle to Upper
Palaeolithic stone artefacts and an abundant fossil vertebrate fauna. Near the river the
Coarse Member is usually capped by horizontally-bedded silts and clays. The distinc-
tion between a Coarse Lower Member and a Fine Upper Member is not always
absolute: on occasions sands and clays may be interstratified. Away from the river both
members of C merge laterally into massively-bedded aeolian clays.
After the deposition of C, the river cut down into its floodplain, which is some
30-35: m above the low-water river level and 15-20 m above normal flood level.
Formation D represents a minor phase of Holocene aggradation and consists of hori-
zontally-bedded fine sands, silts and clays.
Alluvial History and Quaternary Climates: Initial Interpretation
A simple model was proposed by Williams and Royce in February 1980 (Williams
and Royce 1982, 1983) to account for the alluvial stratigraphy of Formation C. The
argument was based upon four main premises:
(a) Indian rivers with densely vegetated catchments tend to be high-sinuosity. suspension-load rivers;
(b) Indian rivers with sparsely vegetated catchments tend to be low sinuosity. bed-load rivers;
(c) vegetation in north central India would be dense during warm, wet interglacial or postglacial times; and
286 M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
(d) vegetation in north central India would be sparse during cold, dry, full g l a ~ a l times.
Our 'initial interpretation of the fine upper member of alluvial Formation C was
that it represented vertical accretion of fine overbank deposits during warm, wet
postglacial times (Terminal Pleistocene to Holocene), in contrast to the Coarse Lower
Member. This we attributed to bed-load aggradation (lateral accretion) by a more
seasonal Son during the Last Glacial Maximum (c. 25 kyr B.P. to c. 15 kyr B.P.), when
northern India was drier and colder than today (Singh et al. 1972, 1974; Singh and
Agrawal 1976).
Evidence from Indian Ocean Deep-Sea Cores
Before reviewing the' aims and achievements of the 1982 season's geological
programme, it is helpful to consider the overall pattern of Quaternary climate change
throughout the Subcontinent. The best record of Late Quaternary climatic events in
India is that provided by the surrounding Indian Ocean (Prell et al. 1980; Cullen 1981;
Duplessy 1982). More limited data from on land include the Holocene pollen spectra
of some of the Rajasthan lakes (Singh et al. 1974) and evidence from geomorphic and
archaeological reconnaissance studies in Gujarat and Rajasthan (Allchin et al. 1978),
none with adequate time control.
Duplessy's (1982) elegant study of glacial to interglacial contrasts in the northern
Indian Ocean offers encouraging support to our own attempts at reconstrcting Late
Quaternary changes in river flow and sediment load in the Son and Belan valleys of
Madhya Pradesh. He used differences in the planktonic foraminifera that lived in the
northern Indian Ocean during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene to reconstruct the
probable climates at those times.
Towards 18 kyr B.P. the salinity gradient in the Bay of Bengal was very much
steeper than today, reflecting a drastic reduction in freshwater input from the Ganga
and Brahmaputra. This inference is consistent with our suggestion, based on sedimen-
tary evidence, that the Son was a more seasonal river at this time, with a sparsely
vegetated catchment.
The upwelling that is now a feature of the southern coast of Arabia (and a
contributor to aridity inland) had also disappeared at this time, indicating that the
southwest summer monsoon winds were not particularly strong during the Last Glacial
Maximum. A weakened summer monsoon and much reduced summer rainfall would
account for the aridity evident in northwest India during the Last Glacial Maximum
(see Goudie et al. 1973 and the thermoluminescence dates of Rajasthan dunes obtained
by Singhvi et al. 1982).
In contrast to the weak summer monsoon, the northwest monsoon seems to have
been stronger during the Last Glacial Maximum. Evidence includes the clockwise
circulation pattern in the Bay of Bengal revealed by a tongue of low salinity water. The
combined evidence from rivers, lakes, dunes and pollen spectra accords well with
Duplessy's reconstruction of a drier, windier climate towards 18 kyr B.P. over much
of India, with less rain in summer and a stronger winter monsoon than today (Williams
1985).
During the Early Holocene the marine isotopic record indicates a reversal of the
Late Pleistocene pattern of weak summer and strong winter winds (Duplessy 1982). By
THE QUATERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA 187
15 kyr B.P. the ice had disappeared below 5000 m in the northwest Himalayas (Singh
and Agrawal 1976). Early Holocene cold upwelling water accentuated the aridity of the
south coast of Arabia in response to the stroqger summer winds. The SW monsoon
blew vigorously, bringing summer rain to swell the floods and fill the lakes of India.
Runoff from the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra increased, and the rivers of central
India became less seasonal. .
. The lakes of Rajasthan began to fill shortly before 10 kyr B.P. With minor
fluctuations they remained full and fresh until about 4-3 kyr B.P. after which they
became saline (Singh 1971; Singh et al. 1972).
To sum up, the Early to Middle Holocene climate of India was generally wet and
warm, with heavy monsoonal rain in summer and moderate rain in winter. By about
4-3 kyr B.P. the Late Holocene desiccation of northern India was under way, aggra-
vated by the impact of Neolithic herding, land clearance and cultivation. At the present
time the margins of cultivation are advancing into the hitherto wooded footslopes of
the Vindhyan hills in the middle Son valley, leading to renewed soil loss and gully
erosion.
The Toba Volcanic Ash in the Son Valley
One important outcome of the 1980 fieldwork in the Son valley was the joint
discovery by Williams and Royce on February 5, 1980, of a very pure volcanic ash
filling a buried channel beneath the Lower Member of the Baghor Formation just
below the confluence of the Son and Rehi rivers, on the Son left bank (Williams and
Royce 1982). This ash was erupted from Toba volcanic caldera in Sumatra some 75
kyr ago and is discussed in more detail below.
The Toba volcanic ash has aroused considerable interest among geologists in
recent years (Acharyya and Basu 1993, 1994; Rampino and Self 1992, 1993; Mishra
and Rajaguru 1994; Badam and Rajaguru 1994). Given current interest in the various
Toba ash deposits found at an increasing number of localities throughout India, and
the strong possibility that there are at least two chronologically distinct Toba tephra
beds in India, a brief account of its initial discovery in the Son valley in 1980 may
be of interest here. A more detailed description of the ash will appear elsewhere.
The ash was first observed by the author and Keith Royce just below the Son-Rehi
confluence on February 5, 1980. Our initial but erroneous impression was of a hori-
zontally-laminated fine sandy dIatomite up to 3.4 m thick and at least 10 m wide.
Interstratified within the horizontally-layered ash were lenses up to 45 cm thick of
what we at first interpreted as a reworked very fine aeolian sand.
The base and eastern margin of the ash deposit were obscured by the talus (lying
at the foot of the cliff) in which the section was exposed. A horizontal layer of gravel
up to a metre thick capped part of the upper surface of the ash. This gravel was itself
in part eroded and replaced by a channel-fill of fine to coarse gravel up to 3 m thick,
inset into the upper surface of the ash to a depth of 1-2 m.
The enigmatic nature and provenance of the so-called "fine sandy diatomite"
prompted us to embark on a detailed physical and chemical examination of the field
samples after our return to Australia.
Microscopic examination of our field samples by D.A. Adamson (Macquarie
University) confirmed that the "fine aeolian sands" and "fine sandy diatomites" were
288 M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
in fact the glass shards of a volcanic ash.
Detailed grain-size analysis by G. McTainsh (Griffith University) revealed that all
samples were similar, with modes lying within the 30-50 J.lIl1 range.
Strontium isotope analysis by D. Whitford (CSIRO Division of Mineralogy, Sydney)
indicated a 87SrJ86Sr ratio for our sample S44 of 0.71504 0.00006, consistent with
an origin from Toba volcanic caldera in Sumatra (Whitford 1975).
Two years before our 1980 field season in the Son Ninkovich et al. (1978)
had described a widespread volcanic ash layer recovered from piston cores taken in the
northeast Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.Tlwy concluded that this ash erupted
from the Toba volcano in northern Sumatra some 75 kyr ago. They also noted that this
Late Pleistocene eruption was the largest magnitude explosive eruption recorded for the
entire 2 million years of Quaternary time. The map they produced shOwing the distri-
bution of Toba tuffs in Sumatra and the equi valent ash layer in deep-sea cOJ;'e${NJnkovich
et al. 1978: Fig. 1) revealed a fan-shaped ash plume radiating out to the northwest and
west-northwest at an angle of about 50. Extrapolation of the deep-sea Ilh)ayer clearly
suggests that every part of India would have received some ash, as is becoming
more and more apparent (Acharyya and Basu 1993: Fig. 1): '
Samples of the Son volcanic ash were also sent to C.A. Chesner (Eastern Illinois
University) who confinned that they belonged to the youngest of the Toba eruptions
(Rose and Chesner 1987; Chesner et al. 1991). Current work on this eruption, now
dated to roughly 75 kyr ago, is increasingly focused on its cooling impact on the world
climate at that time (Rampino and Self 1993). It is probably no coincidence that the
inception of the rapid build-up of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and of a major cooling
signal in the Vostok ice core are also dated to about 75 kyr age (Jouzel et al. 1987;
Williams et al. 1993).
Aims of the 1982 Geological Programme
In the Belan valley it was apparent that we n,eeded to examine the status of the
three tool-bearing gravel units identified hitherto. A rapid survey of certain Belan
valley sections at Deoghat, Mahagara, Chillahia and Chopani-Mando in February
1980, in the company of D. MandaI and B.B. Misra, revealed both similarities with
and contrast to the alluvial sequence mapped by us in the Son valley. It was thus quite
possible that each of the three units designated as gravel I, IT and III was more complex
than suspected, and could well be polygenic.
The Ganga alluvium at Sarai Nahar Rai (Shanna 1975) contained Mesolithic
artefact assemblages comparable to those at Chopani-Mando in the Belan valley. Apart
from its potential for Quaternary stratigraphic correlation, this site might allow us to
detennine when the Holocene Ganga began to cut down.
Shell-bearing silts inspected by us at Kurha in the Ganga valley and at Deoghat
in the Belan valley, suggested that it may be possible to establish a partial radiocarbon
chronology of Late Quaternary events in these two Valleys. However, isolated shell
dates would not in themselves be of much help in reconstructing the pattern of pre-
historic environmental changes. Our aim was therefore to detennine accurate strati-
graphic histories for each major river valley in this archaeologically-rich sector of
north central India.
290 M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
Results of the 1982 Season's Geological Programme
(a) Alluvial Stratigraphy of the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers at and Above Their
Confluence
Three major sections were logged and sampled for radiocarbon dating (Fig. Sa:
sections 1 to 3). Section 1 was at Jhusi, 1 Ian upstream of the Ganga-Yamuna confluence,
on the Ganga leftbank. About 22 m of yellow-brown calcareous silts were capped by
a protohistoric mound. Pottery from the base of this mound antedates the Northern
Black Polished ware dating to 600-700 B.C. suggesting that the base of the protohistoric
mound may be about 3 kyr old. Yellow-brown silts similar to the Jhusi silts are also
known at Kuiha and Sarai Nahar Rai where they contain microliths dating to c.1O kyr
B.P. (Sharma 1975). Beneath the Jhusi silts there are at least 5 m of cross-bedded
reworked carbonate nodules, with foreset dips of 23_32 and palaeo-current directions
of 35 (NNE).
SYMBOLS USED IN GEOGRAPHICAL SECTlONS
U
..... 1.
JVV'V -.Ionel boundIIry b IIr--.
congIoIMr".
Iherp boundery bu buff
~
debrielow
"--'1 boWldery
"
.,.,
m
.. wi In
.. ...

......
.:: D
UncI .......
' ...
00 bone 0
-....
D
. ~ >: =.
and
t.
8ItIIId 01 ...

.............. R ....
~
..
- -
..... ..,.
W .....

~
.,
W
.., ...
Y
,.....
'M. ........
(III'
.........
rn
IDMI
FL
........
LB .......
K radio ....... RB .....
t8IuI,
[]
dIIUIIed
1n1C1D., ..
, ,
..........
1.2.3.* ....... c .. an
Indu
~
-.., ..
__ ~ " a i t
Fig. 3b: Symbols used in geological sections
THE QUATERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA 291
Section 2 was on the Ganga left bank roughly 1 km upstream of the Sringaverpura
archaeological site. The horizontal silts and silty bands exposed in the banks could be
traced in continuous outcrop for at least a kilometre above and below the ancient city,
the tank of which dates to the first centur.y A.D. (La] 1981; Lal and Dikshit 1978-79).
The January 6, 1982 river level was 82.90 m AMSL; normal flood level at the
Sringaverpura gauge is 87.98 m, and the maximum level attained by the 1978 floods
was 88.68 m. There are thus at least ten metres of alluvium above the present flood-
level. It seems probable, therefore, that the Holocene Ganga has entrenched roughly
10 m into its end-Pleistocene or Early Holocene floodplain. Such entrenchment is
clearly not related to a fall in sea level, since the sea was rising steadily until about
6-7 kyr B.P. when it reached its present level.
Section 3 on the Yamuna right bank at Telauli village 2-3 km downstream of Mau,
in Banda District, has interesting.parallels with Ganga section 2. Both sections appear
to belong to an upward-coarsening alluvial sequence, with massive horizontal beds of
sand in the upper part of the section resting conformably over horizontally-bedded
clays and loams. Present flood level in the Yamuna reaches within 4 m of the top of
the logged section, but there is a further 4-5 m thickness of eroded deposit
stratigraphically above the top of section 3, again indicating some 4-10 m of incision
into the Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene floodplain. A shell-bed at +14.8 m above
the January 10, 1982 river level was sampled for radiocarbon dating. Its 1"C age of
15,540170 B.P. (Beta-4788) thus allows us to specify a minimum age for final
aggradation and a maximum age for river downcutting. All shell samples were tested
by X-ray diffraction for possible recrystallisation from aragonite to calcite.
Preliminary field identifications (for which we are indebted to Mark Kenoyer of
Berkeley) suggest that there are at least five species of mollusc within the shell-bed:
Parreyssia favidens (Benson): a small freshwater mussel
Lamellidens marginalis (Lamarck): a large freshwater unionid
lndoplanorbis exustus (Deshoyes): a small gastropod characteristic of terrestrial
and swampy habitats
Digoniostoma cerameopoma (Benson): a gastropod characteristic of swampy and
terrestrial habitats
Viviparus bengalensis (Lamarck): characteristic of ponds and run-on sites.
(b) Alluvial Stratigraphy of the Belan River between Chopani-Mando and Amilia
Eight major sections in the middle Belan valley were described and sampled in
detail, and five others were sampled specifically for radiocarbon dating but were not
logged in detail because they seemed to be lateral variants of sections already de-
scribed. Simplified logs are given in Figures 4 and 5.
At Mahagara (section 4, Fig. 4) the uppermost gravel unit contains shells dated
to 10,030 115 B.P. (SUA-142). All shells were from the lower 40 cm of the cross-
bedded gravels which form a bed up to 115 cm thick.
Banked against the main section, with its surface 3.80 m lower than the top of,
section 4, is a Neolithic midden (Mahagara Index Trench) of grey-brown (10 YR 31
3) gritty loam with lenses of rolled, poorly-sorted carbonate gravel, interbedded with
broken potsherds. A perforated mussel shell in the north wall of the Index Trench was

BELAN RIVER : GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS
100

:[
RB
A
RB

200m upltrum 500m downstream
201-

4 b
RB LB
10K. _
3 5 b

, ..
18 I-




>-
16 I-
.

. -:-
8 b

. -:-

!
14 I-

4
t'"
3 b
6 b
t'"
...
12 I-
>
5
rIl
10 f--
4 b

3 b
CI
aI-
I 0 2B b
' A

, : gap
5
!OJ o D ..... ?-.: v
4 Rb
('l
81-
I 0
3 3

o 0
2 2 Rb

41-
I 0
2Ab
0
=

2 b :;,
21-
kD
..
1 b

1 b
iii':"
1
1
w..
..
w..

OL-
......
<150m>
bank, cliff
4 MAHAGARA 5 CHILLAHIA 8 DEOGHAT BRIDGE 7
Fig. 4: Quaternary stratigraphic sections, Belan river
"'"' .f>.
BElAN RIVER (abMdoned chann'l) : CHOPANI MANDO
m
- down - channel I4'-ChInneI
-
14 '
t
LB
13
LB
12

LB
11 II. 2 b

5 b
rn

10 l-
5 b
0
c::
e .-=-
>
..

tl
4 b
tl
.. 4 b
8 l-
LB
1:-:- 1 Vb
.. 7
3
..

>
"
7
I ....."l
0<
3 b
0
6 2Yb
"'I
!"l
l!I!J
5 l- r-,-
z
2Yb

4 l- [I
I""
t"'
u
....
3 l-' I ..
'""

....
"
u >

0
2 f-
go
IJ:
...
"
I':
o 0
1 l- .....
.
1
bIdroc:k"
. 0
0
L '--.J LJ
..
Unit, cliff ........ 800m ..........
8m 200m bank. cllf
SA 8B Be e
N
Fig, 5: Quaternary stratigraphic sections, Belan river, Chopani Mando
294 M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
of interest in that similarly perforated mussel shells are used today forskinning green
mangoes (B.B. Misra: personal communication, 16.1.82). It is highly probable that the
Index Trench deposit accumulated rapidly, for there is no significant difference at one
standard deviation between any of tht" four charcoal radiocarbon dates, despite the fact
that the deepest and shallowest samples are up to 2.35 m apart vertically (see Table
2).
Table 2: Radiocarbon dates from Mahagara Index Trench, Belan valley (data from Sharma et al. 1980: 199-
200)
Sample, Lab. No.
PRL-409
PRL-408
PRL-407
BAIIAu/ALLDIMGR-77-1
Age Depth below datum
1400 150 B.C. -1.15 m
1330 120 B.C. -1.25 to -1.35 m
1440 100 B.C. -2.4 to -2.6 m
1480 110 B.C. -2.8 to -3.5 m
From these dates we can draw the following conclusions:
(i) Until 10,030 B.P. or shortly thereafter the Belan and its tributaries were actively aggrading their flood-
plain.
(ii) Between about 10,030 B.P. and 3,430 B.P. (1480 B.C.) the Belan had cut down at least 7.3 m (3.5 +
3.8 m) into its Pleistocene floodplain.
Beneath the 10,030 B.P. shell-bearing rolled carbonate gravels there are 12 m of
brown (5 YR 4/4 to 7.5 YR 3/4) massive clay loams and fine sandy clays with up to
20% irregular pedogenic carbonate nodules - the probable source of the rolled gravels
in the gravels capping this section. The absence of cut-and-fill structures, the lack of
any obvious strtigraphic breaks, and the gradational nature of any colour or grain-size
changes in the Mahagara brown clay loam prompted the inference that we were
dealing with a loess. A sample collected from +16 m gave a thermoluminescence age
of 29,900 ' 4500 (Alpha-897), indicating a Late Pleistocene age for this unit.
Stratigraphically beneath the Mahagara brown clay loam was a bench of sandstone
gravel and gravelly sand at least 8 m thick. Banked up against both gravel and clay
loam was a recent terrace of very fine alluvial sand, the surface of which was' up to
11.2 m above the January 12, 1982 river level. The sequence of events at Mahagara
was as follows:
(i) Deposition of fluviatile gravels to +8 m
(ii) Loess deposition (primary or secondary) to +19 m
(iii) Pedogenesis during and after (ii)
(iv) Local erosion of loess, concentration and redeposition of carbonate nodules towards \0 kyr B.P.
(v) River incision of at least 7 m between 10 kyr B.P. and 3400 B.P.
(vi) Deposition of recent sandy alluvial bench to +11 m
(vii) Continued incision.
The "Epi-Palaeolithic" assemblage (Upper Palaeolithic blades, non-geometric
microliths) recovered by excavation of the 10 kyr B.P. gravels is broadly similar to the
assemblage in archaeological layer 10 at Chopani-Mando (Sharma et al. 1980:143;
B.B. Misra: personal communication, 12.1.82), as well as to that seen eroding from
the uppermost beds of section 5 at Chillahia (Fig. 4).
THE QUATERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA 295
Chillahia section 5 (Fig. 4) was again on the Belan right bank, about 3 km
upstream. The Belan flows westwards so that Chillahia lies east of Mahagara.
The basal 2.5 m ohhe section consist of a brown (7.5 YR 4/4) clay loam with up
to 50% calcium carbonate. Not seen by us, but rumetimes exposed by drought is an
underlying conglomerate from which V.D. Misra and B.B. Misra collected one cleaver
and a biface on June 22, 1971.
Above the brown clay loam are three gravel units with a total thickness of 4.4 m.
The lower and upper two units form resistant benches of horizontally-bedded sandstone
or quartzire pebbles in a matrix of silica and iron hydroxide. The middle unit displays
large-scale trough crossbeds. Foreset dips of 10-20 show variable flow directions
between 120 and 260, consistent with the 250 palaeocurrent direction inferred from
imbrication. The flow of the modern Belan at this site is to the southwest.
From the lower gravel unit have come Middle Palaeolithic quartzite tools and
bifaces (B.B. Misra: personal communication, 14.1.82). The assemblage seems broadly
comparable to that excavated from the Patpara Formation ("FormationB", Table 1)
in the Son valley during 1980. From the middle cross-bedded unit have come over 200
artefacts, mostly of Middle Palaeolithic aspect, with fewer fashioned from quartzite and
far more of chert. Artefacts in the upper gravel unit were entirely of Middle Palaeolithic
aspect, with abundant chert scrapers and no bifaces. What time gaps are represented
by the erosional contacts between the three gravel units we cannot gauge.
Above the gravels is a massive unit of brown (7.5 YR 4/4-4/6) calcareous very fine
sandy clay to clay loam similar in colour and texture to the Mahagara loessic unit in
section 4. The basal 5.75 m of the clay loam is capped by a 1.3 m thick bench of rolled
carbonate gravel with minor clasts of shale and sandstone and occasional recrystallised
mussel shells. Above this intraformational gravel the brown clay loam continues for
a further 8.70 m, bringing the total thickness of the loess formation to 15.75 m.
Eroding from the upper few metres of the loess is a non-geometric microlithic assem-
blage, in which the dominant raw ~ a t e r i a l is chalcedony with subsidiary black chert.
From section 4 and 5 (Fig. 4) it is evident that deposition of the calcareous brown
loess was accompanied by carbonate segregation within the profile, and was inter-
rupted by minor phases of erosion and reworking of pedogenic carbonate derived from
the loess. The resulting intraformational gravels appear to be local phenomena and so
shouid not be given the status of regional lithostratigraphic markers. There is no valid
reason why any of the six gravel units exposed in (and below) section 5 should be
referred to as Gravel I, II or III, unless the numerical suffix refers specifically to the
local stratigraphic section.
Section 6 and 7 are respectively 200 m upstream and 500 m downstream of the
Deoghat bridge, with 6 on the right bank and 7 on the left bank (Fig. 4).
At the base of section 6 there are at least two metres of rolled sandstone and
carbonate gravels which are capped by three metres of brown (7.5 YR 4/6 and 5/6) clay
loam and a further 2.25 m of sandstone pebbles, fining upwards to fine gravel.
Stratigraphically above the gravel (which may be a local channel-fill deposit) and
especially well exposed 200 m above the bridge, is a brown loess-like very fine sandy
clay loam, the vertical face of which is distinctively fluted by rainwash rills. Within
the deposit, which is over 12 m thick, is an intraformational lens of fine carbonate
gravel stringers (Fig. 4). .
Section 7 comprises two distinct fine-grained formations separated by a wide-
spread shell-bearing gravel unit 85 cm thick dated at 18,055 150 B.P. (Beta-4789).
296 M.A..J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
The lower formation, a reddish-brown (5 YR 4/8) sandy loam with 3% black pisolites,
is largely obscured by talus, and may overlie the conglomerate bench which crops out
a water level. A thin band of ironstone pisolites, .sandstone fragments and bits of
broken shell in a reddish-brown sandy clay matrix htrms a minor gravel unit 25-30 cm
thick near the top of this formation, which here comprises a further 65 cm of dark
reddish-brown (5 YR 3/5) sandy clay.
The shelly gravel unit sitting on the eroded surface of the red-brown sandy clay
varies lithologically over quite short horizontal distances. At the site of section 7, the
gravel consists of ironstone pisolites and ferruginous sandstone fragments in a brown
clay loam matrix. Fifty metres upstream it becomes an indurated bed of rolled carbon-
ate nodules with crude planar bedding. The most common shells within the gravel are
two species of freshwater mussel similar to th,ose found in the Belan today. These shells
were sampled at section 7, as well as at 7B (in gully 150-200 m upstream and inland
from 7), and 7C near Amilia, 2-3 kIn downstream. In all three places the shelly gravel
had an abrupt erosional contact with the underlying red-brown clay.
Above the shelly gravel bed at section 7 there are 11 m of alternating dark and
light brown (7.5 YR 4/3-4/4) calcareous light clays, often with a strong subangular
blocky structure. The uniformity of colour, texture (grain size) and structure in the
upper 11 m, the lack of shells, and the absence of fluviatile gravels again suggest that
the parent material of the stratified soils and sediments above the shelly gravel was a
calcareous wind-blown dust or loess. Since it is now technically possible to obtain
fairly reliable thermoluminescence dates from loess and other aeolian sediments (Wintle
1981; Wintle and Huntley 1982; Singhvi et al. 1982) we have sampled every Belan
section with this possibility in mind. We hope to be able to test the accuracy of the
TL dates against the radiocarbon ages obtained on unrecrystallised shell samples. Both
TL and additional 14(: dating programmes are in progress now.
Shells were also collected from gully section 7D near Koldihwa archaeological site
on the high terrace opposite Mahagara (section 4). The shells were from a carbonate
gravel at least 5 m higher in elevation than the 10 kyr B.P. gravel of section 4. They
were thought to be laterally equivalent to a gravel band at the base of the Koldihwa
excavation which has yielded Upper Palaeolithic blades and a 14(: age of either c.25
kyr B.P. or 19 kyr B.P. (Sharma et al. 1980: 71; B.B. Misra: personal communication,
15.1.82). The actual 14C age for the shells was 25,430 350 B.P. (Beta-4877).
Our final investigations in the Belan valley were focused upon four sections on the
south bank of a cut-off channel of the Belan opposite Chopani-Mando archaeological
site (Fig. 5, sections 8A,B,C and 9). We also revisited the Belan Main section (Fig.
4, in Williams and Royce 1982) on the Belan right bank just downstream of the
bifurcation of the Belan and its cutoff channel. The latter is functional during flood,
and re-enters the main Belan just upstream of section 4 at Mahagara.
At section 8A the cutoff channel is a bedrock channel cut in horizontal quartzose
sandstones of Upper Vindhyan age (=Upper Proterozoic). At 3.2 m above the exposed
bedrock, and probably sitting directly on bedrock which is here obscured by talus, is
a resistant conglomerate bench of flaggy sandstone and gravelly sand which has
yielded Middle Palaeolithic quartzite flakes, scrapers and discoid cores.
Roughly a hundred metres upstream, at section 8B, bedrock crops out from the
cutoff-channel water level to +6:5 m. Above bedrock is a 2.65 m thick unit of pale
yellow-brown (10 YR 6/4) clay loam overlain by 3.8 m of dark brown (10 YR 3/4) light
clay from which Upper Palaeolithic chert blades have been collected (B.B. Misra:
THE QUATERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA 297
personal communication, 16.1.82).
The lowest stratigraphic unit in section 8C, 80 m further east, is laterally equiva-
lent to the lowest unit in 8B, and overlies a thin lag gravel said to contain Middle
Palaeolithic quartzite flakes. Its upper surface is the Bca horizon of a now truncated
palaeosol which developed within the yellow-brown clay loam during a pause in
deposition. Above the eroded palaeosol there is a metre of dark brown light clay
equivalent to unit 2 of section 8B. It too has yielded Upper Palaeolithic and early
Mesolithic artefacts. Capping the brown clay is a brown (10 YR 4/4) fine sandy clay
loam at least 3 m thick, the surface of which is being actively eroded. This unit
contains microliths but no pottery.
Perhaps the most complete of the Chopani-Mando sections is step trench 9 (Fig.
5). Above a 2 m thick conglomerate bench of platy sandstone and nodular calcrete is
a yellow-brown (10 YR 4.5/4) calcareous clay loam overlain by a brown (10 YR 4/4)
clay loam from which have come Middle Palaeolithic quartzite and chert blades. Above
the brown clay loam is a brown (7.5 YR 4/3) fine sandy clay unit some 3 m thick with
Upper Palaeolithic blades and microliths. Capping the section is an eroded brown (10
YR 4/4) clay laom unit at least 0.8 m thick, also with microliths.
One feature common to all of the Belan sections studied by us is a brown to
yellow-brown clay loam to fine sandy clay formation which predates the 10 kyr B.P.
shelly gravel at section 4 and appears to be a slightly reworked Late Pleistocene loess,
the bulk of which accumulated during the Last Glacial Maximum, on the evidence of
our shell dates and of the two shell dates of 23,840 B.C. (PRL 86) and 17,765 B.C.
(TF 1245) available from the shelly gravels which immediately underlie this formation
at Deoghat and Koldihwa (Sharma et ai. 1980: 71; B.B. Misra: personal communica-
tion, 15.1.82).
Our present interpretation of this formation differs slightly from that of Mujumdar
and Rajaguru (1970) who thought that "the possibility of these finer soils being
deposited solely by wind was very meagre" (Mujumdar and Rajaguru 1970: 102) and
considered them to be overbank deposits or fluvio-Iacustrine deposits associated with
a floodplain environment. The operative word is "solely". We consider the parent
material to be loess, reworked to a minor degree by slopewash and local runoff. Some
of the more highly stratified beds may well be overbank deposits laid down by a loess-
choked Late Pleistocene palaeo-Belan. Until we have completed our dating,
micromorphological and granulometric studies, further speculation seems unprofitable.
Table 3: Provisional lithostratigraphic sequence in the middle Belan valley, based on fieldwork in January
1982 and February 1980
I. Tabular sandstone conglomerate over Upper Vindhyan sandstone bedrock. Lower Palaeolithic cleavers
and bifaces. Age probably Middle Pleistocene.
2. Calcareous brown clay loam. Archaeologically sterile. (?)Middle Pleistocene.
3. Planar and cross-bedded sandstone gravels. Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. (?)Late Middle to (?)early
Upper Pleistocene.
4. Reddish-brown sandy clays and clay loams. (?)Upper Pleistocene. Archaeological associations not known.
5. Shell-bearing gravel(s), mostly rolled carbonate nodules and black ironstone pisolites. Upper Palaeolithic
artefacts. Upper Pleistocene (c.25 kyr to 19 kyr B.P.).
6. Brown and yellow-brown calcareous clay loam and sandy clays. Minor intraformational gravels, mainly
rolled carbonate nodules. Upper Palaeolithic to Epi-Palaeolithic and (?)Mesolithic artefacts. Age late
Upper Pleistocene (c.25 to c.1O kyr B.P.)
7. Holocene clays, loams and fine alluvial sands. Mesolithic, Neolithic and protohistoric artefacts.
14*
298
o
1'-30
- ..
J .eo
cI -120
M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
- 1 . ~ ~ ~ - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - ~ - - ~ - - ~ ~
o 20 40 10 100 120 140 1. 110 200 220 240 210
Age(1P)
Fig. 6: Sea level curve for the past 260,000 years (after Aharon and Chappell 1986: Fig. 4.5)
The red-brown clay loam to fine sandy clay exposed in the Belan Main section and
in sections 7 and 7b may well be a weathered loess. In colour and soil texture it is
similar to the finer units of the Patpara Fonnation (Fonnation B) in the Son valley.
The results from our dating programme may resolve this issue which for the present
is best left open.
Major stratigraphic units and their associated archaeological occurrences are
summarised in Table 3.
If units 2, 4 and 6 were originally laid down as wind-blown dust, then they would
presumably reflect times when the prevailing climate was drier and windier than today.
Duplessy's (1982) reconstruction of the last glacial climate in India is consistent with
our suggested later Pleistocene age and loessic origin for unit 6 in Table 3.
Given that times of low seal level were times of maximum ice volume, and
accepting the equation of loess deposition with glacial (or stadial) aridity, the curve of
sea level changes over the past 260 kyr (Fig. 6) suggests possible ages for units 2 and
4, assuming they are of aeolian provenance.
Unit 2 could date to roughly 160 10 kyr B.P. and Unit 4 could date to 70 kyr
B.P. or earlier. However, the shape of the curve indicates a progressive trend towards
full glacial conditions, and there seems no good reason why wind-blown dust could not
have accumulated in the Belan valley throughout much of the long interval between
successive interglacials. The present climate in north central India is probably only
representative of, at most, 10% of the preceding 120 kyr, so that throughout much of
the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic conditions may have been significantly colder, drier
and windier than they are today.
(c) Alluvial Stratigraphy of the Middle Son Valley Between Byawaharkhand Village
and Jogadha Bridge
Our first priority in the Son valley was to relate the archaeological excavations at
Baghor I,ll and III to the local and regional geological history (see Fig. 7 and 8).
Section G 1 is 1 krn west of Baghor I and G2 is in the same Nala as G I, but about
350 m upstream. The main unit in both sections is a yellow-brown loess, the field
texture of which is a calcareous very fine sandy clay to heavy clay loam. Colours range
from 10 YR 5/6 near the exposed base of G 1 (which has up to 20% red-brown mottles)
through 10 YR 5/4 to 10 YR 4/4 (brown) near the top of G2, i.e. from yellow brown
to brown. All colours are moist colours and particular care was taken in describing
m
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
o
2 Yb
1 Yb
G1
SON VALLEY : GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS
A.
GF
in the, vicinity of Baghor excavations
G2
4 b
3 gb
2 Yb
1C
1B
1A Yb
.=11 2 Rb
1 b
G3
Fig. 7: Quaternary stratigraphic sections, Son valley near Bagbor
...
. ~
I:)
~
i!>-
~ ...
l"!I
5 Rb
~
A . ~ " ' 1 4
i!>-
3 qp
ill:!
><
0
b "'l
2 gb n
l"!I
Z
...
1C
~
t"'
1B Rb
2
~
i:1
'-0 -
-
o 0
i!>-
-
1A
'':'0 -
-
: 0 0
GF:....::.-:::i
G4
~
300 M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
field colour and texture of all deposits, since even quite subtle differences proved.
diagnostic. Within the loess there are minor intraformational lenses of shale rubble
(mostly debris flows) and rolled carbonate gravels.
Conformably above the loess at G2 there is a vertisolic dark grey-brown (l0 YR
3/2) sandy clay. Above the dark clay is a thin band of shale gravel with agate and
chalcedony flakes and microliths. The microlithic horizon is partly concealed beneath
a layer of red-brown sandy clay loam (see also section G3, 0.5 km east of G2) which
sometimes contains Neolithic implements.
Exposed beneath the yellow-brown loess at G2 there are three gravel units. These
range from shale fragments in 'a clay matrix (lA) to quartzite conglomerates with
crude fluviatile bedding (lB, 1C). In the bed of the seasonal stream which is exhuming
these gravels we found one large quartzite core (c.25 x 25 x 20 cm) and one large
quartzite flake, possibly Lower Palaeolithic.
Fanglomerates also crop out 0.1-0.2 km northwest of Baghor I, at section G4 (Fig.
7). The site is closer to the shale quartzite escarpment, and the gravels differ from
those at G2 in being matrix-supported. Units 1A and 1C have a characteristic debris-
flow fabric. Interstratified within the debris flows there are several beds and lenses of
red-brown (5 YR 5/6) sandy clay and sandy clay loam, often with a strongly pedal
structure quite unlike the massive structure of the yellow-brown loess at Gland G2.
Erosion of this material, which is reminiscent of the Patpara (or Formation B) clays
studied in 1980, has provided the matrix material of the debris flows. We consider that
these scarp-foot clays represent an eroded and weathered loess which predates the
younger yellow-brown loess which is so widespread in this region.
We sampled and described the three archaeological test trenches at Baghor I, II
and III (Figs. 8 and 9), and an additional geological section (G5) as a further check
upon 'Baghor III. It soon became clear that the'mottled grey-brown sandy clay/clay
loam unit at the base of Baghor I and II and comprising almost all of Baghor III was
stratigraphically equivalent to the upper metre or two of the yellow-brown loess at G2.
The dark vertisolic clay (bed 3) at Baghor II is a lateral counterpart of the dark
vertisolic clay at G2 (bed 3). The red-brown ("orange" when dry) sandy clay loam at
Baghor II (bed, 2) is the same horizon as the top bed at G3 and G4 (Fig, 7). In
descending order, the stratigraphic sequence is as follows:
(i) red-brown ("orange") sandy clay loam with Neolithic artefacts
(ii) brown clay loam
(iii) grey-brown sandy clay with Mesolithic artefacts
(iv) debris flows (shale rubble)
(v) very dark grey-brown vertisolic clay
(vi) grey-brown mottled clay loam/sandy clay with Upper Palaeolithic artefacts grading downwards into
(vii) brown loess (clay loam/sandy clay) greyer upwards, yellow-brown down profile; minor intraformational
shale and carbonate lenses
(viii) interbedded red-brown clays (weathered older loess?) and sandstone/shale debris flows in red-brown
clay matrix
(ix) water-laid sandstone cobbles and gravels: large core and flake, possibly Upper Palaeolithic, (Note that
these gravels could be a lateral equivalent of viii, but we think this is unlikely given the absence of
interstitial red-brown clay)
Our subsequent work in the Son was designed to answer two important questions
which had now arisen:

-
-
BAGHORlTE8TTRENCH
IOUIhflcl
......................... .
2 m
, , ' . '.'
2 ..... --.S / ... ... 1
gracIIng downward, ID
griIly brown qndy clay wIItI
....w F. & Mn noduln
lA Urk grey-brown undy clay .... 1()1j6 F. & Mn nodule, S
foooooooooooooooooooooooooopoooo 0
I ,
o 1m


4 lrIfact
ight clay-loam

fine .Ie 811M! i'I
M NnUpOrt
bind of clay ("",.,,1)
S ,."ple for .n.lyail
10001

1A
Ih.Irp bound8ry
. grldetionll' bouncSwy .. ion.1 bound8ty
Fig. 8: Baghor I and n test trench sections, Son valley
IS
5 undy dllyWllh
IOIIhIc III'II1CtI & NndItone INIrtUpOItI
.. "' ............ _ ... __ ............................................. .. _ .. 9 ... _ .. _ ....... _ ....... ..
.. ,NIle gnMtI i'I dirk grey-brown cIIIy matrtx
. ... .............. .
''" _
........................................
i
10
a

.. 1IIght cIIIy-lOlm



..
o 1m 2m


>
BAGHORIITESTTRENCH
......

...
SON VALLEY : GEOLOGICAL SECTIONS
m
9
8
7
8
5
4
3
2
1
o
in the vicinity of Baghor eXC8YationI
6 ':11
3
'
~ 4 Ab
--
6 I- - gb+b
-- 3 gb
-- 2 I:. 2
- ~ l' gb -- 1 b+Rb
-- --
100m
BAGHORIII OS
Fig. 9: Quaternary stratigraphic sections, Son valley, Khunderi Nala
Khunderi Hala right bank
e b
7B b
m
7A b
4A b
b 4B =

3 ..
Vb 2 -"
1
415 Vb
I
3
II
2Vb
1
W.
G8
G7
~
== >
~
~
t"'
t"'
...
>
;
>
2:
t:I
== !oJ
~
t"'
>
'"
~
ttl
THE QUATERNARY OF CJj:NTRAL INDIA 303
(i) What is the relationship- between the piedmont stratigraphic sequence evident around the Baghor
excavations and the alluvial stratigraphic sequence exposed in the banks and tributary nalas of the
Son?
(ii) How many loess fonnations are there, and what is their relationship to artefact-bearing units?
The answers to these two related questions are illustrated in section G6 to G 12 (see
Figs. 9-11).
Above the basal gravel units at G6 and G7 (Fig. 9) there are recent alluvial sands
and laminated clays which belong to the youngest terraces of Khunderi Nala. They are
banked up against the main yellow-brown loess formation which contained shells with
a 14C age of 20,135 220 B.P. (Beta-4791).
On the south bank of the Son at Nakjhar Khurd we sampled a step-trench located
20 m downstream (east) of the 1980 archaeological trench (G9 in Fig. 10). Above the
eroded siltstone bedrock were exposed 4.5 m of mottled grey and yellow-brown sandy
clay with a thin interbedded debris flow unit (bed 3 of G9). Beds 1 to 5 we interpret
as a slightly reworked loess mixed with some fluviatile coarse sand and bedrock
derived shale fragments. A sample from near the top of bed 4 has yielded a thermolu-
minescence age of 103,800 19,800 (Alpha-899). This loess is the Fine Member of
the Sihawal Formation (Formation A) and in the 1980 step-trench it overlies a discon-
tinuous basal conglomerate - the Sihawal Gravel Member - which contains Lower
Palaeolithic bifaces . This gravel may be a lateral equivalent of the indurated gravels
which overlie limestone bedrock in Khunderi Nala north of the Son at sections G6, G7
and G 1 0 (Fig. 9 & 10). In all three sections the gravel is the lowest exposed unit, and
underlies a mottled grey and yellow-brown fine sandy clay.
Resting on the eroded surface of the Sihawal Loess Member at Nakjhar Khurd are
two metres of horizontally-bedded red-brown (7.5 YR 5/6) and brown (10 YR 4/6)
coarse sandy clay, the upper 0.55 m of which has a coarse prismatic structure, and may
be part of an eroded palaeosol.
Above the "palaeo sol" (unit 6D, Fig. 10 section G9) is a fluviatile gravelly coarse
sand, the colour of which ranges from brown (10 YR 4/6) to dark red-brown (5 YR
3/3-4). This unit (7) is the base of a channel fill, so that formation and member
thickness can differ by several metres over a lateral distance of 20 m. A further 11.75
m of gravelly sands overlie unit 7, so that the level summit of the section is +25 m
relative to its ~ x p o s e d base, which is 1 m above low river level.
The stratigraphic status of the red-brown gravelly sands above unit 6D is still in
doubt. They could belong in the upper, eroded part of the Patpara Formation or in the
subsequent Baghor Formation. They differ from the Baghor sands in colour and in the
absence of carbonate, and may represent a stratigraphic transition from the red-brown
gravelly clays and clays of the main Patpara Formation to the unconsolidated pale
yellow-brown fluviatile sands and calcreted gravels of the Baghor Coarse Member.
Alternatively, the Patpara Formation may consist of a clay-rich facies and channel-
sand facies, with the latter more common along the axis of the valley, and the former
more extensive on footslopes and palaeo-floodplains.
In order to correlate the stratigraphic sequence on either side of the Son we ran
a traverse from near Rampur archaeological site across the river to Semara Nala on
the south bank (Fig. 11). The oldest formation exposed on both sides of the river in
the form of eroded remnants of red-brown sands and clayey sands is the Patpara
Formation, here present in its coarse fluviatile facies.
SON VALLEY : GEOLOGICAL IECTIONI
1CIutdIri .....

11
8gb
10 r 1b1M1trl
a.pr c:.mpdI
,
5Yb
"
b
f
7
8r--
8 Nt
5
4 t
--j' ...


:: .. Ybtt
3
2 Ybtb 1
H
3Nttg
OF l:..!...j 1 0 [ OF :::": 1.2Ob
010 011
Fig, 10: Quaternary stratigraphic sections, Son valley, Nakjhar Khurd
1km-*rI
.....1Oud.
.: ..
'., :
:: .. ::.
::.:.
.:' .. :':1
::"::::
012
.Vb
5 b
.. b
3 b+oIg
2 b
1


>



>




p
>

=
./
::/
:
.. a
Q
... ,
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II
e" ./ a
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: ...
1
~
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....
o
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EIII
a
THE QUATERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA
o
E
I
iii
101-1' ... 1
..... ' .....
...... ~
A........ .. i
1111 I
..... 1.1
,,1 I
....
.. ' ..
II
Ii
G.:S:
I:' .
')?
A'::"
c':.::
".,:
305
o
-
-
306 M.A.J. WILLIAMS AND M.F. CLARKE
Overlying the eroded surface of the Pat para Formation are the channel sands of
the Baghor Formation Coarse Member. These are interstratified with silts and clays on
the north bank, as might be expected in the laterally more distal facies of channel
sands. On the south bank the Baghor sands are clean, well-sorted sands with no
interfingering units of overbank clays except near the contact with the overlying Fine
Member clays. Both the Fine and the Coarse Members grade laterally into the massive
brown to yellow-brown loess described earlier in this report.
Three dates allow us to place the Baghor Formation Fine and Coarse Members and
associated loess firmly in the Late Pleistocene. A 1"C age of 11,870 120 B.P. (Beta-
4793), is in very good agreement with the 1L date for the stratigraphically equivalent
unit 50 m further north (Fig. 11).
There are sporadic relatively fresh Middle Palaeolithic flakes near the base of the
Baghor sands, and Upper Palaeolithic artefacts near the top. The Baghor clays which
overlie and/or interdigitate with the Baghor sands also contain Upper Palaeolithic
blades and blade-cores. Banked against the Baghor Formation (at Khunjun) or else
sitting on the 15 m erosional terrace at the foot of the main 35 m surface (at Rampur)
is a brown clay in which there are very well preserved Upper Palaeolithic blades and
blade-cores.
Using the information discussed above (see Fig. 7-11) we are now in a position
to summarise what is still preserved of the Quaternary history of the middle Son valley.
(i) Bedrock erosion and pedirnentation of Lower Vindhyan metasediments (limestones, shales, cherts,
sandstones), probably during the Middle Pleistocene. Deposition of debris flow rubble and alluvial fan
gravels and clayey gravels with some reworking by the palaeo-Son near present low r i v e r ~ l e v e l . Lower
Palaeolithic flakes, cores and bifaces of quartzose sandstone and quartzites on and in these Sihawal
Formation gravels.
(ii) Deposition of fine sandy clay loess during and after accumulation of Sihawal Formation gravels; i.e.,
a Sihawal Fine Member and a Sihawal Coarse Member, (?)Middle Pleistocene.
(iii) Erosion followed by deposition of Patpara Formation gravelly clays and fluviatile sands. Upper Acheulian
to Middle Palaeolithic artefacts interstratified among both fine and coarse facies of the Patpar Forma-
tion. Syn-depositional and/or post-depositional reddening of clays and sands. Middle to Upper Pleis- .
tocene.
(iv) Erosion followed by deposition of Baghor Formation channel sands, overbank clays and yellow-brown
loess. Middle to Upper Palaeolithic. Upper Pleistocene.
(v) Several intervals of episodic downcutting, lateral planation and inset terrace formation. Upper Palaeolitbic,
Mesolithic and Neolithic. Upper Pleistocene to Holocene.
The most important geological achievement of the 1982 season was the identifi-
cation, mapping and sampling of a very widespread Upper Pleistocene loess in the
Belan and Son valleys. Shell samples collected above, within and beneath this forma-
tion have allowed us to date it with a reasonable degree of accuracy as well as enabling
us to calibrate some of the thermoluminescence dates so far obtained on samples of this
loess. We are thus able to specify limiting ages for the younger Middle Palaeolithic and
Upper Palaeolithic occurrences in this part of India.
If the as yet unfinished 1L dating programme proves successful, we will also be
able to obtain a better idea of the timing of the transition from Lower to Middle
Palaeolithic by further dating the Sihawal Fine Member loess.
Ultimately, we would hope to be able to correlate the continental loess stratigraphy
of north central India with the Quaternary marine stratigraphy obtained from Indian
Ocean deep-sea cores as well as with Chinese loess stratigraphy. These are exciting
possibilities.
THE QUA TERNARY OF CENTRAL INDIA 307
Acknowledgements
We remain indebted to Professor J. Desmond Clark and the late Professor G.R.
Sharma for inviting us to participate in their joint archaeological investigations, as also
to our cotIeagues from Allahabad and Berkeley. Our grateful thanks go also to the
Smithsonian Institution for air fares and per diem funds, to Allahabad University for
arranging transport and accomodation in the field, and to Macquarie University for
special leave, and research funds for the XRD, 14C and sedimentological analyses.
We offer this essay as a tribute to our friend, colleague and erstwhile field com-
panion, Dr.S.N. Rajaguru. More than any other single person, he has worked to place
Indian Quaternary geology on a modern footing through his careful and unflagging
field research throughout the Subcontinent. M.AJ. Williams will long remember the
joy and privilege of working with Raja in the Rajasthan desert in 1983.
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