| Abstract: |
Under the Geo-Archaeological Nepal Project, the German Research Council (DFG) has financed prehistoric investigations in Nepal in the past 10 years. No archaeological sites of Pre-Buddhist origin had been previously recorded from the country. During the current research, however, an unexpected wealth of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic sites (numbering more than 90 localities) was discovered in the Siwalik foothills of the Himalaya. They include two in situ sites of true handaxes in the Indian tradition, a Levallois-like occupation site of blades, flakes and scrapers in alluvial silts and numerous late Palaeolithic flake localities with and without choppers and core scrapers. There are also a number of microlithic sites and a few Neolithic localities rather damaged by erosion. These localities are all situated in two intermontane tectonic basins in the Siwalik foothills in western Nepal.
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