Geoarchaeology in India in the 21st century: an outsider’s perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. SP515-2020-202
Author(s):  
Robin Dennell
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
21St Century ◽  
South India ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Rain Forests ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Genus Homo ◽  
The Impact

AbstractProgress over the last 20 years in establishing reliable benchmarks in the Palaeolithic of India has been uneven but major successes have been the dating of the earliest Acheulean assemblages in India; the dating of the onset of the Middle Stone Age; the dating of the earliest microlithic assemblages in India; and the dating of the antiquity of human occupation of rain forests in South India and Sri Lanka. Also important is our greater understanding of the Younger Toba Tuff and the impact of the Toba mega-eruption 74 ka-ago on hominin populations in India. Major uncertainties persist over when the genus Homo first entered South Asia; when our own species, H. sapiens first entered South Asia; the age of the earliest blade assemblages in India; and the antiquity of its rock art.

scholarly journals Diabetes among tuberculosis patients and its impact on tuberculosis treatment in South Asia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanju Gautam ◽  
Nipun Shrestha ◽  
Sweta Mahato ◽  
Tuan P. A. Nguyen ◽  
Shiva Raj Mishra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Treatment Failure ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Treatment Outcomes ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Tb Treatment ◽  
Effect Model ◽  
Pooled Prevalence ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe escalating burden of diabetes is increasing the risk of contracting tuberculosis (TB) and has a pervasive impact on TB treatment outcomes. Therefore, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the burden of diabetes among TB patients and assess its impact on TB treatment in South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), and CINAHL databases were systematically searched for observational (cross-sectional, case–control and cohort) studies that reported prevalence of diabetes in TB patients and published between 1 January 1980 and 30 July 2020. A random-effect model for computing the pooled prevalence of diabetes and a fixed-effect model for assessing its impact on TB treatment were used. The review was registered with PROSPERO number CRD42020167896. Of the 3463 identified studies, a total of 74 studies (47 studies from India, 10 from Pakistan, four from Nepal and two from both Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka) were included in this systematic review: 65 studies for the prevalence of diabetes among TB patients and nine studies for the impact of diabetes on TB treatment outcomes. The pooled prevalence of diabetes in TB patients was 21% (95% CI 18.0, 23.0; I2 98.3%), varying from 11% in Bangladesh to 24% in Sri-Lanka. The prevalence was higher in studies having a sample size less than 300 (23%, 95% CI 18.0, 27.0), studies conducted in adults (21%, 95% CI 18.0, 23.0) and countries with high TB burden (21%, 95% CI 19.0, 24.0). Publication bias was detected based on the graphic asymmetry of the funnel plot and Egger’s test (p < 0.001). Compared with non-diabetic TB patients, patients with TB and diabetes were associated with higher odds of mortality (Odds Ratio (OR) 1.7; 95% CI 1.2, 2.51; I2 19.4%) and treatment failure (OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1, 2.4; I2 49.6%), but not associated with Multi-drug resistant TB (OR 1.0; 95% CI 0.6, 1.7; I2 40.7%). This study found a high burden of diabetes among TB patients in South Asia. Patients with TB-diabetes were at higher risk of treatment failure and mortality compared to TB alone. Screening for diabetes among TB patients along with planning and implementation of preventive and curative strategies for both TB and diabetes are urgently needed.

Early Human Occupation at al-Jamrab (White Nile Region, Central Sudan): A Contribution to the Understanding of the MSA of Eastern Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enza Elena Spinapolice ◽  
Andrea Zerboni ◽  
Michael Meyer ◽  
Donatella Usai
Keyword(s):  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Cultural Layer ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Central Sudan ◽  
Out Of Africa ◽  
White Nile

AbstractThe middle reaches of the Nile River play a key role in the current models about the diffusion of modern Humans out of Africa, nevertheless the Early and the Middle Stone Age (Early Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic) in central Sudan are poorly known. On-going investigation at al-Jamrab (White Nile region) highlights the archaeological potential of the central Sudan and illustrates the importance of an integrated approach combining archaeological excavation and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for understanding cultural site formation and post-depositional dynamics. The stratigraphic sequence at al-Jamrab includes a thick cultural layer rich in Early and Middle Stone Age artefacts, preserved in a deeply weathered palaeosol developed on fluvial sediments. The cultural layer includes a two-fold human occupation covering the Middle Stone Age, with Acheulean and Sangoan bifacial artefacts, although an Early Stone Age/Middle Stone Age transitional phase cannot be excluded. The artefact-bearing unit is attributed to the Upper Pleistocene based on preliminary OSL dating, the local palaeoenvironmental context, and strong pedogenetic weathering. Considering the paucity of archaeological data for the Pleistocene of Sudan and the importance of this region in the study of human dispersal out of Africa, this preliminary work on a new site and its associated stratigraphic context provides insights into the early peopling of Sudan and adds one more tessera to the Eastern Africa picture.

The West African Stone Age

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Allsworth-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
Modern Human ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Late Stone Age ◽  
Terminus Post Quem ◽  
African Populations ◽  
Climatic Record ◽  
Reliable Classification

In terms of artefacts present, West Africa is not short of evidence relating to human occupation during the Quaternary. The problem hitherto has been one of context and dating; there has been some progress in this regard but poor preservation conditions still restrict the presence of organic remains prior to the beginning of the Late Stone Age (LSA). Nonetheless, an excellent climatic record for the last 520 kya has been established on the basis of cores obtained from Lake Bosumtwi. Stratified Acheulean sites have been excavated at Sansandé and Ravin Blanc on the Falémé River in eastern Senegal. The succeeding Sangoan is an entity for which a consistent and reliable classification remains to be achieved. Despite this, excavations at Anyama in the Ivory Coast have produced a sizeable quantity of material, with a terminus post quem thermoluminescence (TL) date of 254 ± 51 kya. Our knowledge of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) has been transformed by the work carried out at Ounjougou in Mali. More than twenty-five distinct archaeological occurrences have been detected, extending from about 75 to 25 kya. The MSA elsewhere is abundant, and at Adrar Bous is in place beneath the Aterian, but much of it lacks a good stratigraphic context. The following dry period, the Ogolian, must have had a dramatic effect on human settlement, and the majority of LSA sites postdate this episode. There is no apparent link between them and the MSA. Nonetheless, the LSA at Shum Lake in Cameroon does have 14C dates in the range 32,700–12,800 BP. The most significant LSA site is Iwo Eleru, notable for the presence of modern human remains with “archaic” characteristics. A parallel situation has been detected at Ishango in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo both indicating a hitherto unsuspected “deep substructure” in Late Pleistocene African populations.

U-Th dated late Pleistocene tufas linked to human occupation in the semi-arid southern Kalahari

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica von der Meden ◽  
Jayne Wilkins ◽  
Benjamin Schoville ◽  
Kyle Brown ◽  
Robyn Pickering
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Semi Arid

&lt;p&gt;Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter (GHN) in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa is situated within the Summer Rainfall Zone, in the semi-arid (~300-400mm mean annual rainfall) southeastern edge of the Kalahari Basin. This location is significant as the dominant narrative for the evolution of modern humans has focused on Middle Stone Age archaeological sites along the southern cape coast of South Africa, with coastal resources and favourable climate conditions argued as key factors in driving the evolution of &lt;em&gt;Homo sapiens&lt;/em&gt;. Semi-arid regions in the interior of South Africa, such as the southern Kalahari Basin, are often considered to have been too dry to sustain significant human occupation and activity, and have thus been overlooked. However, GHN does indeed preserve rich stratified Middle and Later Stone Age deposits, as well as abundant large relict tufa deposits that cover the surrounding hillside. These tufas, which are ambient temperature, freshwater calcium carbonate deposits, are indicative of past periods of flowing surface waters and shallow pools on the hillside. Laser ablation trace element mapping was used to pre-screen the tufa samples to target layers with high &lt;sup&gt;238&lt;/sup&gt;U and little to no &lt;sup&gt;232&lt;/sup&gt;Th concentration for U-Th dating. The resultant ages show that the tufa system at Ga-Mohana was active during five distinct intervals over the last 110 ka, three of which closely coincide with the timing of human occupation at the site, itself dated via OSL. The coincidence of tufa formation and human occupation suggests that the tufa-forming waters were a critical resource to human populations living in the area. This hitherto undiscovered source of fresh water, more than 600 km inland and as far back as 110 ka, stands to challenge the notion of an empty and arid interior.&lt;/p&gt;

Lupemban

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Taylor
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Central Africa ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Congo Basin ◽  
Spatiotemporal Variability ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Forest Belt ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Tree Roots

The Lupemban is an industry of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) that is found across the Congo Basin and on its plateau margins in central Africa. It takes its name from the site of Lupemba that was discovered in 1944 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, then the Belgian Congo). The Lupemban’s distinctive toolkit of elongated lanceolate bifaces, core-axes, points, blades, and other small tools coincides with the equatorial forest belt and is suitable for constructing hafted implements, which has led to speculation it was a special and specific prehistoric adaptation to rainforest foraging. Although poorly dated across most of its geographic range, radiometric dates for the Lupemban at Twin Rivers (Zambia) show it is at least ~265 ka years old, placing it among the oldest known expressions of the regional MSA. As such, the Lupemban bears on 21st-century debates about the evolution of complex cognitive abilities and behaviors that characterize the emergence of Homo sapiens at or before 300 ka bp. In spite of the Lupemban’s potential importance for understanding the evolution of technology, human–environment interactions, and cognition in early Homo sapiens, the industry remains enigmatic and poorly understood. Logistical, ecological, and political challenges continue to impede fieldwork in central Africa. Moreover, at sites including Gombe Point (DRC), severe soil bioturbation by tree roots has caused the vertical displacement of buried artifacts, which corrupts the basic integrity of stratigraphic sequences. This problem is known to be widespread and means that after 100 years of research, central Africa still lacks a refined Stone Age cultural sequence. Consequently, very little is known about spatiotemporal variability within the Lupemban, or its specific environmental or cultural adaptations. At the site of Kalambo Falls (Zambia), the industry is found in secondary but stratified context, which, as of the early 21st century, offers the best glimpse into Lupemban technology and its potential evolutionary significance.

Multiproxy record of late Quaternary climate change and Middle Stone Age human occupation at Wonderkrater, South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 99 ◽  
pp. 42-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucinda R. Backwell ◽  
Terence S. McCarthy ◽  
Lyn Wadley ◽  
Zoë Henderson ◽  
Christine M. Steininger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Middle Stone Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Quaternary Climate

scholarly journals Impact of non-interest income and revenue concentration on bank risk in South Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-25
Author(s):  
Ahmed Imran Hunjra ◽  
Qasim Zureigat ◽  
Tahar Tayachi ◽  
Rashid Mehmood
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Bank Risk ◽  
Interest Income ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Revenue Concentration

Banks not only rely on the traditional way of generating income, they also opt for non-interest income (NII) to survive in a competitive environment. Banks in South Asia are diversifying their income from interest to non-interest sources in order to reduce risk and generate high returns. This study examines the impact of non-interest income (NII) and revenue concentration on banks’ risk in South Asian countries such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. Panel data for eighty-five banks from 2009 to 2018 is used. Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) is employed to analyze the data. The study finds that non-interest source income and revenue concentration significantly affect bank risk in the overall analysis. The study finds different results depending on the regulations and application of the regulatory system in each country. Non-interest income reveals a significant impact on bank risk for Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, but insignificant for Si Lanka. Revenue concentration has a significant effect on bank risk in Pakistan and India, however, it does not affect bank risk in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This study recommends that bank managers focus on different sources of revenue generation in order to minimize their level of risk through a diversification strategy to enhance efficiency. This study contributes to the banking sector literature of South Asian markets.

scholarly journals Impact of Terrorism on Stock Market: A Case of South Asian Stock Markets

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-242
Author(s):  
Rehana Kousar ◽  
Zahid Imran ◽  
Qaisar Maqbool Khan ◽  
Haris Khurram
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Stock Markets ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Market Returns ◽  
Stock Market Returns ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of terrorism on stock markets of South Asia namely, Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index (Pakistan), Bombay Stock Exchange (India), Colombo Stock Exchange (Sri Lanka) and Chittagong Stock Exchange (Bangladesh). Monthly panel data has been used for the period of January 2000 to December 2016. Terrorism events happened during the period of 2000 to 2016 have been incorporated to examine the impact of terrorism on stock market returns of South Asia. DCC GARCH through R software is used to analyze the impact of terrorism on stock market returns and to analyze the spillover effect of terrorism in one country and on the stock markets of other countries of South Asia. The results indicate that terrorism has significant and negative effect on stock market returns of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh but insignificant in Sri Lanka. Results also shows that stock markets return of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh are significant and positively correlated with each other except the Stock market of Sri Lanka.

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