This is the first volume of its kind on prehistoric cultures of South Asia. The book brings together archaeologists, biological anthropologists, geneticists and linguists in order to provide a comprehensive account of the history and evolution of human populations residing in the subcontinent. New theories and methodologies presented provide new interpretations about the cultural history and evolution of populations in South Asia.

Incorporating the latest scientific and archaeological discoveries, this history chronicles the development of civilization in India and Pakistan from its origins to the emergence of regional cultures and the spread of Indo-Aryan speaking peoples.

South Asia is home to a diverse range of prehistoric and contemporary cultures that include foragers, pastoralists, and farmers. In this book, archaeologists, biological anthropologists, geneticists and linguists are brought together in order to provide a comprehensive account of the history and evolution of human populations residing in the subcontinent. A wide range of topics and issues are addressed in this book, including hominin adaptations, behaviours, and dispersals; the origin and spread of food producing economies; and the cultural, biological and genetic relationship of foragers and settled communities. New theories, methodologies and interpretations presented in this book are bound to have a profound effect on the way in which the cultural record of South Asia is perceived and how this evolutionary history relates to events in the wider world.