Javan sent in two links to this story – http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/deadthings/2018/01/31/stone-tools-from… … and www.scientificamerican.com/article/stone-tools-from-india-fan-debate-ove… … a cache of stone tools from SE India, not far from Chennai, has thrown up a change in tool use at the 200,000 years ago mark. Acheulian hand axes have a long time longevity, it is thought (see belwo) …
… and are generally ascribed to Homo erectus. Hundreds of thousands of years later Levallois flaking technology appeared – or that is the evolutionary theory (on gradual progress in stone tool technology). Flakes are knapped from a stone core. In Britain and Ireland this largely refers to a flint core – selected for colour, the number of flakes it is possible to produce from the core, and the quality of the core. Levallois flakes produced sharper edges – ideal for arrows (as an example) but also for skinning an animal and various other everyday tasks. The Levallois technique is normally associated with Middle Palaeolithic people. It was previously unknown in India – prior to 100,000 years ago. It has now been set back to double the period – a quite wide departure. Were modern humans in India long before the Out of African theory got traction?