LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENT, PALEONTOLOGY AND CULTURE OF TARAFENI VALLEY, MIDNAPUR DISTRICT, WEST-BENGAL - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

The authors present an integrated data on the Quaternary studies carri ed out during the 1993-95 field seasons in a lesser known area, the Ta rafeni Valley in Midnapur District, West Bengal. Microliths primarily made on chert, quartzite have been found in association with colluvial deposits formed more or less contemporaneously with underlying nodula r calcrete of pedogenic origin. Occurrence of several vertebrate fossi ls on the surface of the calcrete at Dhuliapur indicates Late Pleistoc ene age of the artefact bearing colluvial deposits. The formation of p edogenic calcrete in a sub-humid environment, with an average annual r ainfall of 1600 - 2000 mm, suggests the presence of semi-aridity in La te/Terminal Pleistocene period.