Palaeolithic sites in India are those regions where archaeologists have found tools fashioned by the hunters/gatherers. The earliest traces of human beings in India are found in Punjab, in the region between the Sindhu and Jhelum rivers.
The distribution of the Palaeolithic tools reveals information not only about the areas in which the hunters/ gatherers lived and moved but also about their environment.
(i) A hand-axe was discovered near Pahalgam in Kashmir on the River Lidder. However, Kashmir lacks Palaeolithic tools in abundance because it was intensely cold during the glacial times.
Adial, Balwal and Chauntra in the Sohan Valley have yielded hand axes, choppers and other tools. The banks of the rivers Beas, Bangange and Sirsa have also yielded Palaeolithic tools.
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(ii) The Luni river (Rajasthan) complex has many Palaeolithic sites. Chittorgarh (Gambhir basin), Kota (Chambal basin), and Negarai (Berach basin) have yielded palaeolithic tools. The Wagaon and Kadamali rivers in Mewar are rich in Middle Palaeolithic sites.
A variety of scrapers, borers and points have been discovered in this area. Hand axes found at Didwana, similar to those from the Shivalik Hills, yield slightly younger dates of about four lakh years ago.
(iii) The rivers Sabarmati, Mahi, Bhader and their tributaries and the Kutch areas in Gujarat have yielded many Palaeolithic tools.
(iv) Many Palaeolithic hand-axes and cleavers have been reported in the Narmada terraces. Bhimbetka (near Bhopal) located in the Vindhyan range is a site in which tools representing the Acheulian tradition were replaced at a later stage by the Middle Palaeolithic Culture.
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(v) Tapti, Godavari, Bhima and Krishna rivers have yielded a large number of Palaeolithic sites. From Chirki near Nevasa in Maharashtra a number of Palaeolithic tools have been reported.
The other important Palaeolithic sites are Koregaon, Chandoli and Shikarpur in Maharashtra. The distribution of Palaeolithic sites is linked up with ecological variation like erosional feature, nature of soils, etc.
(vi) In eastern India, the River Raro (Singhbhum, Jharkhand) is rich in Palaeolithic tools like hand- axes, bifacial chopping tools and flakes. Palaeolithic tools have also been reported from the valleys of the Damodar and the Subarnarekha and the distribution pattern of the Palaeolithic culture here is again conditioned by topographical features.
The Buharbalang valley in Mayurbhanj in Orissa has many Early and Middle Palaeolithic tools like hand axes, scrapers, points, flakes, etc.
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(vii) In the Ghataprabha basin in Karnataka, Acheulian hand axes have been found in large numbers. Anagawadi and Bagalkot are two most important sites on the Ghataprabha where both Early and Middle Palaeolithic tools have been found. The rivers Palar, Periyar and Kaveri in Tamil Nadu are rich in Palaeolithic tools.
In Tamil Nadu, Attirampakkam and Gudiyam have yielded artefacts like hand axes, flakes, blades, scrapers, etc., belonging to both Early and Middle Palaeolithic phases.