Paleodemography of India and Ceylon since 3000 B.C.

Biological and cultural adaptations of prehistoric man in South Asia are surveyed against the background of geological‐climatic‐biotic changes occurring within Pleistocene and post‐Pleistocene times. The earliest human remains discovered thus far in the Indian sub‐continent are skeletons associated with Late Stone Age (Mesolithic) cultural materials. These series and those associated with subsequent cultural horizons (Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Harappan, Iron Age and Early Historic) are reviewed in terms of their suitability for palaeodemographic study. In South Asia this kind of research is best approached through the analysis of local sites where skeletal material is available and where reconstruction of ancient ecological settings is feasible. Three cases are presented: (1) population displacement and mobility in the pre‐Vedda and Vedda biological continuum in Ceylon; (2) influence of changing nutritional factors upon the pathology of jaws and teeth for the Late Stone Age skeletal series from Langhnaj; (3) causes of death at Mohenjo‐daro, with a discussion of the undue emphasis in the anthropological literature upon trauma and neglect of significant attempts to discern causes of death where these are relevant to pathology and to specific ecological adaptations.