Our objective is to reexamine current models of population dispersion "out of Africa", taking as specific base researching the nature of the evolutionary history of the late Acheulean in India and the processes that led to its end and the origins of the Indian Middle Paleolithic. The work carried out at the well-known Attirampakkam site in India furnished important information about the nature of the lower Acheulean and the commencement of the Middle Paleolithic, but it lacked data on crucial aspects of the evolution and end of the Acheulean in that country. The Sendrayanpalayam site (SEN), situated close to Attirampakkam (ATM), offers vital clues to this important process, and we will try to test alternative models of the evolutionary history of the cultures of this region.

We focus on the late Acheulean site of Sendrayanpalayam (SEN), in Tamil Nadu, India. Nonetheless, the background to this project lies in the long-term multidisciplinary research at the relevant site of Attirampakkam.

The objectives of the research envisaged are:

• Investigate the evolution of the Acheulean that led to the appearance of the Indian Middle Paleolithic.
• Technological studies of lithic artifacts and experimental replication of types of tool and specific technologies.
• Geochronological studies of the SEN site.