Soanian

archaeological culture of the Lower Paleolithic in Soan valley of Punjab, Pakistan

The Soanian is an archaeological site that comes from the early stone age. The name comes from the Soan Valley in the Sivalik Hills in Pakistan. The people who lived on this site were probably Homo erectus, the first people to control fire.

Hundreds of stone knives were found at the site, as well as hand axes and cleavers. No human skeletons of this age have been found. In the Soan River Gorge many rocks with fossils can be seen. The 14 million year old fossils of gazelles, rhinoceroses, crocodiles, giraffes and rodents have been found. Some of these fossils are on display at the Natural History Museum of Islamabad.