The Narmada Human, originally the Narmada Man, is a species of extinct human that lived in central India during the Middle and Late Pleistocene.[1][2] From a skull cup discovered from the bank of the Narmada River in Madhya Pradesh in 1982, the discoverer, Arun Sonakia classified it was an archaic human and gave the name Narmada Man, with the scientific name H. erectus narmadensis.[3] Analysis of additional fossils from the same location in 1997 indicated that the individual could be a female, hence, a revised name, Narmada Human, was introduced. It remains the oldest human species in India.[4]
The Narmada Valley became a fossil attraction since the early 19th century following the discovery of a dinosaur, Titanosaurus. Discovery of stone tools prompted a search for early human fossils, but over a century of research was in vain. The discovery of the Narmada Human is remarked as the moment that "brought the Narmada Valley back into palaeoanthropological focus."[5] The fossil had been variously reclassified as archaic Homo sapiens, evolved Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, and also dubiously[a] as a distinct species, Homo narmadensis.[6] Additional fossils described since 1997 have suggested more relatedness to archaic H. sapiens.
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