Beyond the Scatter: Micro-Topography, Hydrology and Persistent Place Formation at Echangadu, South India

Akshatha A.1* and J.S. Singaravelan2

The concept of “persistent places” in Palaeolithic archaeology is often recognized through artefact density. However, the geomorphic logic behind repeated occupation is rarely examined in quantitative terms, particularly in low-relief coastal landscapes. This paper investigates the Palaeolithic site at Echangadu (Tamil Nadu) by integrating systematic field survey with DEM and GIS based geomorphometric to evaluate how micro-topography and hydrology structured recurrent landscape use. Echangadu preserves a multi-phase lithic record from the Lower Palaeolithic to the Microlithic, marked by a shift in raw material preference from quartzite to quartz/chert. More than 600 artefacts including handaxes, cleavers and microliths are concentrated in two discrete localities, 2.91km apart. Intensive survey across the intervening 2.91km covering agricultural fields, habitation zones, reserve forest and drainage margins resulted in no lithic concentrations, indicating structured spatial patterning rather than continuous dispersal across the site. Terrain analysis demonstrates that both localities occupy stable micro-elevations (<3° slope) within a generally flat coastal setting (-3 to 129m asl). Locality 1 (19m asl) lies 32 m from a minor drainage and 152m from a major channel, while Locality 2 (9m asl) is positioned 16m from an active drainage. These settings combine gentle slopes, effective runoff and reliable freshwater access, minimizing seasonal waterlogging while maintaining resource proximity. Echangadu thus emerges not as an incidental scatter but as a deliberately chosen micro-landscape repeatedly used. By modelling terrain variables against artefact clustering, this study demonstrates how micro-topographic analysis can refine interpretations of settlement persistence in low-relief Indo-Pacific environments, offering a replicable framework for identifying behaviourally structured occupation in comparable coastal settings.