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The 'Soan Culture' is an extinct human culture, found along the Soan River valley in the Pothohar region of the Punjab. The oldest evidence of human life in South Asia was found in the Soan River valley. Along the river, in the Rawalpindi Division hundreds of man made tools can be found. These tools have been dated to 500,000 to 300,000 years ago.
On Adiyala and Khasala about 16 km (10 miles) from Rawalpindi terrace on the bend of the river hundreds of edged pebble tools were discovered. At Chauntra hand axes and cleavers were found. Due to the peculiarity of the tools to the valley archaeologists named this human activity the Soan Culture.
No human skeletons of this age have yet been found. In the Soan River Gorge many fossil bearing rocks are exposed on the surface. The 14 million year old fossils of gazelle, rhinoceros, crocodile, giraffe and rodents have been found there. Some of these fossils are in display at the Natural History Museum of Islamabad.