The Quaternary fluvial sequences of the Belan river in north-central India preserves the signature of prehistoric human settlement from Paleolithic to Neolithic interval. The settlement history in the Belan valley has been attributed to be driven by climatic fluctuations, although quantitative climate data from the valley is lacking. For the first time, we have analysed oxygen and carbon isotopes in soil carbonates (delta O-18(SC) and delta C-13(SC)) and hydrogen and carbon isotopes in n-alkane of paleosol (delta D-C29 and delta C-13(C29)) from chronologically well-constrained six archaeological sites to understand the climate-cultural relationship. The chronological sequences were refined by Bayesian statistics using ChronoModel 1.5. The delta D-C29 and delta O-18(SC) values, proxies for rainfall, indicate two phases of isotopic depletion during similar to 100 to 75 ka and similar to 18 to 3 ka implying intensification of monsoon. During similar to 75 to 25 ka, the delta D-C29 and delta O-18(SC) values show fluctuation in the monsoonal rainfall. Higher delta D-C29 and delta O-18(SC) values during similar to 25 to 18 ka suggest an arid environment, which corresponds to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The present study suggests that climate was the driving force for fluvial incision and aggradation at a regional scale during similar to 100 to 3 ka. The delta C-13(C29) and delta C-13(SC) values suggest that the C-4 plants dominated in a mixed C-3-C-4 environment between similar to 75 and 25 ka. The abundance of C-4 plants sharply decreased during the early-Holocene. Comparison between climatic conditions and the temporal variation in the number of archaeological sites suggest climate-driven shifts in population density or local migration of prehistoric humans during the Middle Paleolithic to Early Neolithic phase. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.