New evidence of early Iron Age to Medieval settlements from the southern fringe of Thar Desert (western Great Rann of Kachchh), India: Implications to climate-culture co-evolution

Sarkar, Anindya; Mukherjee, Arati Deshpande; Sharma, Shubhra; Sengupta, Torsa; Ram, Fulmati; Bera, Melinda Kumar; Bera, Subir; Biswas, Oindrila; Thakkar, M. G.; Chauhan, Gaurav; Yadava, M. G.; Shukla, A. D.; Juyal, Navin

doi:10.1016/j.ara.2019.100163

Cited by 22 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…3 of Makwana et al, 2019). Furthermore, the chronology does not conform to the Mid-Holocene or the Harappan period but corresponds to the early Iron Age culture in the Late Holocene (Sarkar et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and implications of Mid- to Late Holocene relative sea-level change in the Gulf of Kachchh, western India

et al. 2020

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The relict intertidal deposits from the Kharod River Estuary, Gulf of Kachchh, and the distal end of Kori Creek are used to infer the Mid- to Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) change in western India. Employing sedimentology, geochemistry, palynology, ichnology, and optical and radiocarbon dating, the study suggests the dominance of fluvial activity between 16.5 ± 1.6 and 9.9 ± 0.7 ka. After ~7 ka (7.3 ± 0.4, 6.8 ± 0.5 ka), the sea level showed a positive tendency until 4.7 ± 0.2 ka. The tectonically corrected Mid-Holocene RSL change is estimated as 1.45 ± 0.33 m between ~7 and ~5 ka. The study suggests that the Mid-Holocene RSL high was due to the meltwater contribution from the Himalayan cryosphere, with subordinate contribution from glacio-isostatic adjustment and crustal subsidence. The Late Holocene tectonically corrected RSL change at ~1 ka (1.1 ± 0.1 ka and 1045 ± 175 cal yr BP) is estimated as 0.53 ± 0.43 m. This is ascribed to monsoon wind-driven tidal ingression that might have affected the tidal amplitude positively. The study suggests that the Mid-Holocene RSL change did not play a deterministic role in the abandonment of the Harappan coastal settlements.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes and implications of Mid- to Late Holocene relative sea-level change in the Gulf of Kachchh, western India

et al. 2020

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“…Instead, a gradual decline in the ISM after 5 ka and before 2 ka could be the major driver for the abandonment of the Harappan civilization in Eastern Great Rann of Kachchh. In addition, Sarkar et al (2020) in their recent studies at Vigakot and Karim Shahi, which are further west than Dholavira and on the northern border of the Rann and southern fringe of the Thar desert, state that the Early Iron Age to Early Historic and Historic to Mediaeval settlements at Karim Shahi and Vigakot provide new insights into a continued demographic decline and redistribution subsequent to the post-urban Harappan period. One of the least discussed aspects of such studies is archeaoseismology, and Bisht (2011) documented three major seismic episodes during the third-millennium BC identifying three collapse levels in the ruined Dholavira fort.…”

Section: Sea Level Climate and Geo-archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Unique Geoheritage of the Kachchh (Kutch) Basin, Western India, and its Conservation

et al. 2021

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The Kachchh Basin is a peri-cratonic rift basin in the Gujarat state of Western India which exposes a vast range of geological features which are of great importance for basic and applied research by geoscientists. The fossil-rich stratigraphy of the Kachchh Basin represents the past 200 million years of geological history from the Jurassic Period to the present day, including through the Neogene Period. Both Mesozoic and Cenozoic sequences are highly fossiliferous with a variety of mega, macro, and microfossils, including invertebrate, plant, trace, and vertebrate fossils. Crucially, the Kachchh Rift Basin demonstrates a uniquely well exposed, syn to post-rift tectono-sedimentary sequence formed from the Late Triassic to the Early Cretaceous during the break up of Eastern Gondwanaland. The basin is bounded by reactivated primary faults forming tilted horsts and half-grabens. Tilted-up edges of the uplifted fault blocks are represented by uplifted hilly ranges, whereas the intervening subsiding blocks are the geomorphological expression of the low-lying Rann and Banni plains (mudflats, marshes, and grassland). This activity was followed by an inversion cycle initiated in Late Early Cretaceous following the aborting of the rift and is active in the present neotectonic cycle. Thick Deccan Trap lava flows and basic intrusive bodies indicate associated deeper crustal and mantle processes associated with this rift basin evolution. Easily accessed, well-exposed continuous sedimentary sequences with scanty vegetation provide a unique window of opportunity to looking into the geological past of this unique landscape which has preserved the evidence of the evolution of life both in near shore, coastal, and terrestrial environment, as well as a rare opportunity to understand a history of syn/post-rift-fill sedimentation, volcanism, and tectono-geomorphical evolution. More recently the terrain has become a hotspot amongst the planetary scientists as it provides a terrestrial analogue for Lunar and Martian landscapes. These and many other features justify why the unique geological heritage of the Kachchh Basin should be conserved for posterity not only for geoscientists from all over the world but also for local communities and visitors who could learn from its 200 million year history. We therefore propose that the landscapes of the Kachchh Basin should be conserved as a National Geopark in India to achieve such ambitions, and we believe that in this, they have an immense potential to achieve many of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. It is proposed to create 9 geo-stations (for administration) and 75 geosites grouped under these stations within the proposed Kachchh Geopark.

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“…Recent studies from Quaternary fluvial sequences of the Belan river in north-central India suggest climate-driven shifts in population density or local migration of prehistoric humans during the Middle Palaeolithic to Early Neolithic phase (Jha et al, 2020). The study from Great Rann of Kutch, synthesis of collapse of Dholavira and the climate culture relationship at the Vigakot and Karim Shahi settlement western India respectively prove that archaeological sites can be a powerful archive for palaeoclimatic and palaeovegetation studies (Sarkar et al, 2019; Sengupta et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

New evidence of mid- to late- Holocene vegetation and climate change from a Neolithic settlement in western fringe of Central Ganga Plain: Implications for Neolithic to Historic phases

Tripathi¹,

Kotlia

Tiwari

et al. 2020

The Holocene

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Here we present a continuous palaeoclimatic record of 5980 years (7230 cal BP–1250 cal BP) from Hetapatti, a Neolithic site situated on the western fringe of the Central Ganga Plain. The region was a center of reurbanisation following the decline of the Harappan civilisation and is considered a hub of economic, political and religious evolution since the sixth millennium BC. Hetapatti contains an uninterrupted sequence from Neolithic to Historic (Gupta) period. The study integrates two different approaches (phytoliths and carbon isotope analysis) to infer vegetational and climatic changes and to understand their relationship to the cultural sequence. Our results show a gradual transformation from a warm and humid climate into a warm and dry climate from the Neolithic to Historic (Gupta) period. We find an abrupt weakening of the ISM at ~2080 cal BP driving a warm and dry climate. The comparison of our data with other high resolution regional and global records led us to hypothesise a synchronicity in this warm and dry trend, coeval with the Roman warm period (RWP). The observed variation in vegetation and climate might have driven by the fluctuations in the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). Additionally, the phytolith analysis provides evidence of cereal crops including rice, wheat, barley, millets, etc. suggesting a crop affinity with the earlier Indus crop package. It is interesting to note that the site displays an uninterrupted cultural sequence from Neolithic to Historic times, with artefacts of each phase exhibiting technological and stylistic developments from the preceding culture. From this we infer that the well adapted socio-ecological strategies and availability of perennial rivers may have helped the ancient civilisation to absorb the stress relating to a varying climate.

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New evidence of early Iron Age to Medieval settlements from the southern fringe of Thar Desert (western Great Rann of Kachchh), India: Implications to climate-culture co-evolution

Cited by 22 publications

References 45 publications

Causes and implications of Mid- to Late Holocene relative sea-level change in the Gulf of Kachchh, western India

Causes and implications of Mid- to Late Holocene relative sea-level change in the Gulf of Kachchh, western India

The Unique Geoheritage of the Kachchh (Kutch) Basin, Western India, and its Conservation

New evidence of mid- to late- Holocene vegetation and climate change from a Neolithic settlement in western fringe of Central Ganga Plain: Implications for Neolithic to Historic phases

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