Organic geochemical and palaeobotanical reconstruction of a late-Holocene archaeological settlement in coastal eastern India

Abstract

Integration of palaeobotanical (spores, pollen, phytoliths and non-pollen palynomorphs) and organic geochemical proxies, such as stable isotopes of organic carbon (δ13C) and n-alkanes, for studying the evolution and palaeoenvironmental conditions of an archaeological site are rare in India. The evolution of a protohistoric-historic site at Erenda, situated in the eastern coastal region of India, has been studied by using multiple palaeobotanical and organic geochemical proxies assisted with AMS radiocarbon dates. The excavated site lies above Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene Sijua Formation. The absence of anthropogenic evidence in the Sijua Formation likely indicates inhabitable conditions in nearshore/estuarine marshy conditions. The earliest human settlements at the excavation site begin during the first millennium BCE after the initiation of habitable conditions along the coast. The presence of fungal spores and the dominance of C4 phytolith morphotypes indicate prevailing warm and humid climatic conditions and proximity to a freshwater body. The δ13C signature and n-alkane composition indicate the use of C4 grass for the construction of the mud and clay-built huts. The settlers most likely used to consume wild or domestic variety of rice, as evidenced by the presence of bilobate scooped morphotypes. The site was partly abandoned, covered with C3 and C4 vegetation and used as a dumping ground after 663 ± 92 BCE. This implies that people continued to live in the area but possibly moved to a nearby site while using the excavated site as refuse.

Inter-University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi (Iuacd) Radiocarbon Date List Ii

“…Charcoal and shell samples from Erenda, East Medinipur district, West Bengal (21°55'4.8"N, 87°34'42.4"E) were submitted by Dr. Kaushik Gangopadhyay, University of Calcutta, Calcutta. Radiocarbon dates validate the proto-historic phase of this site that is suggested by the excavated artifacts(Naskar et al 2018;Kumar Das et al 2021).IUACD 14 C Date List II 1745 Buddhist monastry that was active in the period from 4th-5th century AD to 12th century AD(Das et al 2019). …”

NEW AMS 14C DATES OF A MULTICULTURAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE FROM THE PALEO-DELTAIC REGION OF WEST BENGAL, INDIA: CULTURAL AND GEO-ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

“…In cultural terms, the multicultural sites like Erenda provide a rather comprehensive perspective on continuation and fluctuation of human habitation in the humid coastal zone of eastern India for over two millennia. These dates provide the importance of the earliest village settlements in the region from the beginning of the first millennium BCE and also provide a datum to interpret the cultural and environmental proxies (Gangopadhyay et al 2017;Das et al 2021).…”

“…The inhabitants produced simple, mostly handmade pottery, known as the black and red ware, along with ceramics ranging from red, buff, grey, and black ware. The people lived in simple wattle and daub houses and also engaged in subsistence activities of fishing and farming in a humid tropical climatic context (Das et al 2021). These dates provide an opportunity to compare the site with similar sites in Eastern India.…”

“…The difficulties arising out of sediment and organic material mismatch was effectively addressed in this excavation and it is claimed that in-situ organic matter like charcoal can be effectively used to date not only AMS 14 C Dates for West Bengal, India 1653 cultural materials but also the sedimentary units in the deltaic regions of the humid tropical region of Bengal. Secondly, recent research on the site using palaeo-botanical evidence (Das et. al.…”

“…The present coastline along West Bengal was attained about 6000 BP (Banerjee and Sen 1987). The two lithological units on which the site is located are unoxidized sediments or unit II overlying Sijua formation and unit I corresponding to marine transgressive phase (Das et al 2021;Quaternary Geological Atlas). Therefore, the unoxidized sediments are probably of the mid-late Holocene in age.…”