Repository logo
 

New insights into the geological evolution of palaeorivers and their relationship to the Indus Civilization and Early Historic settlements on the plains of Haryana, NW India

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title> jats:pThe Quaternary sediments and landscapes of the plains of northwestern Haryana and the ancient settlement mounds distributed across them have great potential to reveal the history of the evolution and disappearance of palaeorivers and their relationship to the Indus Civilization and Early Historic periods in NW India. There are numerous palaeochannels in Haryana, and their distribution and burial in the subsurface creates difficulties for accessing the archives and proxies necessary for developing insight into the timing of river flow and shift, and its relationship to settled populations. This paper investigates the deep and shallow subsurface sedimentary lithology of an area around Sirsa that is close to the course of the modern Ghagghar River. The paper presents additional age constraints provided by dates from the site at Rakhigarhi and examines a sedimentary substrate of a new archaeological mound situated on a palaeochannel identified at a mound near Dhir village. New AMS radiocarbon dates of drifted charcoal from natural and cultural strata suggest human activity and/or natural burning in this region as early as 10 405–10 190 cal years BP (8455–8240 cal years BC). The substrate sediments recorded at the Dhir mound indicate flooding events after the urban phase of the Indus Civilization.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

37 Earth Sciences, 3709 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience, 3705 Geology, 13 Climate Action

Journal Title

Geological Society Special Publication

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0305-8719
2041-4927

Volume Title

Publisher

Geological Society of London
Sponsorship
European Research Council (648609)
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P027970/1)