Harappan sites in Gujarat
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Did climate change make people migrate?
Karim Shahi and Vigakot sites
2019 studies
Parth Shastri, Nov 25, 2019: The Times of India
The excavations at the Karim Shahi and Vigakot sites in Gujarat, dating back to 2,100 BCE and 5th century CE, respectively, right on the Kutch-Pakistan international border, have shed light on how climate change in the post-Harappan period in the Kutch region affected ancient human settlements.
A team of scientists from IIT-Kharagpur, Deccan College, PRL Ahmedabad, University of Calcutta, and Kachchh University said the sites may help narrate the story of one of the first climate refugees following decline in rainfall, drying up of local rivers, and changing weather patterns, which probably led to migration of entire settlements.
The team published findings of their excavations at Karim Shahi and Vigakot over past three years – estimating the age of the settlements in the range of 3,100-2,300 years before present time (BP) and 1,500-1,900 BP respectively.
“The natural climate change drove out people from their original places. The UN today calls them ‘climate refugees’. We think that the excavations points towards a huge migration that may have begun towards the end of mature Harappan era up till the medieval period,” Anindya Sarkar, professor at the Department of Geology and Geophysics, IIT-Kharagpur, said.
Gujarat has some of the prominent Harappan sites in India, including Dholavira and Lothal. They are nearly 350km from Karim Shahi and Vigakot and represent the zenith of the Harappan culture. But few sites have depicted cultural continuation after the late Harappan period (1,300 BCE) in the region.
Sarkar is among the 13 authors of the research paper on new evidence of early Iron Age to Medieval settlements from the southern fringe of Thar desert and implications to climate-culture co-evolution, which was recently published in Elsevier journal “Archaeological Research in Asia”.
The paper argues that reduction in south Asian monsoon is long held responsible for demise of the Harappan settlements or relocation of settlement thereafter.
“… aridification occurred in two steps, one after 4,000 years and the other after 1,700 years BP,” the paper says. The researchers added that up to the 4th century CE, old local river system at Vigakot was present before it completely turned into a desert in medieval period. “It is tempting to speculate that the early disintegration of the settlements in the western domain was a result of the early withdrawal of Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), monsoon decline and drying up of river channels,” the paper says.
Sarkar said that if one observes Harappan sites like Dholavira, one can find excellent water conservation and management system, pointing towards start of the monsoonal decline. The discovery, complete with ceramics, artefacts and animal remains, has also established the site at Karim Shahi as an Iron Age settlement.
Meteorite hits
Luna
Sudha Nambudiri, Dec 15, 2023: The Times of India
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From: Sudha Nambudiri, Dec 15, 2023: The Times of India
KOCHI: It took them four years. But researchers from the geology department of Kerala University have hit paydirt - all, as science calls it, melt-rocks, which are parts of a meteorite. The site is the hamlet of Luna, in Kutch, Gujarat.
Radiocarbon dating of these melt-rocks show the meteorite impact may have happened around 6,900 years ago, roughly the period the Indus Valley civilizationwas flourishing in this area.
The intriguing question for researchers, and many academics, is whether the meteorite had any impact on Indus Valley. The impact location is 200 km away from the famous Indus Valley site of Dholavira.
"Luna is the impact site but the famous Indus Valley excavation site is about 200 km away. There's a 2 km crater in the place and the meteor that impacted must be about 200-400 m in diameter," Kerala University assistant professor Sajin Kumar KS said.
He added: "We have always discussed plant and animal extinction due to a meteorite impact but not impact on humans. So, this is a study in that direction, to look at human civilization possibly being wiped out by a meteorite."
A recent study reported in 'Planetary and Space Science' had confirmed the existence of a 1.88 km-diameter crater formed by the impact of an approximately 200m-diameter iron meteorite in Luna.
The Luna sample contains high-temperature minerals like wustite, kirschsteinite, ulvospinel and hercynite.
With the confirmation of meteorite impact, Luna will have the distinction of being the fourth impact-crater identified in India. It also becomes, agewise the youngest, and geologically the most recent crater to be identified. Other meteorite craters in India are in Dhala in Madhya Pradesh, Ramgarh in Rajasthan and Lonar in the state of Maharashtra.
A crater formed by a meteorite is more than 10-20 times the size of the actual meteor. The Kerala university team dug a 1-metre trench and found the samples at around 10 cm depth, an indicator that it is a young crater. "This is an active Indus river stretch; thus sediments from several rivers have flown in this area. That we found the sample in such a small depth is an indicator of its young age," Sajin Kumar said.
"We went around four times to collect samples from the area. It's very tough to get samples because of its marshy terrain. But in July 2022, we got lucky. We could get dry sediment samples for testing," Sajin Kumar added.
"Luna has been rumoured to be an impact-crater. But a huge round depression in the earth doesn't necessarily mean it's a meteor impact. There are similar volcano craters. There was no evidence. This was one geological conundrum that we could solve," Sajin Kumar said.
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Harappan sites in Gujarat
