Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India
This article presents a geomorphological and micromorphological study of the locational context of four Indus civilisation archaeological sites—Alamgirpur, Masudpur I and VII, and Burj—all situated on the Sutlej-Yamuna interfluve in northwest India. The analysis indicates a strong correlation betwee...
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Sprache: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2019
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| _version_ | 1826291438985412608 |
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| author | Neogi, S French, C Durcan, J Singh, R Petrie, C |
| author_facet | Neogi, S French, C Durcan, J Singh, R Petrie, C |
| author_sort | Neogi, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article presents a geomorphological and micromorphological study of the locational context of four Indus civilisation archaeological sites—Alamgirpur, Masudpur I and VII, and Burj—all situated on the Sutlej-Yamuna interfluve in northwest India. The analysis indicates a strong correlation between settlement foundation and particular landscape positions on an extensive alluvial floodplain. Each of the analysed sites was located on sandy levees and/or riverbank deposits associated with former channels. These landscape positions would have situated settlements above the level of seasonal floodwater resulting from the Indian summer monsoon. In addition, the sandy soils on the margins of these elevated landscape positions would have been seasonally replenished with water, silt, clay, and fine organic matter, considerably enhancing their capacity for water retention and fertility and making them particularly suitable for agriculture. These former landscapes are obscured by recent modification and extensive agricultural practices. These geoarchaeological evaluations indicate that there is a hidden landscape context for each Indus settlement. This specific type of interaction between humans and their local context is an important aspect of Indus cultural adaptations to diverse, variable, and changing environments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:59:24Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:b06dbaa3-727a-4c57-a5f1-91a7700f671d |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T02:59:24Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:b06dbaa3-727a-4c57-a5f1-91a7700f671d2022-03-27T03:56:24ZGeoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest IndiaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:b06dbaa3-727a-4c57-a5f1-91a7700f671dEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordCambridge University Press2019Neogi, SFrench, CDurcan, JSingh, RPetrie, CThis article presents a geomorphological and micromorphological study of the locational context of four Indus civilisation archaeological sites—Alamgirpur, Masudpur I and VII, and Burj—all situated on the Sutlej-Yamuna interfluve in northwest India. The analysis indicates a strong correlation between settlement foundation and particular landscape positions on an extensive alluvial floodplain. Each of the analysed sites was located on sandy levees and/or riverbank deposits associated with former channels. These landscape positions would have situated settlements above the level of seasonal floodwater resulting from the Indian summer monsoon. In addition, the sandy soils on the margins of these elevated landscape positions would have been seasonally replenished with water, silt, clay, and fine organic matter, considerably enhancing their capacity for water retention and fertility and making them particularly suitable for agriculture. These former landscapes are obscured by recent modification and extensive agricultural practices. These geoarchaeological evaluations indicate that there is a hidden landscape context for each Indus settlement. This specific type of interaction between humans and their local context is an important aspect of Indus cultural adaptations to diverse, variable, and changing environments. |
| spellingShingle | Neogi, S French, C Durcan, J Singh, R Petrie, C Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India |
| title | Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India |
| title_full | Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India |
| title_fullStr | Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India |
| title_short | Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India |
| title_sort | geoarchaeological insights into the location of indus settlements on the plains of northwest india |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT neogis geoarchaeologicalinsightsintothelocationofindussettlementsontheplainsofnorthwestindia AT frenchc geoarchaeologicalinsightsintothelocationofindussettlementsontheplainsofnorthwestindia AT durcanj geoarchaeologicalinsightsintothelocationofindussettlementsontheplainsofnorthwestindia AT singhr geoarchaeologicalinsightsintothelocationofindussettlementsontheplainsofnorthwestindia AT petriec geoarchaeologicalinsightsintothelocationofindussettlementsontheplainsofnorthwestindia |