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Weather, Land and Crops in the Indus Village Model: A Simulation Framework for Crop Dynamics under Environmental Variability and Climate Change in the Indus Civilisation. QUATERNARY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/quat5020025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
The start and end of the urban phase of the Indus civilization (IC; c. 2500 to 1900 BC) are often linked with climate change, specifically regarding trends in the intensity of summer and winter precipitation and its effect on the productivity of local food economies. The Indus Village is a modular agent-based model designed as a heuristic “sandbox” to investigate how IC farmers could cope with diverse and changing environments and how climate change could impact the local and regional food production levels required for maintaining urban centers. The complete model includes dedicated submodels about weather, topography, soil properties, crop dynamics, food storage and exchange, nutrition, demography, and farming decision-making. In this paper, however, we focus on presenting the parts required for generating crop dynamics, including the submodels involved (weather, soil water, land, and crop models) and how they are combined progressively to form two integrated models (land water and land crop models). Furthermore, we describe and discuss the results of six simulation experiments, which highlight the roles of seasonality, topography, and crop diversity in understanding the potential impact of environmental variability, including climate change, in IC food economies. We conclude by discussing a broader consideration of risk and risk mitigation strategies in ancient agriculture and potential implications to the sustainability of the IC urban centres.
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The potential of gypsum speleothems for paleoclimatology: application to the Iberian Roman Human Period. Sci Rep 2020; 10:14705. [PMID: 32908198 PMCID: PMC7481774 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-71679-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Carbonate cave deposits (speleothems) have been used widely for paleoclimate reconstructions; however, few studies have examined the utility of other speleothem-forming minerals for this purpose. Here we demonstrate for the first time that stable isotopes (δ17O, δ18O and δD) of structurally-bound gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) hydration water (GHW) can be used to infer paleoclimate. Specifically, we used a 63 cm-long gypsum stalactite from Sima Blanca Cave to reconstruct the climate history of SE Spain from ~ 800 BCE to ~ 800 CE. The gypsum stalactite indicates wet conditions in the cave and humid climate from ~ 200 BCE to 100 CE, at the time of the Roman Empire apogee in Hispania. From ~ 100 CE to ~ 600 CE, evaporation in the cave increased in response to regional aridification that peaked at ~ 500-600 CE, roughly coinciding with the transition between the Iberian Roman Humid Period and the Migration Period. Our record agrees with most Mediterranean and Iberian paleoclimate archives, demonstrating that stable isotopes of GHW in subaerial gypsum speleothems are a useful tool for paleoclimate reconstructions.
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Orengo HA, Conesa FC, Garcia-Molsosa A, Lobo A, Green AS, Madella M, Petrie CA. Automated detection of archaeological mounds using machine-learning classification of multisensor and multitemporal satellite data. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:18240-18250. [PMID: 32690717 PMCID: PMC7414161 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005583117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper presents an innovative multisensor, multitemporal machine-learning approach using remote sensing big data for the detection of archaeological mounds in Cholistan (Pakistan). The Cholistan Desert presents one of the largest concentrations of Indus Civilization sites (from ca 3300 to 1500 BC). Cholistan has figured prominently in theories about changes in water availability, the rise and decline of the Indus Civilization, and the transformation of fertile monsoonal alluvial plains into an extremely arid margin. This paper implements a multisensor, multitemporal machine-learning approach for the remote detection of archaeological mounds. A classifier algorithm that employs a large-scale collection of synthetic-aperture radar and multispectral images has been implemented in Google Earth Engine, resulting in an accurate probability map for mound-like signatures across an area that covers ca 36,000 km2 The results show that the area presents many more archaeological mounds than previously recorded, extending south and east into the desert, which has major implications for understanding the archaeological significance of the region. The detection of small (<5 ha) to large mounds (>30 ha) suggests that there were continuous shifts in settlement location. These shifts are likely to reflect responses to a dynamic and changing hydrological network and the influence of the progressive northward advance of the desert in a long-term process that culminated in the abandonment of much of the settled area during the Late Harappan period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hector A Orengo
- Landscape Archaeology Research Group (GIAP), Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, 43003 Tarragona, Spain;
| | - Francesc C Conesa
- Landscape Archaeology Research Group (GIAP), Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, 43003 Tarragona, Spain;
| | - Arnau Garcia-Molsosa
- Landscape Archaeology Research Group (GIAP), Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, 43003 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Agustín Lobo
- Institute of Earth Sciences Jaume Almera, Spanish National Research Council, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Adam S Green
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, CB2 3ER Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Marco Madella
- Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
| | - Cameron A Petrie
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, CB2 3ER Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, CB2 3DZ Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Chatterjee A, Ray JS, Shukla AD, Pande K. On the existence of a perennial river in the Harappan heartland. Sci Rep 2019; 9:17221. [PMID: 31748611 PMCID: PMC6868222 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53489-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The legendary river Saraswati of Indian mythology has often been hypothesized to be an ancient perennial channel of the seasonal river Ghaggar that flowed through the heartland of the Bronze Age Harappan civilization in north-western India. Despite the discovery of abundant settlements along a major paleo-channel of the Ghaggar, many believed that the Harappans depended solely on monsoonal rains, because no proof existed for the river's uninterrupted flow during the zenith of the civilization. Here, we present unequivocal evidence for the Ghaggar's perennial past by studying temporal changes of sediment provenance along a 300 km stretch of the river basin. This is achieved using 40Ar/39Ar ages of detrital muscovite and Sr-Nd isotopic ratios of siliciclastic sediment in fluvial sequences, dated by radiocarbon and luminescence methods. We establish that during 80-20 ka and 9-4.5 ka the river was perennial and was receiving sediments from the Higher and Lesser Himalayas. The latter phase can be attributed to the reactivation of the river by the distributaries of the Sutlej. This revived perennial condition of the Ghaggar, which can be correlated with the Saraswati, likely facilitated development of the early Harappan settlements along its banks. The timing of the eventual decline of the river, which led to the collapse of the civilization, approximately coincides with the commencement of the Meghalayan Stage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anirban Chatterjee
- Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380 009, India. .,Department of Geology, Presidency University, Kolkata, 700 073, India.
| | - Jyotiranjan S Ray
- Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380 009, India.
| | - Anil D Shukla
- Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, 380 009, India
| | - Kanchan Pande
- Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, India
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Petrie CA, Lynam F. Revisiting Settlement Contemporaneity and Exploring Stability and Instability: Case Studies from the Indus Civilization. JOURNAL OF FIELD ARCHAEOLOGY 2019; 45:1-15. [PMID: 33239833 PMCID: PMC7665820 DOI: 10.1080/00934690.2019.1664848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
"Map overestimation," or "the contemporaneity problem," derives from the assumption that settlements identified during surface surveys were occupied throughout individual periods. Inductive and simulation analysis have been used to ascertain the degree of contemporaneity in surface survey data sets, as variation in settlement location is critical for understanding population density and demography, which inform social, economic and political interpretations. This paper revisits the inductive approach to interrogating survey data developed by W. M. Sumner and the simulation model approach developed by R. E. Dewar to explore the survey data from two regions within South Asia's Indus civilization. This analysis demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches. It also highlights the variability in settlement systems in different areas within the Indus civilization and shows that consideration of stability and instability within settlement systems is an important factor when considering dynamics of resilience and sustainability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron A. Petrie
- Department of Archaeology and McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Jones MD, Abu‐Jaber N, AlShdaifat A, Baird D, Cook BI, Cuthbert MO, Dean JR, Djamali M, Eastwood W, Fleitmann D, Haywood A, Kwiecien O, Larsen J, Maher LA, Metcalfe SE, Parker A, Petrie CA, Primmer N, Richter T, Roberts N, Roe J, Tindall JC, Ünal‐İmer E, Weeks L. 20,000 years of societal vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in southwest Asia. WIRES. WATER 2019; 6:e1330. [PMID: 33362922 PMCID: PMC7754156 DOI: 10.1002/wat2.1330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2018] [Revised: 11/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The Fertile Crescent, its hilly flanks and surrounding drylands has been a critical region for studying how climate has influenced societal change, and this review focuses on the region over the last 20,000 years. The complex social, economic, and environmental landscapes in the region today are not new phenomena and understanding their interactions requires a nuanced, multidisciplinary understanding of the past. This review builds on a history of collaboration between the social and natural palaeoscience disciplines. We provide a multidisciplinary, multiscalar perspective on the relevance of past climate, environmental, and archaeological research in assessing present day vulnerabilities and risks for the populations of southwest Asia. We discuss the complexity of palaeoclimatic data interpretation, particularly in relation to hydrology, and provide an overview of key time periods of palaeoclimatic interest. We discuss the critical role that vegetation plays in the human-climate-environment nexus and discuss the implications of the available palaeoclimate and archaeological data, and their interpretation, for palaeonarratives of the region, both climatically and socially. We also provide an overview of how modelling can improve our understanding of past climate impacts and associated change in risk to societies. We conclude by looking to future work, and identify themes of "scale" and "seasonality" as still requiring further focus. We suggest that by appreciating a given locale's place in the regional hydroscape, be it an archaeological site or palaeoenvironmental archive, more robust links to climate can be made where appropriate and interpretations drawn will demand the resolution of factors acting across multiple scales. This article is categorized under:Human Water > Water as Imagined and RepresentedScience of Water > Water and Environmental ChangeWater and Life > Nature of Freshwater Ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Nizar Abu‐Jaber
- Center for the Study of Natural and Cultural HeritageGerman Jordanian UniversityAmmanJordan
| | | | - Douglas Baird
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and EgyptologyUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpoolUK
| | | | | | | | - Morteza Djamali
- Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d'Ecologie (UMR 7263—CNRS/Aix‐Marseille Université/IRD/Université d'Avignon)Aix‐en ProvenceFrance
| | - Warren Eastwood
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental SciencesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Dominik Fleitmann
- Department of Archaeology and Centre for Past Climate ChangeUniversity of ReadingReadingUK
| | - Alan Haywood
- School of Earth and EnvironmentUniversity of LeedsLeedsUK
| | - Ola Kwiecien
- Institute for Geology, Mineralogy and GeophysicsRuhr‐Universität BochumBochumGermany
| | - Joshua Larsen
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental SciencesUniversity of BirminghamBirminghamUK
| | - Lisa A. Maher
- Department of AnthropologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCalifornia
| | | | - Adrian Parker
- Department of Social Sciences, Human Origins and Palaeoenvironments Research GroupOxford Brookes UniversityOxfordUK
| | - Cameron A. Petrie
- Department of Archaeology and AnthropologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
| | - Nick Primmer
- School of GeographyUniversity of NottinghamNottinghamUK
| | - Tobias Richter
- Center for the Study of Early Agricultural SocietiesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Neil Roberts
- School of Geography, Earth and Environmental SciencesPlymouth UniversityPlymouthUK
| | - Joe Roe
- Institute of ArchaeologyUniversity College LondonLondonUK
| | | | - Ezgi Ünal‐İmer
- Department of Geological EngineeringHacettepe UniversityAnkaraTurkey
| | - Lloyd Weeks
- School of Humanities, Arts and Social SciencesUniversity of New EnglandArmidaleNew South WalesAustralia
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