Indus

Abstract: [1] Planktonic oxygen isotope ratios off the Indus delta reveal climate changes with a multi-centennial pacing during the last 6 ka, with the most prominent change recorded at 4.2 ka BP. Opposing isotopic trends across the northern Arabian Sea surface at that time indicate a reduction in Indus river discharge and suggest that later cycles also reflect variations in total annual rainfall over south Asia. The 4.2 ka event is coherent with the termination of urban Harappan civilization in the Indus valley. Thus, drought may have initiated southeastward habitat tracking within the Harappan cultural domain. The late Holocene drought cycles following the 4.2 ka BP event vary between 200 and 800 years and are coherent with the evolution of cosmogenic 14C production rates. This suggests that solar variability is one fundamental cause behind Holocene rainfall changes over south Asia.

Abstract: Climate change has been suggested as a possible cause for the decline of urban centers of the Indus Civilization ~4000 yr ago, but extant paleoclimatic evidence has been derived from locations well outside the distribution of Indus settlements Here we report an oxygen iso- tope record of gastropod aragonite (δ 18 O a ) from Holocene sediments of paleolake Kotla Dahar (Haryana, India), which is adjacent to Indus settlements and documents Indian summer mon- soon (ISM) variability for the past 65 ky A 4‰ increase in δ 18 O a occurred at ca 41 ka mark- ing a peak in the evaporation/precipitation ratio in the lake catchment related to weakening of the ISM Although dating uncertainty exists in both climate and archaeological records, the drought event 41 ka on the northwestern Indian plains is within the radiocarbon age range for the beginning of Indus de-urbanization, suggesting that climate may have played a role in the Indus cultural transformation

Abstract: This book offers a detailed survey on major archaeological discoveries in the Near and Middle East. This classic account focuses on the findings in three great centers of ancient civilization: Egypt, Sumer, and the Indus valley. Professor Childe discusses the excavation of the three cities of Mohenjo-daro and Chanhu-daro on the Indus and Harappa on the Ravi, and what these sites have revealed about Indian civilization in the third millennium B.C. He describes the findings at the numerous tells between Mesopotamia and the Indus basin, and in the three provinces of the Fertile Crescent; the succession of cultures in pre-dynastic Egypt and the rise of the Pharaohs; the findings at Ur and Kish and the development of an urban civilization in Mesopotamia. Throughout the text, the author sets forth the step-by-step gathering of precise archaeological evidence, relating these findings both to the context of their particular culture and to the larger context of the origins of European history.

Abstract: List of tables and figures Preface 1. Archaeology in South Asia Part I. Constituent Elements: 2. Prehistoric environments 3. The earliest South Asians 4. Hunter-gatherers and nomadic pastoralists 5. The first agricultural communities Part II. Indus Urbanism: 6. The early Indus period 7. The mature Indus civilization - I 8. The mature Indus civilization - II Part III. The Legacy of the Indus Civilization: 9. The aftermath of the Indus civilization in the Indus and Ganges systems 10. The aftermath of the Indus civilization in Peninsular India 11. The arrival of Indo-Aryan speaking people and the spread of the Indo-Aryan languages 12. The Iron Age and the emergence of classical Indian civilization 13. Subcontinental unity and regional diversity Select general bibliography Index.