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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Climate Change and Indus Valley Civilization

Climate change killed Harappan civilization: Study - The Economic Times: "WASHINGTON: Climate change may be the main culprit behind the collapse of the Indus Valley Civilization around 4,000 years ago, says a new study, which also claims to have resolved the long-standing debate over the source and fate of the Saraswati, a sacred river in Hindu mythology.

The study, combining the latest archaeological data along with state-of-the-art geoscience technologies, suggested that decline in monsoon rains led to weakened river dynamics, and played a critical role both in the development and the fall of the Harappan culture, which relied on river floods to fuel their agricultural surpluses.

The international team, which published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, used satellite photos and topographic data to make and analyse digital maps of landforms constructed by the Indus and other neighbouring rivers, which were then probed in the field by drilling, coring, and even manuallydug trenches. Collected samples were used to determine the sediments' origins, whether brought in by rivers or wind, and their age, in order to develop a chronology of landscape changes. "

'via Blog this'

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