Lost rivers and life on the plains – mapping interaction between humans and the environment in the Bronze Age on the plains of NW India
Cameron Petrie (Archaeology, Cambridge)
Scholars have long known of the existence of a number of major palaeo-channels that stretch across NW India and into Pakistan, which are believed to be the traces of a substantial glacier fed river (or rivers). The viability of this is seemingly confirmed by the existence of a large number of Bronze Age archaeological sites of the Harappan Civilisation along these relic water courses. The drying up of this river is believed to have been one of the critical factors in the collapse of the Harappan urban system, but we don’t know why or when the river (or rivers) actually disappeared. This is complicated by substantial inaccuracies in the published locations of a large number of sites and the fact that many sites have not been identified.
The Land, Water and Settlement Project is investigating the relationships between archaeology, geography, landscape and climate in northwest India during the rise and collapse of Harappan urbanism. GIS software is playing a critical role as it enables us to combine early 20th century British survey maps, 1960s CORONA satellite images and 21st century remote sensing resources to analyse the relationship between human settlement and the environment over time.
