An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c14.s2.23

v1.c14.s2.23

9. Of considerable interest is Gurdip Singh’s correlation of the climatic picture with archaeology. According to him the presence of *Cerealia*-type pollen and increasing amount of carbonized vegetable remains in the lake sediments between 9500 and 5000 B.P. is evidence for human clearing of vegetation and slash-and-burn type agriculture in the desert. He further considers the evidence of another increase in rainfall between 5000 and 3500 B.P. responsible for the rise and flourishing of pre-Harappa and Harappa civilizations in Rajasthan and neighbouring areas. Archaeological evidence however does not support these hypotheses. In spite of intensive search over more than last two decades by several workers no evidence of even rudimentary village settlements, let alone urban settlements, has been found anywhere in the desert outside the Ghaggar valley. The only evidence of the Chalcolithic period in the desert is a copper hoard [4.11] from KHURDA in Dt Nagaur and a solitary copper celt from ELANA on the Jawai river n. of Jalor. There are not even any settlements of the PGW and NBPW [11.16]. The sites that could date from the beginning of the Christian era and immediately after it are few and far between. These include SAMBHAR in Dt Ajmer, Bhinmal and Dhanpur in Dt Jalor and Barawas near Tilwara in Dt Barmer.