An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s5.12

v1.c9.s5.12

There is evidence that at least in w. India the climate was wetter and the environmental conditions more favourable than at present during much of the time when the Mesolithic people lived there. In Marwar the present-day saline lakes like Sambhar and Didwana were freshwater lakes between 10000 and 3500 B.P. [7.4]. However the fauna from TILWARA, BAGOR and LANGHNAJ includes the sheep, black buck, gazelle, *chital* and *nilgai* which are adapted to a thorny or dry deciduous type of forest. Also the cultural remains at these sites lie buried under blown sand. It would appear that the occupation at these sites was seasonal, and the remains would get buried under freshly drifted sand during hot windy summers. The conditions therefore were not drastically different from those of today but were more conducive to human occupation. The faunal remains from the Ganga valley sites and from the rock shelters of BHIMBETKA and ADAMGARH show that the environment was similar to that prevailing in these areas today.