A History of Agriculture in India v1.c21.s2.2

v1.c21.s2.2

Recent pollen analyses carried out in the Haigam Lake, not far away from this site, reveal that the origin of cultivation in the valley started within the blue pine forests which were cleared by the Neolithic man. The climate was much cooler than at present. Subsequent clearances were confined to the broad-leaved forests of oaks and alders which had replaced the conifers. Tree pollen rapidly declines after cutting of the forest-trees, and in its place there is a sharp rise in the pollen of herbaceous plants and the emergence of new weeds which are associated with the cultivation of crops. The cultivation was of a shifting type.