Archaeologists have uncovered the reason why the famous Indus civilization lasted several millennia and was able to adapt to the long episodes of periodic droughts that hit the Indus Valley, according to an article in the journal Current Anthropology.
“The survival of most ancient civilizations depended on one critical factor - access to water. Studying how water was managed and used by its members helps to understand how humanity is adapting to new situations and why many people continue to subsist even if it is not necessary,”said Cameron Petrie of the University of Cambridge. Great Britain).
Harappa mysteries
The Indian, or Harappan, civilization is one of the three most ancient civilizations, along with the ancient Egyptian and Sumerian. It originated about five thousand years ago in the Indus Valley, on the border between modern India and Pakistan, and reached its peak in the 2200s BC. During this period, a system of intercity and "international" trade emerged, planning of urban settlements, sanitary facilities, measures and weights were standardized, and the influence of the Indian civilization extended to the entire subcontinent.
After 1900 BC, it began to decline, which scientists associate with climate change, which, due to the weakening of the monsoons, became colder and drier. On the other hand, recently obtained data on the Earth's climate over the past ten thousand years show that the climate of Hindustan has changed radically in earlier historical eras, which makes scientists argue about why the Harappan civilization did not disappear earlier.
Petrie and his colleagues set out to find out how the Indus Valley civilization managed to survive during droughts. For this, scientists went to excavations near the shores of the dried up lake Kotla-Dahar, next to which was one of the largest megacities of the Indian civilization - the city of Rakhigari.
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Layered Climate Defense
Here, Petrie and his colleagues recently discovered traces of an unusual cropping system, indicating that the Indus Valley was growing several types of cereals and vegetables at the same time. This led scientists to believe that in a similar way, the inhabitants of Rakhigari and its suburbs were protecting themselves from the effects of droughts.
After analyzing the data collected during these excavations and information on the climate of Hindustan at that time, scientists noticed one common feature that is characteristic of all cities and communities of the Harappan civilization - they were all located in climatic zones where the rainy seasons in summer and winter seasons intersected …
Thanks to this, scientists believe, Rakhigari farmers could endure periodic droughts, since an unsuccessful summer harvest could be made up for by a more successful winter crop. This tactic, as shown by sediments at the bottom of Lake Kotla-Dahar, worked until about 2200 BC, when the monsoons weakened sharply and for a very long time.
The level of precipitation significantly decreased and did not increase for almost three hundred years, which led to the drying up of the lake and, according to scientists, the devastation and depopulation of cities near its shores.
“We believe that local people started growing a whole range of crops not because of climate change, but because they lived in very diverse climatic zones. This prepared them for future climate changes and allowed them to survive in conditions that usually went beyond the survival of other civilizations,”concludes Petri.