A section through the Dharamjali stalagmite that the authors studied. Credit: Alena Giesche
New research involving Cambridge University has found evidence - locked into an ancient stalagmite from a cave in the Himalayas - of a series of severe and lengthy droughts which may have upturned the Bronze Age Indus Civilization. A section through the Dharamjali stalagmite that the authors studied. Credit: Alena Giesche Over a 200 year period, the ancient inhabitants took various steps to adapt and remain sustainable in the face of this new normal Cameron Petrie The beginning of this arid period - starting at around 4,200 years ago and lasting for over two centuries - coincides with the reorganization of the metropolis-building Indus Civilization, which spanned present-day Pakistan and India. The research identified three protracted droughts - each lasting between 25 and 90 years - during this arid period. -We find clear evidence that this interval was not a short-term crisis but a progressive transformation of the environmental conditions in which Indus people lived,- said study co-author Prof Cameron Petrie, from Cambridge's Department of Archaeology. The researchers charted historic rainfall by examining growth layers in a stalagmite collected from a cave near Pithoragarh, India. By measuring a range of environmental tracers - including oxygen, carbon and calcium isotopes - they obtained a reconstruction showing relative rainfall at seasonal resolution.
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