Reconstructing prehistoric environments in the Son and Belan valleys, north-central India: Retrospect and Prospect

Authors

  • Martin A.J. Williams Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2021.19

Keywords:

Prehistory, Belan Valley, Son Valley, Toba volcano

Abstract

Pioneering archaeological surveys in the Son and Belan valleys of north–central India in the 1970s revealed that these valleys had been occupied at least intermittently during the Lower Palaeolithic, Middle Palaeolithic, Upper Palaeolithic and Neolithic. Later work in the early 1980s provided a reliable stratigraphic framework for the prehistoric sites and also resulted in the chance discovery of volcanic ash erupted from Toba volcano in Sumatra, Indonesia, 74,000 years ago. The discovery of the first Quaternary volcanic ash ever found in India prompted a search for the ash across the Indian sub–continent. By the early 1990s it was apparent that the entire sub–continent had been covered in a layer of ash 10–15 cm thick. Later work showed that some of this ash had been reworked by runoff and soil creep soon after deposition and accumulated in topographic depressions and valley bottoms where it remained in a relatively pure state. However, some of the ash has been reworked more than once since first deposited. Use of the ash as an isochronous marker depends upon establishing whether it is still in primary context and if not the degree to which it has been mixed with younger sediment. A key and as yet unresolved issue is whether or not the eruption had a major or minor regional and global environmental (including climatic) impact. High resolution records from speleothems, pollen spectra, varved lake deposits and ice cores will be needed to answer this question. The presence of similar stone artefact assemblages above and beneath the ash tells us nothing useful about the actual environmental impact of the eruption.

सारांश

1970 के दशक में उत्तर-मध्य भारत के सोन और बेलन घाटियों में अग्रणी पुरातात्विक सर्वेक्षणों से ज्ञात होता है कि ये घाटियां, निम्न पैलियोलिथिक, मध्य पैलियोलिथिक, उच्च पैलियोलिथिक और नियोलिथिक के दौरान कम से कम धीरे धीरे अधिवासित की गयीं थीं। 1980 के दशक की शुरुआत में बाद के कार्य ने प्रागैतिहासिक स्थलों के लिए एक विश्वसनीय स्ट्रैटिग्राफिक ढांचा प्रदान किया और इसके परिणामस्वरूप 74,000 वर्ष पूर्व सुमात्रा, इंडोनेशिया में टोबा ज्वालामुखी से निकलने वाली ज्वालामुखीय राख की खोज हुई। भारत में पाए गए पूर्व क्वाटर्नरी ज्वालामुखीय राख की खोज ने भारतीय उपमहाद्वीप में राख की खोज को प्रेरित किया। 1990 के दशक के प्रारंभ तक यह स्पष्ट हो गया था कि पूरा उपमहाद्वीप 10-15 सेंटीमीटर मोटी राख की परत से ढका हुआ था। बाद के काम से पता चला कि इस राख में से कुछ अपवाह और मिट्टी के रेंगने के बाद जल्द ही निछेपित हो गई थी और स्थलाकृतिक अवसादों और घाटी की तलहटी में जमा हो गयी थी जहाँ यह अपेक्षाकृत शुद्ध अवस्था में थी। हालाँकि, कुछ राख पहली बार निछेपित होने के बाद से फिर से काम में आई। आइसोक्रोनस मार्कर के रूप में राख का उपयोग यह स्थापित करने पर निर्भर करता है कि क्या यह अभी भी प्राथमिक संदर्भ में है और यदि नहीं तो किस हद तक इसे नए अवसाद के साथ मिलाया गया है। एक महत्वपूर्ण और अभी तक अनसुलझा मुद्दा यह है कि विस्फोट का कोई बड़ा या छोटा क्षेत्रीय और वैश्विक पर्यावरणीय (जलवायु सहित) प्रभाव था या नहीं। इस प्रश्न का उत्तर देने के लिए स्पेलोथेम्स, परागकण स्पेक्ट्रा, विविध झील निछेप और आइस कोर से उच्च रिज़ॉल्यूशन आलेखों की आवश्यकता होगी। राख के ऊपर और नीचे समान पत्थर की कलाकृतियों की उपस्थिति हमें विस्फोट के वास्तविक पर्यावरणीय प्रभाव के बारे में कुछ भी उपयोगी नहीं बताती है।

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2021-09-10

How to Cite

Williams, M. A. (2021). Reconstructing prehistoric environments in the Son and Belan valleys, north-central India: Retrospect and Prospect. Journal of Palaeosciences, 70((1-2), 305–316. https://doi.org/10.54991/jop.2021.19