Positioned at the threshold southern Asian monsoon, the Thar Desert is an essential area for comprehending how previous ecological change impacted patterns of human migration and adaptation to new habitats. Current research highlighting the role of the Thar Desert in human prehistory has indicated that human beings spread eastwards into the area beginning with 114 thousand years ago during a stage of improved monsoonal rainfall, when the desert was transformed into lush meadows. However, more recent phases of sand dune activity have actually obscured these ancient landscapes populated by earlier human populations.
These findings precede evidence for activity in modern river courses across the Thar Desert as well as dried up course of the Ghaggar-Hakra River. The presence of a river running through the central Thar Desert would have offered a life-line to Palaeolithic populations, and potentially a crucial corridor for migrations.
Lost Rivers of the Thar Desert.
Found at the threshold of monsoonal Asia, the Thar Desert marks the eastern level of the desert belt that stretches westwards across Arabia and the Sahara. While this desert belt is normally thought of as unwelcoming to early people, it is becoming progressively clear that throughout humid stages in the past human populations have succeeded in these landscapes. This is possibly best known in western South Asia from studying the Indus Civilisation (also referred to as the Harappan Civilisation) which thrived at the margins of the Thar Desert along the course of the now-seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra River in between 3200-1500 BCE, and is thought to have actually influenced the mythological Saraswati River pointed out in the Rig Veda.
Yet the prospective importance of ‘lost’ rivers for earlier inhabitants of the Thar Desert have actually been neglected. “The Thar Desert has a rich prehistory, and we’ve been uncovering a vast array of evidence showing how Stone Age populations not only made it through however flourished in these semi-arid landscapes,” says Jimbob Blinkhorn of MPISHH. “We understand how crucial rivers can be to residing in this area, but we have little detail on what river systems were like during key periods of prehistory.”
Research studies of satellite imagery have shown a thick network of river channels crossing the Thar Desert. “These research studies can suggest where rivers and streams have actually flown in the past, but they can’t tell us when” discusses Prof Hema Achyuthan of Anna University, Chennai. “To show how old such channels are, we had to discover evidence on the ground for river activity in the middle of the desert.”
Nal Quarry
A deep deposit of river sands and gravels was studied by the group, which had been exposed by quarrying activity near the village of Nal, just beyond Bikaner. By studying the different deposits, the researchers were able to document various phases of river
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