Archaeobotany and Palaeoenvironment
Archaeobotany and palaeoenvironmental research in the IJA links pollen, macro-botanical remains, fauna, climate records, crop histories, and environmental reconstruction to human occupation across the Ganga plain, Indus borderlands, Kashmir, Odisha, Haryana, Manipur, and museum sculpture studies. These papers help explain settlement change, crop choices, animal use, vegetation shifts, and the ecological settings of cultural transitions.
Key Evidence Types
- Pollen records - Karela Jheel, Ganga plain, coastal sediments, Himalayan archives, and pollen keys for plant subfamilies.
- Macro-botanical remains - Millets, cereal grains, pulses, and crop assemblages from Indus, PGW, and multi-cultural sites.
- Faunal remains - Sampolia Khera, Kanispur, Rukhaegarh, and rhinoceros history papers reconstruct animal economy and ecological distribution.
- Iconographic ecology - Biodiversity and animal depiction studies read sculptures as environmental evidence as well as art historical material.
Key Findings
- Climate and culture are treated together: Palynological studies connect vegetation shifts to human occupation rather than treating palaeoenvironment as background.
- Millets matter to Indus peripheries: Anil Pokharia’s millet study frames crop diversification as central to the peripheral zones of the Indus world.
- Alamgirpur links Harappan and PGW subsistence: Grain and pulse evidence supports the site’s role as a key sequence from indus-valley-civilization into iron-age-india.
- Faunal studies broaden site interpretation: Animal bones from Masudpur, Kanispur, and Rukhaegarh show diet, domestication, ecology, and ritual contexts.
- Pollen identification is foundational infrastructure: Alka Srivastava’s pollen keys supply reference tools for future palaeobotanical analysis in Indian contexts.
Related Articles
Vol 1, No. 4
Introduction of millets in peripheral zone of Indus civilization
Anil Pokhariya
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 2, No. 1
Late Quaternary vegetation, climatic change and human occupation in the Central Ganga Plain as inferred by pollen evidence from Karela Jheel, Uttar Pradesh
M.S. Chauhan, Anil K. Pokharia, Yachana Bhandari & R.K. Srivastava
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 2, No. 1
Faunal Remains from Sampolia Khera (Masudpur I), Haryana
P.P. Joglekar, Ravindra N. Singh & C.A. Petrie
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 3, No. 2
Quaternary vegetation, climate, farming and human habitation in the Ganga plain, based on pollen and macro-botanical remains from lakes and archaeological sites
Mohan Singh Chauhan, Anil K. Pokharia & Yachana Bhandari
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 3, No. 3
The rise and fall of vegetation during the Quaternary: Palynological record from coastal sediments, India
Anjum Farooqui
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 4, No. 3
A Note on Animal Remains from Kanispur, District Baramulla Jammu and Kashmir, India
P.P. Joglekar & B.R. Mani
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 5, No. 2
Rhinoceros unicornis in India since Prehistoric Times
Ankur Dutta & Dipannita Das
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 5, No. 3
Vegetation vis-à-vis climatic changes from the Himalaya, over the last 75000 years, as revealed by Palynological studies
Md. Firoze Quamar, Amit Kumar Mishra, Ratan Kar
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 5, No. 3
Archaeo-botany at Chandravati: A multicultural site in southern Rajasthan
Anil K. Pokharia et al.
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 6, No. 2
Cereal Grains and Grain Pulses: reassessing the archaeo-botany of the Indus Civilization and Painted Grey Ware period occupation at Alamgirpur, District Meerut U.P.
J. Bates, C.A. Petrie et al.
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 6, No. 4
Identifying pollen characters of Subfamily Papilionoideae under light microscopy
Alka Srivastava
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 7, No. 1
Pollen key and morphological characters of some plants of Subfamily Mimosoideae
Alka Srivastava
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 7, No. 2
Pollen morphology of some plants of Subfamily Caesalpinioideae
Alka Srivastava
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 8, No. 1
A Note on Animal Remains from Rukhaegarh, District Nalanda, Bihar, India
P.P. Joglekar & Gautam Kumar Lama
SEE JOURNAL→Vol 11, No. 1
Tracing biodiversity through museum sculptures: A case study of the State Museum Lucknow
Al-Shaz Fathmi
SEE JOURNAL→