Ajithprasad Pottentavida | Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda (original) (raw)

Papers by Ajithprasad Pottentavida

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

The region of South Asia, located between the prepared core-based technologies in the west and si... more The region of South Asia, located between the prepared core-based technologies in the west and simple core technologies in the east, is crucial in the modern human dispersal routes. The nature and chronology of initial modern human presence in the region and associated lithic technologiesmicrolithic vs the Middle Palaeolithic prepared core technologyare debated between the coastal and continental routes of dispersals. Recent research, however, has pushed back the antiquity of Middle Palaeolithic technology in the region to 385 ± 64 ka, suggesting the possibility of local innovation. However, the age mentioned above is isolated spatially and requires further studies to support the local innovation model. Our research in the Paleru river basin, Andhra Pradesh (SE India), have identified several Palaeolithic sites in a stratigraphic context. We present the results of a systematic examination at the Hanumanthunipadu (Andhra Pradesh) site, where the deepest of three geomorphologically distinct phases of the sedimentary sequence contained Palaeolithic artefacts. The fine-grained sediments in the sequence, p-IR-IRSL dated to > 247 ± 32 ka, yielded Middle Palaeolithic artefacts that imply South Asian Middle Palaeolithic assemblages may be a part of local innovations that emerged from the preceding Late Acheulian technologies.

Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2021

Archaeological and geological remains associated with the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) deposits in In... more Archaeological and geological remains associated with the Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) deposits in India are seen as significant proxies for reconstructing 1) Initial modern human colonization of India and 2) Possible climatic impacts of the Toba super-eruption of 74 ka on Indian climate and hominin behaviour. In order to gain further insights into the environmental impacts and behavioural adaptations of human populations in India before and after the Toba eruption, we investigated archaeological horizons associated with the Toba ash beds along the Gundlakamma basin in Prakasam District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Here, lithic artefacts were identified below and above the YTT deposits. The YTT deposits in the Gundlakamma river basin has a maximum thickness of 50 cm, comparatively thinner than those at the better investigated valleys of the adjacent Jurreru and Sagileru in Andhra Pradesh and the Son, Madhya Pradesh, India. Our surveys indicate that the Palaeolithic assemblages associated wit...

PLOS ONE, 2016

Hunter-gatherer societies have distinct social perceptions and practices which are expressed in u... more Hunter-gatherer societies have distinct social perceptions and practices which are expressed in unique use of space and material deposition patterns. However, the identification of archaeological evidence associated with hunter-gatherer activity is often challenging, especially in tropical environments such as rainforests. We present an integrated study combining ethnoarchaeology and geoarchaeology in order to study archaeological site formation processes related to hunter-gatherers' ways of living in tropical forests. Ethnographic data was collected from an habitation site of contemporary hunter-gatherers in the forests of South India, aimed at studying how everyday activities and way of living dictate patterns of material deposition. Ethnoarchaeological excavations of abandoned open-air sites and a rock-shelter of the same group located deep in the forests, involved field observations and sampling of sediments from the abandoned sites and the contemporary site. Laboratory analyses included geochemical analysis (i.e., FTIR, ICP-AES), phytolith concentration analysis and soil micromorphology. The results present a dynamic spatial deposition pattern of macroscopic, microscopic and chemical materials, which stem from the distinctive ways of living and use of space by hunter-gatherers. This study shows that postdepositional processes in tropical forests result in poor preservation of archaeological materials due to acidic conditions and intensive biological activity within the sediments. Yet, the multiple laboratory-based analyses were able to trace evidence for activity surfaces and their maintenance practices as well as localized concentrations of activity remains such as the use of plants, metals, hearths and construction materials.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

Abstract The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE), South Asia’s first urban society, underwent a mo... more Abstract The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE), South Asia’s first urban society, underwent a momentous social transformation towards the end of the third millennium BC, that culminated in urban decline, cessation of writing, and the dissolution of interregional connectivity. These changes roughly coincide with the 4.2 ka BP climate event, a period of global climate fluctuation manifest in northwestern South Asia as a decline in summer monsoon precipitation. The regions encompassed by the Indus Civilization, however, were ecologically and socially diverse such that both local environmental effects of these climatic fluctuations and human responses to them are expected to vary considerably from region to region. In Gujarat, increased aridity has been hypothesized to have led to increased pastoral mobility. Here we evaluate this hypothesis using faunal analyses and isotopic data in faunal tooth enamel that allow us to directly monitor livestock management, diet, and mobility at a series of three archaeological sites whose occupational sequences span this period of social and climatic change. We find no evidence for significant changes in pastoral land-use practices through time in this sequence, findings that we interpret as indicating considerable resilience on the part of local pastoral producers.

The present paper describes the results of osteological studies on a sub-adult human skeleton fou... more The present paper describes the results of osteological studies on a sub-adult human skeleton found at Vaharvo Timbo in Ranod Village in Sami Taluka of the Patan District, Gujarat, belonging to the Chalcolithic period (3000-2600 BCE). The skeleton has been kept partially embedded in a block of soil, as it will be for display in the museum. Hence, any observations made have been based on the skeletal elements exposed on the surface of the block of soil in which it was buried. The skeleton is of a child, around 7 years old at the time of death. Sex determination of this sub-adult has not been done. Interestingly the maxillary incisors are broad in their Meso-distal diameter. No pathology was noticed on this child.

Journal of Lithic Studies, 2014

Conference on The Harappans in Gujarat: Problems …, 1993

The paper presents the regional identity and distinctive features of a group of non-Harappan pott... more The paper presents the regional identity and distinctive features of a group of non-Harappan pottery associated with the Harappan affiliated Chalcolithic settlements in North Gujarat. The regional tradition in pottery has been equated with a distinct socioeconomic group within the Chalcolithic society. The regional model questions the concept of a homogeneous Harappan society and elucidates the nature of diverse socioeconomic strands in the making of the integrated Harappan society of North Gujarat.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2014

The widespread distribution of Harappan material culture throughout a vast expanse of northwester... more The widespread distribution of Harappan material culture throughout a vast expanse of northwestern South Asia is a defining characteristic of the Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BC). The social dynamics responsible for this material pattern, however, are not fully understood. While top-down perspectives on interregional interaction explain some aspects of the material record in the Indian state of Gujarat, they do not explain the material diversity that we observe at Indus settlements in Gujarat. Here, we undertake a bottom-up exploration of Harappan material culture at two small, recently excavated Indus settlements in Gujarat. Our findings show that although the residents of both sites participated in the interregional economy and publically displayed a common Harappan identity, there is evidence for considerable variation in the domestic practices characteristic of each site. We interpret these to suggest that the residents of these sites were integrated into the wider Indus Civili...

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2020

The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE), South Asia’s first urban society, underwent a momentous s... more The Indus Civilization (2600–1900 BCE), South Asia’s first urban society, underwent a momentous social transformation towards the end of the third millennium BC, that culminated in urban decline, cessation of writing, and the dissolution of interregional connectivity. These changes roughly coincide with the 4.2 ka BP climate event, a period of global climate fluctuation manifest in northwestern South Asia as a decline in summer monsoon precipitation. The regions encompassed by the Indus Civilization, however, were ecologically and socially diverse such that both local environmental effects of these climatic fluctuations and human responses to them are expected to vary considerably from region to region. In Gujarat, increased aridity has been hypothe- sized to have led to increased pastoral mobility. Here we evaluate this hypothesis using faunal analyses and isotopic data in faunal tooth enamel that allow us to directly monitor livestock management, diet, and mobility at a series of ...

PLOS ONE, Oct 26, 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science

Journal of Field Archaeology

The Indian Ocean coastline is argued to have been a critical route of modern human dispersal from... more The Indian Ocean coastline is argued to have been a critical route of modern human dispersal from Africa, introducing Late Palaeolithic industries into South Asia, but a dearth of evidence has prevented a direct evaluation of this. Kachchh (Gujarat, India), located immediately east of the Indus Delta, is an important setting to appraise the Palaeolithic occupation of the western Indian coastline. Targeted survey of Late Pleistocene sediments there found widespread evidence for occupation of Kachchh during the Late Pleistocene: Middle Palaeolithic and possibly Late Acheulean lithic artifacts. The conspicuous absence of Late Palaeolithic industries in these Late Pleistocene deposits, with their presence only noted in Holocene contexts, does not support the model of modern human expansions into India with these industries via the coastal route. We evaluate these results in the context of current debates regarding Late Pleistocene hominin demography, adaptation, and expansions.

Quaternary International, 2017

This research aims at improving our understanding of open-air archaeological surface scatters in ... more This research aims at improving our understanding of open-air archaeological surface scatters in drylands, their extension and the intensity of human activities during their occupation. To do so, the study of physico-chemical proxies is integrated to that of archaeological artefacts by means of systematic field survey combined with laboratory sedimentary analyses and a robust statistical approach. In most dry regions, archaeological survey has traditionally aimed at the collection of artefacts. When present, the study of physical and geochemical samples has been limited to excavated archaeological levels. In this work, we evaluate the archaeological significance of physico-chemical proxies from surface samples collected within and around four mid and late-Holocene surface scatters in North Gujarat, a semi-arid region located at the southwest margin of the Thar Desert in India. The four archaeological scatters are found on top of fossilised sand dunes. Archaeologically, they represent subsistence strategies based on hunting and gathering, agro-pastoralism, or a succession/ mixture of the two. The four locations were systematically sampled across a linear transect. For each sampling unit, the archaeological materials were quantified and classified by means of a Linear Discriminant Analyses. Physio-chemical variables were ordinated in a PCA space and clustered through a Hierarchical Clustering. Results were displayed along the dune transect and integrated into a Correspondence Analysis. Significant differences are attested in the spatial distribution and content of Ca, P and grain size, allowing us to suggest a set of distinct cultural soilscapes that characterise the dunes of the study area: vertisols (agric horizons in interdunal lower slopes), aridisols (relict dune surfaces in the mid-slope), and anthrosols (top dune). The last show a strong correspondence with the presence of archaeological artefacts, and the different intensity of human footprint are discussed accordingly to potential past subsistence strategies and the intensity of human occupation.

Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 2 (2014): 283‐304, 2014

Loteshwar (23 ° 36ʹ 1.8ʺ N; 71 ° 50ʹ 11.8ʺ E) is situated in the Sami Taluka of Patan District in... more Loteshwar (23 ° 36ʹ 1.8ʺ N; 71 ° 50ʹ 11.8ʺ E) is situated in the Sami Taluka of Patan District in North Gujarat, Western India. First excavated in 1990’s the site was re‐excavated by the North Gujarat Archaeological Project during November/December 2009. The 2009 excavation unearthed two cultural periods namely Mesolithic (dated between the end of the eighth millennium cal BC and the middle of sixth millennium cal BCE) and Chalcolithic (dated to around 3600‐3000 BC). The comparative analysis of the lithic assemblages associated with these periods is the main objective of the current study. Other artefacts and ecofacts recovered during the excavations suggest a changing economy at the site from hunting and gathering to agro‐pastoralisam. However, the analysis of the lithic assemblage, in particular the cores show continuity in term of a tool technology (quartering technique of stone tool manufacturing) for over five thousand years. This technological continuity is associated to conti...

Recent excavations at Shikarpur, a fortified Harappan site situated near the Gulf of Kuchchh in G... more Recent excavations at Shikarpur, a fortified Harappan site situated near the Gulf of Kuchchh in Gujarat, Western India, brought to light a large collection of Rohri chert blades. Chert found in the Rohri hill near Sukkur in Sindh, central Pakistan is distinctive and easily identifiable. The wide distribution of standardized Rohri chert blades is often regarded as a testimony to the Harappan efficiency in long distance trade and craft production. The possibility of localized production of Rohri chert blades in Gujarat is often negated due to the constraints of raw-material availability. The absence of Rohri chert working debitage from most of the sites in Gujarat, has lent support to this position. The Shikarpur Rohri blade assemblage however incorporates more than 650 blades, a large fluted blade-core and a few Rohri chert debitage. These have led the excavators to suggest that some of the blades found at Shikarpur were locally produced from raw materials brought to the site from the Rohri hills. Typo-technological features of the Rohri chert assemblage from Shikarpur have been analysed in this background. These along with metrical features of the assemblage are compared with Rohri chert assemblages from other major Harappan sites in the region to check the validity of the proposed 'limited local production'.

Quaternary Science Reviews

South Asia has a rich Palaeolithic heritage, and chronological resolution for this record has sub... more South Asia has a rich Palaeolithic heritage, and chronological resolution for this record has substantially improved over the past decade as a result of focused, interdisciplinary research at a number of key sites. Expanding the spatial diversity of dated Palaeolithic sites in South Asia grows increasingly important to examine how patterns of change through time vary within and between the region's diverse habitats. Critically, alternate models of modern human dispersals into South Asia highlight the significance of either coastal or continental routes of dispersal, but currently no coastal Palaeolithic sites directly dating to the timeframe of human expansions are known. Our previous research in Kachchh was the first study to clearly identify the presence of Palaeolithic sites in Late Pleistocene landscapes in close proximity to the Indian Ocean coastline. Here, we present the first results of surface survey and test excavation at the site of Sandhav (Kachchh, India), approximately 25 km from the modern shoreline. We characterise the geomorphology of the landscape, highlighting multiple phases of alluvial aggradation and postdepositional carbonate formation, associated with Palaeolithic artefacts. To date, excavations have tested the uppermost Pleistocene deposit, yielding a small collection of fresh Middle Palaeolithic artefacts associated with a luminescence age dating to the first half of MIS 5 (~114 ka), which provides a minimum age for Late Acheulean artefacts in underlying units. We discuss our findings in the context of debates surrounding the timing, lithic technologies, and ecologies associated with the expansions of modern humans into South Asia.